MariaDB vs MySQL on a budget box

MariaDB vs MySQL on a budget box
For most WP/Laravel sites MariaDB is the better default on small boxes: lighter, the aria + Galera options, and it idles leaner. MySQL 8 brings a real cost-based optimizer and better JSON, but its default buffers are hungry.
— 1GB box, generic CMS traffic: MariaDB
— Heavy JSON, window functions, you need MySQL-8 features: MySQL
Either way set innodb_buffer_pool_size by hand — defaults assume a fat server. Try it tonight.