No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Firebird SQL vs MySQL comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

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 Open Source Databases
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Embedded Database (4th)
MySQL
Ranking in Open Source Databases
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
152
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Firebird SQL is 9.6%, down from 16.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MySQL is 12.3%, up from 9.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Open Source Databases Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
MySQL12.3%
Firebird SQL9.6%
Other78.1%
Open Source Databases
 

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…
Prabir Kumar Kundu - PeerSpot reviewer
SR AVP–Presales Cloud & Platform Management Services at Path Infotech ltd
Offers robust security and availability with impressive replication capabilities
Regarding their documentation and interface, there is room for improvement. Documentation is definitely required when running multiple databases on a cluster system. The load balancer, MySQL LB, which is used to connect to the application, lacks clear documentation. When there are multiple application servers connecting to the MySQL cluster and going through the MySQL load balancer, the documentation is not user-friendly. It's there, but only technical persons with deep knowledge of the MySQL database can implement it. Most of the community users or ISVs who use MySQL don't have many technical persons or DBA experts, so they face some challenges for the high availability of connecting high available databases from high available applications. That documentation should be simplified.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I appreciate the fact that, once the database is embedded, it doesn't need to be administered, and removes the requirement for a specific server."
"The solution has worked perfectly; I've never run into issues or had to reach out to technical support for troubleshooting."
"The reliability and ease of management are very valuable."
"Robustness is the absolutely main feature."
"I can deploy it on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows — it's very easy."
"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 happy with the event capabilities of Firebird SQL database. We can raise events from it and display them in our application."
"The solution is very useful for stock management."
"MySQL is open-source. There are a lot of open-source communities trying to come up with their own patches, and to come up with their own features, which help MySQL develop faster than traditional databases like Oracle, which is closed source."
"​The most valuable feature of MySQL is the informative error outputs of command line interface.​"
"MySQL is a very useful database which is used by a lot of companies, so it should be really good."
"I would recommend this product if someone is new to the IT world."
"The feature that I have found most valuable is its ubiquity, as MySQL is everywhere, so if I need to find a developer to do things to it that I don't know, it's very easy to find someone who has expertise in it."
"I am totally satisfied with MySQL, and I like its performance, ease of use, stability, and scalability."
"I rate the solution's stability a ten out of ten since it has been running flawlessly."
"The initial setup was pretty straightforward. I would have worked with our IT team in terms of the initial setup."
 

Cons

"In the next release, it should support JSON, XML, and replication with third-party tools."
"Database sharing is a capability that Firebird SQL lacks."
"It would be interesting if they added functionality with redundancy, reputation, and variability."
"There aren't a lot of people using this solution — it's not very popular in the marketplace."
"The security of the users could improve in Firebird SQL."
"This solution isn't very user-friendly, or intuitive, which could be improved when it is developed."
"It would be nice to have a graphical user interface to handle the product."
"It is not easy to integrate the tool with Visual Studio."
"Its performance should be better. When we use big data, it is slow in performance. We should be able to use mirroring for improved performance."
"The analytics features are in need of improvement."
"With time, we got version issues, as our DB engine was so old and not updated."
"MySQL's performance needs to be improved for enterprise-level applications compared to Oracle and Postgres."
"Replication and HA features, but that is to be expected at this entry point."
"I would like to have features that allow us to jump between the cloud and our on-premises system."
"The GUI interface probably can be improved. MySQL can have more performance monitoring tools."
"In MySQL, you can only have one master. The master's scalability was always a problem."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are using the free solution, so there is no cost involved."
"There is a yearly maintenance fee for the use of the solution."
"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."
"It's open-source and free."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is freely available."
"It is okay."
"It is a public domain system as every customer can install it on their system without paying any license fee."
"MySQL is released under an open-source license, so you have nothing to pay to use it."
"I rate the solution's pricing as four out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. For our basic needs, it's quite affordable. However, the cost increases when we need to scale up or require high availability. Our developer team of about 600 people uses MySQL without much issue. The pricing becomes more of a concern on the business side, as we have more end users and need constant database availability and scaling. In those cases, the solution gets a bit more expensive, even though it provides good value for the business."
"I think that MySQL is a premium product."
"It's free."
"There is a license needed for this solution."
"The pricing is not much expensive, it's cheap."
"We do have a couple of clients who choose to use the paid, enterprise version of the solution and who take full advantage of it."
"I use a free version at present."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Open Source Databases solutions are best for your needs.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business74
Midsize Enterprise34
Large Enterprise64
 

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.
Why are MySQL connections encrypted and what is the biggest benefit of this?
MySQL encrypts connections to protect your data and the biggest benefit from this is that nobody can corrupt it. If you move information over a network without encryption, you are endangering it, m...
Considering that there is a free version of MySQL, would you invest in one of the paid editions?
I may be considered a MySQL veteran since I have been using it since before Oracle bought it and created paid versions. So back in my day, it was all free, it was open-source and the best among sim...
What is one thing you would improve with MySQL?
One thing I would improve related to MySQL is not within the product itself, but with the guides to it. Before, when it was free, everyone was on their own, seeking tutorials and how-to videos onli...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Elekt Labs, Streamsoft, wobe-systems GmbH, DRB Systems, Moscow City Hospital #31
Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.
Find out what your peers are saying about Firebird SQL vs. MySQL and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.