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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
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
76
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 September 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of IBM Db2 Database is 6.6%, down from 7.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of kdb+ is 0.9%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Db2 Database6.6%
kdb+0.9%
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

"We use DB2 HADR to replicate data on LAN to another site, and it is easy to takeover to the other site with easy integration with TSM."
"The solution has many beneficial features, such as security, support, and stability."
"For our clients who have a large scale enterprise, we suggest DB2 and mid-scale enterprise customers we suggest SQL Server or others."
"The solution can scale."
"This is definitely a stable solution."
"The solution is stable, and even if there are a large number of records, the performance stays the same with no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze."
"As part of your licensing with IBM, you get access to their case system, which lets you raise incidents related to software or hardware. This system is helpful for problem determination and quickly identifying issues."
"The valuable features include access path optimization, excellent performance, a robust locking mechanism, parallelism, and effective buffering in memory."
"The solution returns data quickly, and data retrieval is fast in kdb+."
 

Cons

"It would be ideal if the solution offered backup functionality. Many similar tools already do, which means Db2 is somewhat behind the curve in terms of what a customer might expect from it."
"The technical support team is not very good when compared to the efficiency of Oracle's support."
"The technical support can be faster."
"The queries can be difficult for beginners because there are so many. I would like to see more use cases for flow analysis that enable us to correlate the flow with events. Adding this feature in a QI format would be good for beginners."
"IBM's products tend to be quite costly, especially given the availability of free, open-source alternatives."
"Automatic upgrade process (e.g., from v9.7 to v10.5) often fails."
"In other countries, different to US or Canada, the support is not straightforward."
"They could enhance the product's cloud integration and general-purpose database capabilities."
"The solution should have a more user-friendly user interface."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive."
"We don't see what the specific price of the DB2 license is because we pay for the backup license as a package."
"We did not buy it. It came with our hardware without any complimentary maintenance. If I compare Db2 Database with Oracle Database, its price is lower than Oracle Database."
"They are competitive and honest (compared to how peer firms approach licensing conversations). ​"
"The total cost of the solution depends upon the PVU licensing"
"I rate the product pricing a nine out of ten."
"I think that everyone knows that with IBM the standard price is higher than the others."
"Compared to other databases, Db2 is relatively cheaper."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Construction Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
42%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Educational Organization
5%
Energy/Utilities Company
5%
 

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
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913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.