Both are fully supported and run the same tests, so neither is a second-class choice. Webfaze picks one from your settings:

  • Set the DB_* settings (DB_HOST, DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD) and it uses MySQL (5.7 or newer) or MariaDB (10.2 or newer).
  • Leave them all out and it uses SQLite: one file, webfaze.db, in Webfaze's data folder.

SQLite is a good fit when

  • you don't want to create a database or manage credentials;
  • your site is small or medium, which covers most business sites. It's often faster too, because there's no network round trip per query;
  • you want the simplest possible backup: the database is one file in the data folder.

MySQL or MariaDB is a good fit when

  • your host gives you one and you'd like to see your data in phpMyAdmin or back it up with your host's tools;
  • you're used to managing databases that way.

Either way

  • Webfaze creates all of its tables on first start. Never import an SQL file.
  • MySQL tables are created as utf8mb4, so Urdu, Arabic and emoji are stored correctly.
  • The data folder still matters with MySQL: your uploads, licence and config/secrets.env (your encryption keys) live there.

Decide before you build your site. Moving an existing site from one to the other isn't a one-click switch, so it's easiest to choose at install time. SQLite needs Node.js 22.13 or newer, which the required 22.15 already covers.