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Firebird SQL vs IBM Informix comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Firebird SQL
Ranking in Embedded Database
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (6th)
IBM Informix
Ranking in Embedded Database
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (28th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Embedded Database category, the mindshare of Firebird SQL is 11.1%, down from 19.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Informix is 4.1%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Embedded Database Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Firebird SQL11.1%
IBM Informix4.1%
Other84.8%
Embedded Database
 

Featured Reviews

SS
Research and Development Project Manager at Sixense Monitoring
Efficient data storage with reliable and easy management
We are working on monitoring software that involves making a lot of measurements with sensors. We store all the data in Firebird, which is why we use It primarily for data storage It's difficult to describe how it has improved our organization because we have been using Firebird for a very long…
Nasir Niamat - PeerSpot reviewer
DB Consultant at i2c
Has offered a cost-effective option despite frequent technical issues and limited market demand
We find some bugs in IBM Informix. Maybe we are using it more aggressively than others. Every month or every second month, we find some bugs in it, which is not ideal. It should be rare, not this frequent. The good thing is they cover those bugs in the next release within weeks or days on demand. IBM Informix should become hybrid and should include AI features similar to other DBMS systems such as Snowflake, Redshift, and DataBricks. This would help its value rise with the market.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"We are happy with the event capabilities of Firebird SQL database. We can raise events from it and display them in our application."
"I like Firebird because it's very lightweight; it's very light and powerful, and I can do everything that I can with MS SQL Server and Oracle with Firebird, with very easy deployment on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows and great integration capabilities."
"We are satisfied with Firebird SQL, and we will keep on using it."
"It helps us in detecting all kinds of problems in the code, such as bad quality, unclear code, or any violation in the code or best practices."
"I find the ease of deployment to be the most valuable aspect of this solution."
"The solution is very useful for stock management."
"The solution has worked perfectly; I've never run into issues or had to reach out to technical support for troubleshooting."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution and can run on most operating systems, such as Linux, Unix, and Windows."
"For IoT business cases, having Informix Enterprise Edition work on edge computers, like Raspberry Pi and using Informix replication, makes complex situations simple to build and maintain."
"Overall, this is a great product. It works really well, is very stable, and is very scalable."
"This solution has made financial reporting possible by allowing financial people the opportunity to set Informix to "Auto Pilot" so that they can attend other duties."
"It is very easy to install IBM Informix, very easy to scale, and support is quite better."
"The stability is incredible. I have customers with uptimes of several years."
"Informix can support huge quantities of data with less memory and less capacity."
"Not looking at Informix would really mean a shot in your own leg before walking a long distance."
"It supports in-house-built applications in .NET and VB6"
 

Cons

"It would be nice to have a graphical user interface to handle the product."
"Technical support and performance could be better. We have some problems with this solution, but we don't know if the problem is with the database or the configuration. For example, sometimes, the users can't access the database."
"It is not easy to integrate the tool with Visual Studio."
"It would be good to have more automation and integration with the tools from other vendors."
"I'd rate the solution five or six out of ten for the possibilities it has currently."
"In the next release, it should support JSON, XML, and replication with third-party tools."
"They need to be more reactive and fast. Sometimes, they take too long to resolve some tickets."
"On large databases, we have some difficulties."
"Continue extending the SQL language for compatibility with the competition's language, including Stored Procedure Language."
"The product needs a lot more marketing involvement from IBM."
"I experienced poor input/output (IO) performance."
"The support team could include local engineers to establish efficient communication. It will help us speed up the escalation process."
"The solution doesn't include functionality like data anonymization."
"The technical support services need substantial improvement."
"In my opinion, the packages could be improved. The version I use doesn't allow for packages. I can do some general procedures, but no packages like in Oracle. So, develop separate modules in SQL language. This would be most beneficial for me."
"There should be more intelligence surrounding discovering data to be able to automatically create indexes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is no licensing cost for this solution, as it is open-source."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution, which means it is a free product."
"There is a yearly maintenance fee for the use of the solution."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is freely available."
"I was using the free version of Firebird SQL."
"The tool is open source."
"We are using the free solution, so there is no cost involved."
"It is a public domain system as every customer can install it on their system without paying any license fee."
"I am not aware of the licensing costs or terms."
"The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license."
"The free edition can be enough to handle moderate-size implementations, but you may want a pay for edition to benefit from more functionality, such as replication."
"For me, it's always too expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Construction Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

How does Firebird SQL compare with PostgreSQL?
PostgreSQL was designed in a way that provides you with not only a high degree of flexibility but also offers you a cheap and easy-to-use solution. It gives you the ability to redesign and audit yo...
What needs improvement with Firebird SQL?
We would like to improve the management of very large databases. We have databases up to three or four terabytes, and it's not so easy to manage such large databases.
What is your primary use case for Firebird SQL?
We are working on monitoring software that involves making a lot of measurements with sensors. We store all the data in Firebird, which is why we use It primarily for data storage.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Informix?
There is a cost reason to move from IBM Informix. It is relatively cheaper than Oracle. The second reason is that moving the whole application to a new database would require significant cost. The ...
What needs improvement with IBM Informix?
We find some bugs in IBM Informix. Maybe we are using it more aggressively than others. Every month or every second month, we find some bugs in it, which is not ideal. It should be rare, not this f...
What is your primary use case for IBM Informix?
We are using IBM Informix for OLTP systems. We are using IBM Informix although it is a technology that is not very popular compared to others. We are using it because our application was initially ...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Informix
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Elekt Labs, Streamsoft, wobe-systems GmbH, DRB Systems, Moscow City Hospital #31
Shaspa, Hildebrand, Kaifa, Ranhill Powertron, Federaci‹ Farmacutica (FedeFarma), Camden Council, The German Aerospace Center (DLR), Myers, Votorantim Group, Doosan Infracore, GreenIvory
Find out what your peers are saying about Firebird SQL vs. IBM Informix and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.