node-mysql2

MySQL2 is the MySQL driver Node.js actually uses. It speaks the wire protocol in pure JavaScript, no compiled bindings, and adds what the original mysqljs library never shipped: real prepared statements, the binary protocol, compression, and a promise API. Free, MIT licensed, and one of the most-installed packages in the Node ecosystem.

There's nothing to operate. It's API-compatible with the old mysql package, so migration is usually a one-line change to your imports. Prepared statements aren't just safer against SQL injection, they're faster, because the server parses each query once.

Every Node app talking to MySQL or MariaDB should be on this, either directly or through an ORM that wraps it. Prisma, Drizzle, and Sequelize all ride on top. Use it directly when you want SQL without an abstraction tax.

The catch: it's a driver, nothing more. No migrations, no query builder, no failover logic beyond connection pooling. That's the point, but know what you're signing up for.