diff --git a/debezium-microbenchmark/pom.xml b/debezium-microbenchmark/pom.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9aa6332ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debezium-microbenchmark/pom.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+    <parent>
+        <groupId>io.debezium</groupId>
+        <artifactId>debezium-parent</artifactId>
+        <version>0.8.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <relativePath>../pom.xml</relativePath>
+    </parent>
+    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+    <artifactId>debezium-microbenchmark</artifactId>
+    <name>Debezium Microbenchmark Tests</name>
+    <packaging>jar</packaging>
+    <dependencies>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>io.debezium</groupId>
+            <artifactId>debezium-core</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>io.debezium</groupId>
+            <artifactId>debezium-connector-mysql</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
+            <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
+            <artifactId>slf4j-log4j12</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>log4j</groupId>
+            <artifactId>log4j</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.openjdk.jmh</groupId>
+            <artifactId>jmh-core</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.openjdk.jmh</groupId>
+            <artifactId>jmh-generator-annprocess</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+    </dependencies>
+    <build>
+        <resources>
+            <!-- Apply the properties set in the POM to the resource files -->
+            <resource>
+                <filtering>true</filtering>
+                <directory>src/main/resources</directory>
+                <includes>
+                    <include>**/build.properties</include>
+                </includes>
+            </resource>
+        </resources>
+        <plugins>
+            <plugin>
+                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                 <artifactId>maven-checkstyle-plugin</artifactId>
+                 <configuration>
+                     <excludes>**/generated/**</excludes>
+                 </configuration>
+            </plugin>
+            <plugin>
+                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <phase>package</phase>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>shade</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <finalName>${project.artifactId}</finalName>
+                            <transformers>
+                                <transformer implementation="org.apache.maven.plugins.shade.resource.DontIncludeResourceTransformer">
+                                    <resource>MANIFEST.MF</resource>
+                                </transformer>
+                                <transformer implementation="org.apache.maven.plugins.shade.resource.ManifestResourceTransformer">
+                                    <mainClass>org.openjdk.jmh.Main</mainClass>
+                                </transformer>
+                            </transformers>
+                            <filters>
+                                <filter>
+                                    <!--
+                                        Shading signed JARs will fail without this.
+                                        http://stackoverflow.com/questions/999489/invalid-signature-file-when-attempting-to-run-a-jar
+                                    -->
+                                    <artifact>*:*</artifact>
+                                    <excludes>
+                                        <exclude>META-INF/*.SF</exclude>
+                                        <exclude>META-INF/*.DSA</exclude>
+                                        <exclude>META-INF/*.RSA</exclude>
+                                    </excludes>
+                                </filter>
+                            </filters>
+                        </configuration>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
+            </plugin>
+        </plugins>
+    </build>
+</project>
diff --git a/debezium-microbenchmark/src/main/java/io/debezium/performance/connector/mysql/parser/MySqlDdlParserPerf.java b/debezium-microbenchmark/src/main/java/io/debezium/performance/connector/mysql/parser/MySqlDdlParserPerf.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..705a42e70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debezium-microbenchmark/src/main/java/io/debezium/performance/connector/mysql/parser/MySqlDdlParserPerf.java
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Debezium Authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache Software License version 2.0, available at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ */
+package io.debezium.performance.connector.mysql.parser;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Benchmark;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.BenchmarkMode;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Fork;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Level;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Measurement;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Mode;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.OutputTimeUnit;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Param;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Scope;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Setup;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.State;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Warmup;
+
+import io.debezium.connector.mysql.MySqlDdlParser;
+import io.debezium.connector.mysql.antlr.MySqlAntlrDdlParser;
+import io.debezium.relational.Tables;
+import io.debezium.relational.ddl.AbstractDdlParser;
+
+/**
+ * A basic test to compare performance of legacy and antlr DDL parsers depending on the amount
+ * of columns in the statement.
+ *
+ * @author Jiri Pechanec <jpechane@redhat.com>
+ *
+ */
+public class MySqlDdlParserPerf {
+
+    @State(Scope.Thread)
+    public static class ParserState {
+
+        public AbstractDdlParser legacyParser;
+        public AbstractDdlParser antlrParser;
+        public Tables tables;
+        public String ddl;
+
+        @Param({"1", "2", "5", "10", "20", "50"})
+        public int columnCount;
+
+
+        @Setup(Level.Trial)
+        public void doSetup() {
+            legacyParser = new MySqlDdlParser();
+            antlrParser = new MySqlAntlrDdlParser();
+            tables = new Tables();
+            ddl = testStatement();
+        }
+
+        private String testStatement() {
+            final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("CREATE TABLE t1 (id int primary key");
+            for (int i = 0; i < columnCount; i++) {
+                sb.append(", v").append(i).append(" int");
+            }
+            final String statement = sb.append(")").toString();
+            return statement;
+        }
+    }
+
+
+    @Benchmark
+    @BenchmarkMode(Mode.AverageTime)
+    @OutputTimeUnit(TimeUnit.MICROSECONDS)
+    @Fork(value = 1)
+    @Warmup(iterations = 10, time = 1, timeUnit = TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+    @Measurement(iterations = 3, time = 2, timeUnit = TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+    public void legacy(ParserState state) {
+        state.legacyParser.parse(state.ddl, state.tables);
+    }
+
+    @Benchmark
+    @BenchmarkMode(Mode.AverageTime)
+    @OutputTimeUnit(TimeUnit.MICROSECONDS)
+    @Fork(value = 1)
+    @Warmup(iterations = 10, time = 1, timeUnit = TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+    @Measurement(iterations = 3, time = 2, timeUnit = TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+    public void antlr(ParserState state) {
+        state.antlrParser.parse(state.ddl, state.tables);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index b661e574d..f279be73f 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -82,8 +82,9 @@
         <!-- Testing -->
         <version.junit>4.12</version.junit>
         <version.fest>1.4</version.fest>
+        <version.jmh>1.21</version.jmh>
 
-       <!-- Maven Plugins -->
+        <!-- Maven Plugins -->
         <version.resources.plugin>2.7</version.resources.plugin>
         <version.dependency.plugin>2.10</version.dependency.plugin>
         <version.enforcer.plugin>3.0.0-M1</version.enforcer.plugin>
@@ -121,6 +122,7 @@
         <module>debezium-connector-mysql</module>
         <module>debezium-connector-postgres</module>
         <module>debezium-connector-mongodb</module>
+        <module>debezium-microbenchmark</module>
     </modules>
 
     <distributionManagement>
@@ -298,6 +300,16 @@
                 <artifactId>fest-assert</artifactId>
                 <version>${version.fest}</version>
             </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.openjdk.jmh</groupId>
+                <artifactId>jmh-core</artifactId>
+                <version>${version.jmh}</version>
+            </dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.openjdk.jmh</groupId>
+                <artifactId>jmh-generator-annprocess</artifactId>
+                <version>${version.jmh}</version>
+            </dependency>
 
             <!-- Debezium artifacts -->
             <dependency>