MySQL vs DynamoDB for Solo Developers

Quick Comparison

MySQL Overview

MySQL is the relational database that powers most of the web. It stores data in tables with rows and columns, supports SQL for querying, and has been doing this reliably for over 25 years. Every web framework supports it, every hosting provider offers it, and finding MySQL help online takes about five seconds.

For solo developers, MySQL makes sense because it is predictable. You define your schema, write SQL queries, and the data behaves the way you expect. Relationships between tables work naturally with JOINs. Reporting is straightforward. If your data has clear relationships, MySQL handles it cleanly.

The main limitation is scaling. MySQL scales vertically (bigger server) and horizontally through read replicas, but sharding is complex and manual. For most solo developer projects, you will never hit that limit.

DynamoDB Overview

DynamoDB is Amazon's fully managed NoSQL database. It stores data as key-value pairs or documents and delivers single-digit millisecond performance at any scale. Amazon built it to handle the scale of their shopping cart system, and it powers some of the highest-traffic applications on the internet.

The managed aspect is attractive. No servers to provision, no backups to configure, no patches to apply. AWS handles everything. The free tier gives you 25 GB of storage and enough read/write capacity for a small application. Pay-per-request pricing means you pay only for what you use.

But DynamoDB has a steep learning curve. Data modeling is completely different from relational databases. You need to design your access patterns upfront because you cannot just run arbitrary SQL queries. Getting the data model wrong means rewriting significant parts of your application.

Key Differences

Data modeling philosophy. MySQL lets you normalize your data into clean tables and query it flexibly with SQL. DynamoDB forces you to think about access patterns first and model your data around how you will query it. This means denormalization, composite keys, and single-table design patterns that feel alien if you come from the SQL world. For a solo developer, MySQL's flexible querying is much more forgiving of evolving requirements.

Querying capability. With MySQL, you can write any SQL query you need, including complex JOINs, aggregations, subqueries, and ad-hoc reporting. DynamoDB only supports queries by partition key and sort key. Anything else requires a full table scan or a Global Secondary Index that you must plan ahead. Need a report you did not anticipate? In MySQL, you write a query. In DynamoDB, you might need to restructure your data.

Operational burden vs flexibility. DynamoDB is zero-ops. No server management, automatic scaling, built-in backups. MySQL requires a server, whether managed or self-hosted. But that operational simplicity comes at the cost of flexibility. When your requirements change (and they always do for solo developers iterating on a product), MySQL adapts. DynamoDB punishes schema changes.

Vendor lock-in. MySQL is open source. You can run it anywhere, switch to MariaDB, or migrate to PostgreSQL with reasonable effort. DynamoDB is AWS-only. If you build on DynamoDB, you are committed to AWS. Moving away means rewriting your entire data layer. For a solo developer, that lock-in is a real risk.

Cost at scale. MySQL on a modest VPS costs $5-20/month and handles significant traffic. DynamoDB's pay-per-request pricing can surprise you. Read and write operations have costs that add up quickly for applications with high throughput. Without careful capacity planning, DynamoDB bills can spike unexpectedly.

When to Choose MySQL

• Your data has clear relationships between entities
• You need flexible querying and reporting
• You want to avoid vendor lock-in
• Budget predictability matters to you
• You are iterating on your product and requirements change often

When to Choose DynamoDB

• You are already deep in the AWS ecosystem
• You need zero operational overhead for your database
• Your access patterns are well-defined and unlikely to change
• You need guaranteed single-digit millisecond latency at any scale
• Your data model fits key-value or document patterns naturally

The Verdict

MySQL is the better choice for most solo developers. The flexible querying alone makes it worth choosing over DynamoDB. When you are building a product and iterating quickly, being able to write any SQL query you need without redesigning your data model is invaluable. DynamoDB excels at its specific use case (massive scale, predictable access patterns, zero ops), but that use case rarely matches what solo developers need. Start with MySQL (or PostgreSQL). If you hit a scale where you genuinely need DynamoDB's capabilities, you will know, and you will have revenue to fund the migration.