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IBM Db2 Database vs kdb+ comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

IBM Db2 Database
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
kdb+
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
40th
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of IBM Db2 Database is 6.5%, down from 7.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of kdb+ is 1.0%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Db2 Database6.5%
kdb+1.0%
Other92.5%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Sathyan K - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder, Director at perfTech Solutions Pvt Ltd
Database has secured high-volume transactions and supports fast, compliant workflow processing
Sterling B2B Integrator is a highly transactional-oriented application, which can be described as an OLTP application. Any data that flows through the application is stored in the database for each step that it performs. IBM Db2 Database helps the application work much faster from an OLTP perspective. IBM Db2 Database is SSL enabled, which means that from the security point of view, any access to the database is through SSL. Additionally, all compliance-related aspects have been taken care of from the database point of view, including database encryption and security-related features. It is highly scalable, and its performance related to database pruning is very good. It can be scaled vertically or horizontally so that data insertions and data access are much faster and more secure compared to how Oracle or other databases work.
Nitin Garg - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President - Financial Services at Evalueserve
An easy-to-deploy solution that can be used for data ingestion and usage
I work for a fintech company where we create several strategies generally built on finance data, which are like one-time series data. We deal with huge bulk data on a daily basis, and we use kdb+ for data ingestion and usage The most valuable feature of kdb+ is the speed at which it returns the…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Db2 Database has given us good results since we have started to use it. We predominantly use IBM hardware, and this is one of the reasons why we started to use Db2 Database. Db2 Database has a very good HADR capability. High availability resilience is also good in this solution. It also has pureScale, which allows you to upgrade one node to get very good and high-level resilience. If you are using a database on five nodes, you can take one node down, upgrade that, and let that node up. You can then bring the second node down, upgrade that, and so on."
"It is a scalable solution."
"If you want horizontal scaling and reliability, DB2 for i is absolutely the way to go."
"Some of the most valuable features are the scaling from a small very cheap installation to a very large enterprise installation. In addition, the backups and assistance are good."
"The newly added feature of ALSM is one of the top features"
"The initial setup was easy."
"It is quite a stable solution."
"The most valuable features are the HADR, and it is so simple."
"The solution returns data quickly, and data retrieval is fast in kdb+."
 

Cons

"The solution could be more modern and have updated database technology."
"The solution no longer supports POWER8."
"The licensing fees can be reduced."
"The usage of Db2 could be simplified, as it is quite complex and requires substantial knowledge of Db2 and zOS."
"The product’s user interface is not easy to use."
"Do not use support. Freely available documentation is a bit weak.​"
"The capabilities of this solution could improve."
"I think they need to improve the GUI and I'd like to see more integration with other platforms."
"The solution should have a more user-friendly user interface."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We normally handle large size businesses and as far as I am aware, the license is negotiable based on the number of users and the quantitative data."
"Compared to other databases, Db2 is relatively cheaper."
"The total cost of the solution depends upon the PVU licensing"
"Compared to Oracle, it is so much cheaper."
"The solution's hardware and subscription model for support are very expensive."
"It's very expensive for West African countries like ours."
"It is expensive."
"They are competitive and honest (compared to how peer firms approach licensing conversations). ​"
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
37%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Educational Organization
6%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise48
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Db2 Database?
IBM Db2 is an expensive solution. While I am not heavily involved with pricing, additional companies provide capabilities or products like those from BMC, which many installations might also purchase.
What needs improvement with IBM Db2 Database?
A potential area of improvement is better documentation. From an educational perspective, it is difficult for people to understand IBM Db2 Database much faster compared to databases such as Oracle ...
What is your primary use case for IBM Db2 Database?
We use IBM Db2 Database for B2B Integrator, specifically Sterling B2B Integrator, which requires a database to store all configuration details. Any workflow that is created, any configuration messa...
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Comparisons

 

Also Known As

DB2
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Knorr-Bremse, Mizuho Bank Ltd., Australian Government Department of Defence, SCHWENK Zement, Friedhelm Loh Group, YAZAKI Europe Limited, Ekornes ASA, Baldor Electric, VSN Systemen BV, Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC, PLANSEE Group, TE Connectivity, Hansgrohe SE, Openmatics, University of Toronto
UniCredit, AIRBUS
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and others in Relational Databases Tools. Updated: October 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.