MySQL

MySQL is an open-source relational database management system. WordPress stores all its data in a MySQL database, including posts, pages, comments, users, options, and plugin-generated data, organised into tables with the default prefix wp_.

WordPress also supports MariaDB, a community-maintained fork of MySQL with identical syntax. Database performance is critical for WordPress speed, particularly for WooCommerce stores with large product catalogues or high order volumes. Slow database queries are a common cause of poor server response time.