Managed MySQL Hosting — production-ready from $15 a month
Popular open-source relational database. Deployed on your own dedicated instance in AWS, Azure, or GCP, kept patched, backed up, and monitored by ManageStacks — standard MySQL, no lock-in.
MySQL on ManageStacks is production-grade MySQL 8 deployed to your own AWS, Azure, or GCP region — priced flat at $29 per database per month regardless of storage size, with binary-log backups + point-in-time recovery, ProxySQL connection pooling, source-replica replication with automatic failover, and tested upgrades run on a staging clone first. Materially cheaper than RDS or Cloud SQL for small-to-medium databases, and your data stays in your cloud region.
InnoDB · Replication · JSON functions
What does MySQL do, and why do teams deploy it?
MySQL is the world's most-deployed open-source relational database. It powers WordPress, Magento, Shopify, Django, Rails, and Laravel apps at every scale — from single-founder side projects to the largest sites on the internet.
MySQL 8 delivers strong performance and reliability with the InnoDB storage engine (ACID compliance, row-level locking, adaptive hashing), a modern SQL feature set (window functions, CTEs, JSON functions), and a mature replication story (source-replica, group replication via InnoDB Cluster). The MySQL Shell and Router complete the operational picture for HA deployments.
Running production MySQL yourself means running mysqld tuned correctly (innodb_buffer_pool_size, max_connections, sync_binlog), setting up binary-log-based PITR, running ProxySQL in front for connection pooling and query routing, testing 8.0 → 8.4 → 9.x upgrades, and handling failover with something like Orchestrator or ProxySQL's built-in failover. ManageStacks does all of that.
- InnoDB with ACID compliance, MVCC, and adaptive hash indexing
- Binary log replication (source-replica) with automatic failover on HA plans
- InnoDB Cluster (Group Replication) for multi-primary setups on Enterprise
- Full-text search and spatial data (SRID-aware) support
- Window functions, CTEs, and JSON data type + functions (MySQL 8)
- Performance Schema + sys schema for query-level observability
Popular open-source relational database
What does managed MySQL hosting cost?
Flat per-app pricing, in your chosen AWS, Azure, or GCP region. No per-user pricing — a busy deployment costs the same as a quiet one.
Starter
Staging and internal tools. Dedicated instance, TLS, daily backups, managed upgrades.
Standard
Production workloads. Adds monitoring, staging environment, region choice, priority support.
Business
High-traffic and compliance workloads. Adds a high-availability replica and same-day support.
24×7 SRE retainer
Round-the-clock on-call across every hosted application, for teams that need a pager answered at 3am.
Self-hosting MySQL vs managed — what does it really cost?
The software is free. The engineer-hours are not.
Running it yourself
- Install MySQL 8, tune my.cnf (innodb_buffer_pool_size, sync_binlog, log_bin) for your workload
- Set up binary-log archiving, verify PITR restores, script binary-log rotation
- Install ProxySQL for connection pooling; configure query routing rules
- Test 8.0 → 8.4 → 9.x upgrades in staging; validate app-side compatibility
- Build replica + failover manually with Orchestrator or ProxySQL
On ManageStacks
- Subscribe through your AWS, Azure, or GCP marketplace
- MySQL comes up tuned, with ProxySQL in front and binary-log archiving on
- Prometheus-exporter metrics + Grafana dashboards ship for connections, buffer pool, replication lag
- New MySQL versions get tested on your DB clone before rolling forward
- Source-replica replication + automatic failover on HA plans
MySQL on ManageStacks vs the alternatives
How MySQL on ManageStacks compares to the two dominant hyperscaler-managed MySQL options and running MySQL on your own VM.
| MySQL on ManageStacks | AWS RDS MySQL | Google Cloud SQL MySQL | Self-hosted on your VM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deployment | Managed on your AWS, Azure, or GCP | AWS-managed | GCP-managed | You provision + operate |
| Data residency | Your cloud region | AWS region | GCP region | Your cloud region |
| Pricing basis | Flat per database | Per instance-hour + storage + IOPS | Per instance-hour + storage | Your compute cost |
| PITR | Binary-log PITR (30+ days) | Included | Included | You configure binlog + PITR |
| HA / replication | Source-replica + failover on HA | Multi-AZ / read replicas | HA config + read replicas | You configure Orchestrator |
| Multi-primary writes | InnoDB Cluster on Enterprise | Aurora option (separate SKU) | Not built-in | You configure Group Replication |
Provisioning, upgrades, backups and monitoring on your team’s plate.
What does running MySQL yourself involve?
ManageStacks deploys MySQL 8 with binary-log-based PITR, ProxySQL connection pooling + read/write splitting, source-replica replication, and Prometheus-exporter metrics. We handle security patching, major-version upgrades on staging clones, and HA failover — you focus on the schema and the queries.
MySQL key numbers
How long from subscribing to a live instance?
Subscribe
Subscribe to ManageStacks through your AWS, Azure, or GCP marketplace.
Provision
MySQL 8 spins up with ProxySQL, binary-log archiving, and Grafana monitoring — typically 3-5 minutes.
Connect
Point your application at the ProxySQL endpoint. TLS is on by default.
Backup + monitor
Daily backups + PITR run automatically. Set alerts on replication lag, connection count, or slow queries through the pre-built dashboards.
When is self-hosting MySQL the right answer instead?
“Managed hosting is not always the correct call.”
Self-host when a platform team already runs the infrastructure and on-call rotation to operate MySQL at genuinely low marginal cost. Self-host when compliance requires an air-gapped or on-premises deployment that no hosted option can satisfy. And self-host when the deployment depends on heavy customisation with a fast internal build-deploy loop, because an internal release process will beat any managed change process.
For everyone else — teams whose engineers have better things to do than shepherd upgrades — managed hosting is cheaper than the hours it replaces.
Which cloud should MySQL run on — AWS, Azure or GCP?
For most workloads, the choice of cloud matters less than proximity: run MySQL in the same cloud and region as the applications and data it talks to, because every request between them adds a round trip. The underlying compute performs equivalently across AWS, Azure, and GCP.
In practice, an existing cloud footprint decides it. All plans support all three clouds, and moving regions later is a scheduled migration, not a rebuild.
Deepest managed-service catalog, default when there's no existing footprint
Best fit for teams already on Microsoft 365 or Entra ID
Strongest for data/analytics-adjacent workloads
Every plan supports AWS, Azure, and GCP — region choice included.
Common questions about MySQL on ManageStacks
How does this compare to AWS RDS MySQL or Google Cloud SQL?
RDS and Cloud SQL are priced per-instance-hour + storage + IOPS, which compounds fast as your DB grows. ManageStacks is a flat $29 per database per month at the standard tier. For small-to-medium databases (< 500 GB), self-hosted on ManageStacks is materially cheaper. RDS is worth it if you specifically need Aurora features, IAM database auth, or tight VPC integration with other AWS services.
Does ManageStacks support MySQL replication and failover?
Yes. Source-replica streaming replication is standard on all plans. Automatic failover with ProxySQL or Orchestrator managing promotion is included on Business+ HA plans. On Enterprise, InnoDB Cluster (Group Replication) is available for multi-primary write scaling.
Can I migrate my existing MySQL database to ManageStacks?
Yes. mysqldump for small databases, mydumper/myloader for larger ones, or replication-based migration (set us as a replica of your current primary, cut over when caught up) for zero-downtime moves. We help with the export/import as part of onboarding.
Does ManageStacks handle MySQL version upgrades?
Yes. Major upgrades (8.0 → 8.4 → 9.x) are tested on a clone of your database first; we validate schema and query compatibility before rolling forward. Minor patches (8.4.0 → 8.4.1) apply automatically during maintenance windows. You can pin a specific major version if your app has known incompatibilities.
MySQL or MariaDB — which should I choose?
For net-new deployments in 2026, both are excellent. MySQL 8 has InnoDB Cluster (Group Replication) for multi-primary writes; MariaDB has Galera + more open-source-community-driven development. If your app is officially MySQL-supported (Magento, some WordPress plugins), pick MySQL. If you value the open-source-community stance, pick MariaDB. Wire-protocol compatible for most workloads either way.
How is connection pooling handled?
ProxySQL runs in front of every MySQL primary by default. It handles connection pooling (crucial — MySQL threads are expensive), read/write splitting, and query rewriting. Your app connects to ProxySQL's port; ProxySQL manages the backend connection pool and routes writes to primary, reads to replicas.
What about MySQL's binlog for CDC / streaming to Kafka?
Yes. Binlog is enabled by default (needed for replication and PITR). CDC via Debezium, Maxwell, or a native binlog reader all work. Common pattern: stream MySQL changes into Kafka on ManageStacks or into ClickHouse for analytics. Business+ plans include a dedicated binlog reader endpoint.
What happens if I want to migrate to RDS or another provider?
mysqldump for logical export, or replication-based migration (make the target a replica of us, then cut over). MySQL is portable by design. Migration off ManageStacks is a supported operation.
Run MySQL without carrying the pager
Subscribe through your AWS, Azure, or GCP marketplace. We handle provisioning, SSL, monitoring, backups, updates, and security. From $15/mo.