Firebird SQL vs PostgreSQL comparison

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Firebird SQL

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

PostgreSQL and Firebird SQL are two open-source databases competing in the market. Based on comparison across different sections, PostgreSQL seems to have an edge due to its extensive feature set and strong cloud deployment capabilities.

Features: PostgreSQL provides a rich feature set including comprehensive SQL standards support, complex query handling, and superior data reliability. It supports JSON and NoSQL features, making it versatile for diverse applications. Additionally, PostgreSQL's extensibility is valued by developers. Firebird SQL, contrastingly, offers simplicity and ease of use, an ideal choice for environments with limited resources. The lightweight nature of Firebird makes it straightforward to administer and deploy.

Room for Improvement: PostgreSQL users call for improved replication, enhanced user-friendly properties for beginners, and better performance on large-scale queries. Firebird SQL could benefit from enhancements in handling larger databases, more graphical management tools, and boosted integration capabilities with existing development frameworks.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: PostgreSQL's versatile deployment options across cloud configurations enhance its applicability in complex settings. Despite strong community support, there is a demand for centralized documentation. Firebird SQL is praised for easy on-premises deployment and has solid community-driven support, though it lacks a centralized commercial-grade support system.

Pricing and ROI: Both databases are open-source with no licensing costs, providing significant savings over commercial options. PostgreSQL might incur additional costs for support services but offers substantial ROI, valuable for startups and transitioning enterprises. Firebird SQL stands out as cost-effective in scenarios where stability and simplicity are prioritized over advanced features.

To learn more, read our detailed Firebird SQL vs. PostgreSQL Report (Updated: July 2025).

Firebird SQL vs. PostgreSQL

July 2025

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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

1st

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Embedded Database (2nd)

PostgreSQL

Ranking in Open Source Databases

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

125

Ranking in other categories

Vector Databases (12th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Firebird SQL is 16.5%, down from 20.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 17.1%, down from 20.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Open Source Databases

Featured Reviews

Doug Meuross

Strategic Advisor at TradeWindow

A reliable tool that offers good performance and is easy to use

I have had no issues with the stability of the product since it has always been a 100 percent reliable product and much better than the other databases available in the market. The multi-platform part is not good, especially when locked into things like Windows. You can judge your platform with Linux or Unix or whatever since they are good.

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PavithrarajShetty

Software Architect at Tetherfi

Offers simplicity and is cheaply priced

I haven't gone through the scalability aspect since I was using MySQL Server. I haven't worked to a high level in PostgreSQL, but with MySQL Server, I have managed clustering and partitioning. I think I haven't put much focus on PostgreSQL, so I am not sure how it behaves or how it works.

Read full review

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."

"I like that we don't have to pay external fees to migrate this data. So, we are looking to relocate from Postgres or EDB."

"I find the ease of deployment to be the most valuable aspect of this solution."

"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution and can run on most operating systems, such as Linux, Unix, and Windows."

"I can deploy it on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows — it's very easy."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is reliable, offers good performance, and is easy to use."

"The most valuable feature of Firebird SQL is the creation of databases."

"The reliability and ease of management are very valuable."

More Firebird SQL pros

"The system can perform faster analysis by providing it with a lot of memory. Speed is crucial for analytics. Currently, the main reason we haven't adopted Elasticsearch is that we lack the necessary expertise to manage it."

"What I like is that it's quite powerful in terms of performance."

"The solution is open-source and free to use."

"The initial setup is quick and easy."

"Clustering will be the number 1 feature. It is also open-source so it is free. It can also be clustered, to allow fault tolerance."

"We often use PostgreSQL for operations monitoring because we are a manufacturing company."

"We are able to create many different types of jobs and items with this solution making it one of the most valuable features."

"One of the most valuable features is real-time data capture; it optimizes database performance. I think using real-time data capture reduces job running time and the amount of data sent at once with batch loads."

Cons

"The solution could improve by providing partitioning and encryption. It is not at the higher level of database solution but it could be with some upgrades."

"The security of the users could improve in Firebird SQL."

"It would be good to have more automation and integration with the tools from other vendors."

"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."

"On large databases, we have some difficulties."

"It would be nice to have a graphical user interface to handle the product."

"The main feature I expect is to be able to work with different databases at the same time because that's a wishlist item for me."

More Firebird SQL cons

"Instead of the installation agent downloading all the packages for the install, it should allow the user to download the packages separately on their own to do the install."

"Sometimes, the views create problems. If you don't have the view, sometimes what happens is you need to have the drivers properly set up for PostgreSQL."

"I find it difficult to get connectors on the tool. For example, .NET has only one free provider in PostgreSQL. I need to pay the provider if I need something more sophisticated features. Other languages like PHP and Java have good community support. We need community support for .NET."

"The user interface for the clients could be easier to use as they are small businesses. From a technical support perspective, the documentation could be improved."

"We have to set up event API, which takes a lot of events from the user."

"PostgreSQL could improve by adding data warehousing tools."

"It could be more secure."

"PostgreSQL could improve by providing a geographical solution for tracking trucks and people in the field. They might already have features similar to this and I have not found them. I haven't done research about this topic."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I was using the free version of Firebird SQL."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is freely available."

"It's open-source and free."

"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution, which means it is a free product."

"It is a public domain system as every customer can install it on their system without paying any license fee."

"There is a yearly maintenance fee for the use of the solution."

"We are using the free solution, so there is no cost involved."

"It is okay."

More Firebird SQL pricing and cost advice

"We do not pay for licensing."

"Our company pays for it. There are free versions available, but for advanced features, you obviously have to pay."

"The need for our customers to pay for licences is contingent on their projects and budgets."

"It is an open-source platform."

"We use the open-source version of PostgreSQL and not the enterprise edition."

"It is free. In terms of operating costs, it basically needs the same platform on which Oracle runs."

"It could be much cheaper. If you would like to build an application on Amazon today, PostgreSQL is the standard database with Redshift. If you want other databases, you can add them, but PostgreSQL is the basis of everything. It's a question of money, that's it."

"It is open source. There is no licensing."

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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 do you like most about Firebird SQL?

Firebird SQL is an open-source solution.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Firebird SQL?

It's open-source and free.

What do you like most about PostgreSQL?

It's a transactional database, so we use Postgres for most of our reporting. That's where it's helping.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PostgreSQL?

The tool is free of cost. For now, it's not about making money. But once we perfect it, we can offer it to customers willing to pay for support and other services. Most of my deployments are free.

What needs improvement with PostgreSQL?

Postgres should focus on building a stronger knowledge base. They also need to expand their integration capabilities, so more tools and resources are available to manage it. But it is more secure t...

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Product Reports

Download Firebird SQL product report

Embedded Database

August 2025

Download PostgreSQL product report

August 2025

Overview

Firebird SQL is an open-source, cross-platform relational database management system that offers an enterprise-level database solution. The solution is designed to be highly secure, efficient, and compatible with various platforms and programming languages. Firebird can operate in both embedded and server modes.

Firebird is an open-source project with an active community of developers and users. It is released under the Initial Developer's Public License (IDPL) and the InterBase Public License, allowing for free use, modification, and distribution.

The Firebird solution requires minimal configuration and its architecture allows it to efficiently handle databases ranging from a few KB to multiple terabytes. It is available for various operating systems, including Windows, Linux, macOS, and several Unix-like platforms.

What are the key features of Firebird SQL?

ACID Compliance: Firebird provides full support for ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) transactions, ensuring data integrity and consistency, even in the event of system failures or concurrent access.
SQL Language Support: Firebird SQL provides extensive support for ANSI SQL, which is the standard SQL language, making it compatible with a wide range of applications and tools.
Multi-Generational Architecture: Firebird employs a multi-generational architecture, which allows multiple versions of the same data to coexist within the database.
Concurrency and Performance: Firebird offers efficient concurrency control mechanisms, including multi-version concurrency control (MVCC), which allows multiple transactions to access and modify data simultaneously without locking or blocking each other, improving overall performance.
Embedded mode: In the embedded mode, the database engine is integrated directly into the application.
Security Features: Firebird provides user authentication, role-based access control, and encryption capabilities. It supports various authentication methods, such as native Firebird user accounts, external authentication sources (e.g., Windows domains), and single sign-on (SSO) mechanisms.
Backup and Restore: Firebird offers built-in backup and restore utilities, allowing users to create full or incremental backups of the database, as well as restore from these backups when needed.

As part of being a commonly used open-sourced solution, Firebird boasts a vibrant community of developers and users. The community provides extensive documentation, third-party tools, and active forums for support. Businesses can also opt for professional support services offered by third-party vendors for added assurance.

To summarize, Firebird SQL is a robust, scalable, and cost-effective database solution suitable for a wide range of applications and business sizes. Its comprehensive SQL support, security features, and cross-platform compatibility, combined with the active community support, make it a compelling choice for businesses looking to leverage the power of open-source software without compromising on performance or security.

Firebird

PostgreSQL is a versatile and reliable database management system commonly used for web development, data analysis, and building scalable databases.

It offers advanced features like indexing, replication, and transaction management. Users appreciate its flexibility, performance, and ability to handle large amounts of data efficiently. Its robustness, scalability, and support for complex queries make it highly valuable.

Additionally, PostgreSQL's extensibility, flexibility, community support, and frequent updates contribute to its ongoing improvement and stability.

Sample Customers

Elekt Labs, Streamsoft, wobe-systems GmbH, DRB Systems, Moscow City Hospital #31

1. Apple 2. Cisco 3. Fujitsu 4. Instagram 5. Netflix 6. Red Hat 7. Sony 8. Uber 9. Cisco Systems 10. Skype 11. LinkedIn 12. Etsy 13. Yelp 14. Reddit 15. Dropbox 16. Slack 17. Twitch 18. WhatsApp 19. Snapchat 20. Shazam 21. SoundCloud 22. The New York Times 23. Cisco WebEx 24. Atlassian 25. Cisco Meraki 26. Heroku 27. GitLab 28. Zalando 29. OpenTable 30. Trello 31. Square Enix 32. Bloomberg