Vitess combines many important MySQL features with the scalability of a NoSQL database. Its built-in sharding features let you grow your database without adding sharding logic to your application.
Vitess automatically rewrites queries that hurt database performance. It also uses caching mechanisms to mediate queries and prevent duplicate queries from simultaneously reaching your database.
Vitess eliminates the high-memory overhead of MySQL connections. Its gRPC-based protocol lets Vitess servers easily handle thousands of connections at once.
MySQL doesn't natively support sharding, but you will likely need it as your database grows. Vitess saves you from having to add sharding logic to your app and also enables live resharding with minimal read-only downtime.