Top 12 Best Databases for Web Applications Development in 2024

Jan 8, 2024

Every organization needs a database for its web application to collect the users' data and store them sequentially. For a web application to attract customers, it should focus on three major things, user experience, mobile optimization, and a reliable database. Without a reliable database to handle your data, even with the best user experience and mobile optimization you cannot succeed. In this blog, we will discuss the top 12 best databases for web applications and their benefits to make your business more accessible and reliable to customers.

What is a database?

Before jumping into choosing the best database for your business, you must understand what a database is. A database stores, manages, and retrieves data upon request to ensure that the web applications are reliable, fast, and secure. Without these databases, an enterprise cannot store any data regarding its users, transactions, or any other type of data of the users.

Understanding various purposes of the database can help you, some of these purposes include creating, storing, updating, and managing data, executing queries, making quantitative estimations, displaying refreshed data, and restricting access to data based on predefined criteria. Using these features, databases can efficiently and effectively enable data management, analysis, and decision-making processes.

How to Choose the Best Database for your web application?

With over 13+ years of experience, Oasis WebTech - a web application development company in Dubai , can help you understand and choose the right database for your business. This is based on various factors such as your industry and business model. There are two types of databases, they are:

  • SQL - SQL is a mix of open-source and proprietary and is best suited for handling only structured data.
  • NO SQL- NO SQL is purely open-source and is best suited for handling unstructured data.

So, if your company receives a lot of structured data then choose an SQL otherwise go with NOSQL.

Now, coming back to the top 12 best databases for web applications, consider the above-mentioned factors and also the benefits of each database below and choose wisely.

1) Oracle

Oracle is one of the most widely used databases across the world and is known for its speed, scalability, user experience, security, and reliability. Over the years Oracle has become the go-to choice for commercial businesses as it supports all kinds of data types including structured, unstructured, graphical, and many more. This database offers built-in support for C, C++, and also JAVA.

  • Supports online transaction processing(OLTP).
  • Supports scaling of databases.
  • It can run on cloud, on-device, or even hybrid.
  • Provides integration with other Oracle applications.
  • Efficient data load balancing.
  • Equipped with a built-in recovery manager(RMAN).

2) MySQL

MySQL is another popular database that is developed and maintained by Oracle. It is an open-source relational database management system known for its stability, security, and community. This supports only structured data and offers built-in support for both C and C++. According to the Stack Overflow developer survey, this database is used by more than 45% of the database users. It is also ranked as one of the top 5 databases in the first quarter of 2024 by Statista.

  • Chosen by top organizations such as Facebook, Twitter, and Verizon.
  • Preferred database for creating custom web applications.
  • Offers support for transactions, data replication, and indexing.
  • Reliable because of its stability, security, and ease of use.
  • Provides Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability functionalities.
  • Provides real-time analysis with MySQL Heatwave.

3) Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system developed by the parent company Microsoft. It is known for its enterprise-level applications developed using technologies such as .NET, ASP.NET, and .NET core. It has become one of the most reliable database management systems for web developers due to its scalability, security, and low-cost maintenance.

  • Provides business analytics, data warehousing, and transaction processing.
  • Ability to move, copy, and transform data.
  • Provides master data services to handle various domains such as customers, products, and accounts.
  • Ability to integrate Microsoft Azure to optimize performance and reduce maintenance costs.
  • Supports on-device and cloud options.
  • Supports structured Data (SQL), Semi-Structured Data(JSON), and Spatial Data.

4) PostgreSQL

Postgre is another popular relational database management system which is developed in C. It is an open-source platform and is considered one of the most secure platforms that maintains the data integrity of the users. This is used for both web applications and mobile applications and allows you to create your data types and functions as per your requirements. This is mainly used by enterprises that have to deal with large amounts of data such as the gaming industry.

5) MongoDB

MongoDB is a document-oriented database management system which is based on NOSQL. It is solely developed to solve the problem of loading and accessing data into RDBMS using object-oriented languages. This database is listed as one of the top 10 must-use databases in 2024. MongoDB manages data without the need for any additional apps, using this users can create multiple databases and document collections with various fields and data structures.

  • Easy to learn, use, and create high-availability, horizontally scalable apps.
  • Supports a wide range of programming languages and application development platforms.
  • Provides high performance and speed.
  • Ability to run on multiple servers to ensure redundancy during server crashes.
  • Enables implementation of arrays and other data structures.

6) Redis

If your business requires a lot of graphics and high-resolution images, this will require additional development and design practices, which will increase the costs. Optimizing the website for the images and content for fast loading will be an additional expense.

  • Supports a wide range of data structures such as strings, hashes, lists, sets, and sorted sets.
  • Supports LUA server-side scripting.
  • Supports .NET core, Python, and Node JS.

7) MariaDB

MariaDB is another relational database management system that is often used by developers to replace MySQL. This DBMS provides columnar with parallel distributed data architecture, which makes it easy to work with large amounts of data. This is an open-source platform developed by a large number of developers. It is known for its performance during peak traffic times.

  • Equipped with built-in InnoDB and XtraDB.
  • Supports web applications by stabilizing and optimizing them regularly.
  • Improves performance by adding new storage engines.
  • Large community base to address any problems.

8) Firebird SQL

Firebird is another popular open-source SQL relational database management system. This DBMS can operate on Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, and other UNIX platforms. This is a user-friendly ecosystem for developing applications with client libraries, security rules, and support for cloud mode. It is best suited for enterprises that are focusing on targeting users across multiple platforms.

  • Seamless performance across various devices and platforms.
  • Supports real-time application development.
  • Supports multiple languages.
  • High availability and concurrency rates of databases.
  • Built-in security features.

9) IBM DB2

IBM DB2 is a cloud-native database management system particularly developed for real-time and low-latency applications. This can be operated on Linux, Windows, and UNIX platforms. Developers prefer this for its unmatched speed and support for non-relational and object-relational features.

  • Reduces the real-time notification time by 90%.
  • Supports relational models.
  • Supports object-relational and non-relational forms: JSON and XML.
  • Built-in security support for critical applications.

10) Elasticsearch

Elasticsearch is an open-source database management system built on the JAVA library Lucene. It is widely used for its support for modern apps which are powered with AI capabilities. This provides horizontal scaling using automatic sharing and rest API. Many top companies such as CRED, UDEMY, Shopify, and more use this database for its speed and relevance.

  • Built-in full-text search engine with multi-tenant capability.
  • Supports structured and schema-less data.
  • Retains top speed regardless of the data size.
  • Ability to store GEO and numeric data using BKD trees.
  • Built-in detection failure mechanism to execute relevant operations.

11) Apache Cassandra

Cassandra is another top NOSQL database management system with a distributed and wide-column store. This DBMS is known for its scalability and is used by MNCs for its reliability and ability to handle large amounts of data. It is known for its ability to implement fault-tolerant system storage. This is widely used by enterprises that focus on security to analyze real-time logs.

  • Provides automatic data replication with utmost reliability.
  • Ability to handle large volumes of requests simultaneously.
  • Guarantees zero bottlenecks and correct outputs.
  • Ability to add new machines with zero downtime.

11) NEO4j

NEO4j is another NOSQL, open-source database management system that was launched in 2007. This allows developers to store data in the format of nodes and relationships, making it extremely flexible as there is no one fixed defined structure. It also enables the execution of operations in machine learning, cyber-security, and analytics.

  • Supports ACID and UNIQUE properties.
  • Ability to scale horizontally to support large datasets.
  • Ability to create and use other relationships.

Key takeaway

All in all, selecting the right database is crucial for the success of any business using its web application. These top 12 best databases for web applications in 2024 offer various options for various requirements. Oracle stands out for its versatility, while MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server provide stability and security. PostgreSQL provides integrity, MongoDB excels in handling unstructured data, and Redis offers efficient in-memory storage. MariaDB, Firebird SQL, and IBM DB2 aid in performance and reliability. Elasticsearch supports modern AI-powered apps, Apache Cassandra excels in scalability, and NEO4j offers flexibility with its node and relationship structure. Choose wisely based on your organization's unique requirements.