---
title: "MySQL | Grafana Labs"
description: "MySQL data source for application data."
---

> For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).

# MySQL: Query your databases directly

**What it’s for:** Application data including sales metrics, user counts, inventory, and any MySQL-stored data.

## Compatible databases

MySQL, MariaDB, Percona Server, Amazon Aurora MySQL, Azure Database for MySQL, Google Cloud SQL for MySQL

## Good to know

- Query language: SQL
- Built into Grafana, with nothing extra to install
- A general-purpose database, not a time-series store like Prometheus or InfluxDB

## Best for

- Application dashboards
- Data already in MySQL or compatible databases
- Combining technical and application metrics

> **Tip:** MySQL is a general-purpose database rather than a time-series store like Prometheus or InfluxDB. As a general practice, point Grafana at a read replica for complex queries or large datasets so they don’t impact your production database.

* * *

## Set it up

Open this path in your Grafana Cloud stack for a fully interactive experience, or read through it to understand the process first.

Learning path

#### Connect to a MySQL data source

Welcome to the Grafana learning path that provides the best practice for configuring a MySQL data source plugin.

11 min

Beginner

Docs & blog posts

#### Open in Grafana Cloud

Complete this learning path directly in your Grafana Cloud stack with an interactive learning experience.

[Open in Grafana Cloud]()

[View on website](/docs/learning-paths/mysql-data-source/)