There’s no fixed answer for the question of which is the best database to use. For a particular situation, one database might be better suited than the others, it all depends on your needs. In this post, let’s have a quick comparison of PostgreSQL and Oracle database, two of the most widely used relational database management systems, just in case you have to choose one of them to use.

1. Developers:

  • PostgreSQL is built and managed by PostgreSQL Global Development Group.
  • Oracle database was produced and marketed by the giant RDBMS vendor Oracle.

2. Pricing Model:

  • PostgreSQL is free and open source.
  • Oracle is a commercial database. You have to pay to use it and the cost is quite high.

3. Supported operating systems:

  • PostgreSQL supports quite a lot of operating systems:
    • FreeBSD
    • HP-UX
    • Linux
    • NetBSD
    • OpenBSD
    • OS X
    • Solaris
    • Unix
    • Windows
  • Oracle has a shorter list than PostgreSQL:
    • AIX
    • HP-UX
    • Linux
    • OS X
    • Solaris
    • Windows
    • z/OS

4. Supported languages:

  • PostgreSQL supports a few languages:
    • .Net
    • C
    • C++
    • Delphi
    • Java 
    • JavaScript (Node.js)
    • Perl
    • PHP
    • Python
    • Tcl
  • Oracle supports a lot more languages:
    • C
    • C#
    • C++
    • Clojure
    • Cobol
    • Delphi
    • Eiffel
    • Erlang
    • Fortran
    • Groovy
    • Haskell
    • Java
    • JavaScript
    • Lisp
    • Objective C
    • OCaml
    • Perl
    • PHP
    • Python
    • R
    • Ruby
    • Scala
    • Tcl
    • Visual Basic

5. Partitioning methods:

  • PostgreSQL uses declarative partitioning (by range or by list) since PostgreSQL 10.0
  • Oracle uses horizontal partitioning

6. Replication methods:

  • PostgreSQL uses Master-slave replication
  • Oracle uses both Master-master replication and Master-slave replication

7. Customer support:

  • Using PostgreSQL, you can get the support for free from the community, but on the flip side, it takes longer because it’s not an obligation for anyone to help you.
  • Oracle has dedicated customer support which is very fast to respond, even though it’s not free.

8. Some others:

  • In general, PostgreSQL syntax is closer to the standard SQL, while Oracle has its own “Oraclism”.
  • Oracle PL/SQL is faster than PostgreSQL pg/SQL in comparable situations. Also, PL/SQL is much more mature technology than any of the PostgreSQL procedural extensions.
  • Oracle has more advanced query tuning capabilities and a more advanced query optimizer.
  • PostgreSQL is more lightweight than Oracle.

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