What is PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL is a powerful open source relational database known for reliability and advanced features. CloudSonic offers fully managed PostgreSQL with TimescaleDB, automated backups, and replication.

CloudSonic
CloudSonic Written & updated by the CloudSonic Team
Last Updated September 10, 2026

TL;DR PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL, often referred to as Postgres, is a powerful open source relational database system with over 35 years of active development behind it. It is known for strict adherence to SQL standards, advanced data types, and features that go well beyond what simpler databases like MySQL or MariaDB offer, including full support for JSON, arrays, full-text search, and complex indexing strategies. PostgreSQL is the preferred database for many modern web applications, APIs, and data-heavy workloads where data integrity and query complexity matter. CloudSonic offers fully managed PostgreSQL with automated backups, replication, and TimescaleDB support for time-series data built in. It is an excellent choice for API hosting and application hosting workloads that need a more capable database than MySQL provides.

How PostgreSQL Works

PostgreSQL uses a process-based architecture where each client connection is handled by a dedicated server process. When a query arrives, PostgreSQL parses it, analyses it for validity, rewrites it if necessary using its rules system, then passes it to the query planner which generates an optimal execution plan based on table statistics and available indexes. The executor then carries out the plan and returns the results. PostgreSQL's shared buffer cache keeps frequently accessed data pages in memory to minimise disk reads. Its write-ahead log ensures that every transaction is recorded to disk before being acknowledged, so committed data is never lost even in the event of a crash. PostgreSQL also has a vacuuming process that runs in the background to reclaim storage space from deleted and updated rows, which is necessary because of its multi-version concurrency control system that keeps old row versions visible to concurrent transactions.

Frequently Asked Questions on PostgreSQL

Is PostgreSQL harder to manage than MySQL?

PostgreSQL has a reputation for being more complex to configure and tune than MySQL, and this is partially true for self-managed installations. The configuration options are more numerous and the behaviour around things like connection management and vacuuming requires understanding. CloudSonic's managed PostgreSQL handles all of this configuration and maintenance for you so the complexity is irrelevant from a practical standpoint.

When should I choose PostgreSQL over MySQL for my application?

Choose PostgreSQL when your application needs advanced data types like JSON, arrays, or custom types, when you need complex queries with window functions or common table expressions, when data integrity constraints need to be enforced strictly at the database level, or when you are working with time-series data using the TimescaleDB extension. For standard WordPress installations MySQL or MariaDB remain the better supported choice.

Does PostgreSQL work with WordPress?

Not natively. WordPress was built for MySQL and MariaDB and its database schema and queries are written for MySQL syntax. There are community plugins that add PostgreSQL compatibility but they are not officially supported and have known limitations. PostgreSQL on CloudSonic is intended for custom applications, API hosting, and application hosting workloads rather than WordPress installations.

What is TimescaleDB and when would I need it?

TimescaleDB is a PostgreSQL extension that adds optimisations for time-series data, which is data where each record has a timestamp and queries typically filter or aggregate by time range. It is used for storing metrics, monitoring data, financial tick data, IoT sensor readings, and similar workloads. CloudSonic includes TimescaleDB on managed PostgreSQL instances, making it a good choice for applications that need to store and query large volumes of time-stamped data efficiently.