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IBM Db2 Database vs MariaDB comparison

 

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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.6
IBM Db2 Database offers high ROI with enhanced efficiency and performance, despite initial costs, supporting seamless business projects.
Sentiment score
6.3
MariaDB users experience varied ROI, with savings and efficiency gains, plus benefits like support, flexibility, and open-source enhancements.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
IBM Db2 support is generally reliable yet requires speed improvements; users find response times and expertise occasionally lacking.
Sentiment score
6.3
MariaDB offers responsive support, but users often rely on in-house teams and community resources due to strong documentation.
We normally receive substantial discounts on the price.
Associate Director, Data Architecture at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
They came and tuned our queries with one-to-one assistance.
Architect at LTIMindtree
Compared to MongoDB, there are some platform deficiencies, but the support team shouldn't bear that burden.
Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
IBM Db2 excels in scalability for large companies but faces challenges with horizontal scaling and increasing costs.
Sentiment score
6.9
MariaDB is scalable, reliable for various applications, but may require configuration and enhancements for large datasets and cloud integration.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
IBM Db2 Database is highly rated for stability and reliability, though performance can dip with significant data growth.
Sentiment score
7.8
MariaDB is highly rated for stability, handling thousands without downtime, needing minimal maintenance but precise tuning for large instances.
We haven't found issues with the stability of MariaDB.
Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd
 

Room For Improvement

IBM Db2 Database needs usability, integration, and cloud improvements, plus better licensing, analytics, security, and standardization tools.
MariaDB needs better integration, scalability, UI, stability, support, replication, compatibility, and cost-effective licensing to enhance enterprise functionality.
It might be slightly slower than other database vendors, but it works well since banks typically do not move quickly with leading-edge technology.
Associate Director, Data Architecture at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
MariaDB is scalable and easy to scale.
Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd
Oracle is very advanced compared to MariaDB, and those advanced features are not available in MariaDB.
Architect at LTIMindtree
 

Setup Cost

IBM Db2 pricing is complex and expensive, especially in Africa and the Middle East, but offers robust features.
Enterprise buyers praise MariaDB for its cost-effectiveness and flexibility, often choosing the free version to avoid licensing fees.
MariaDB is in the pricey range, especially for huge databases handling terabytes of data.
Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd
 

Valuable Features

IBM Db2 Database offers SQL, Java integration, scalability, security, and seamless IBM integration for flexible, reliable enterprise applications.
MariaDB is a reliable, scalable open-source database excelling in performance, compatibility, and support for diverse environments and analytics.
IBM Db2 Database, because of enterprise performance and support, is why banks still maintain their relationship with it.
Associate Director, Data Architecture at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The IBM Db2 Database is trusted, and IT effort is less than any other product.
Network Administrator at GAEB
Encryption is available in MariaDB, so we are secure for transmitting data without concern about moving over networks.
Architect at LTIMindtree
Configuration, setup, and schema design are good features in MariaDB.
Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Db2 Database
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MariaDB
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of IBM Db2 Database is 6.6%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MariaDB is 4.7%, down from 7.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Db2 Database6.6%
MariaDB4.7%
Other88.7%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2708292 - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Director, Data Architecture at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Support improves setup and maintenance while pricing influences decision
If you have a similar use case and the same deal with IBM as our company, it is definitely a good option and choice. The company I work with has more than 50,000 people and more than 500 support staff. We are not locked into one database vendor. We typically work with multiple database vendors simultaneously, selecting the top choice based on the deals we make and other considerations. We do not use IBM Db2 Database related to AI at this moment because our AI project PLC is still very small scale. We may consider it in the future if we have enough scale. Overall rating for IBM Db2 Database is 8.5 out of 10.
AB
Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd
Has supported web application data needs but requires design adjustments to manage complex queries efficiently
Complex queries in MariaDB where the query needs to parse thousands of lines or data values face some performance issues. For small and medium-size volume, it is pretty good. If it goes beyond certain data and complex queries, we see performance issues. We tried the advanced replication feature between different regions, replicating data specifically residing on MariaDB to two different regions of MariaDB data, and there were some technical snags in terms of slowness and longer processing time. Point-in-time recovery in MariaDB is good for small databases. When data volume increases beyond 5 GB or 10 GB per day or runs into double-digit GBs, we found some performance issues. For data below 10 GB, it works fine. Performance is the primary focus area for MariaDB, particularly during transactions or complex query jobs where slow performance is observed. MariaDB is scalable and easy to scale.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
University
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise48
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise26
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Db2 Database?
Db2 database scalability and performance capabilities match our database needs. It covers pretty much everything a database administrator or engineer might need.
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?
The IBM Db2 Database is a good solution, but now there is a high maintenance charge. The IBM Db2 Database needs improved support, and there are many difficulties in using it. We tend to use the clo...
What do you like most about MariaDB?
The integration with other products is seamless.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB?
MariaDB is in the pricey range, especially for huge databases handling terabytes of data. The cost depends on the volume of data and different features enabled during configuration, such as backup ...
What needs improvement with MariaDB?
Complex queries in MariaDB where the query needs to parse thousands of lines or data values face some performance issues. For small and medium-size volume, it is pretty good. If it goes beyond cert...
 

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
Google, Wikipedia, Tencent, Verizon, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Telefónica, Huatai Securities
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Db2 Database vs. MariaDB and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.