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IBM Informix 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Informix
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
23rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Embedded Database (9th)
MariaDB
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of IBM Informix is 1.9%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MariaDB is 6.9%, down from 9.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Nazzareno Maria Rezzini - PeerSpot reviewer
Supports multiple business intelligence tools, but the technical support services need improvement
IBM Informix is a central database solution across various environments, supporting multiple applications and business intelligence tools The key areas for improvement revolve around understanding the current customer trends and demands, particularly in software and database requirements. The…
KumarManish - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to deploy, cost-effective, and integrates seamlessly with other products
We had planned for an RDBMS version and not NoSQL. We use MariaDB Galera Cluster. It's a good product. It is cheap, scalable, performs well, and is efficient. We use GCP’s BigQuery for machine learning. We must follow the best practices of the tool. We missed some best practices like the storage engine and InnoDB. It was very difficult to identify why we were having performance issues. Then, we realized that some of our tables were still on MyISAM, the default storage engine. When we switched it back to the InnoDB, it was very smooth. InnoDB is the recommended one. We must follow the best practices given in the documentation during the initial setup. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Replication, all levels of replication, query charting, and the MongoDB embedded are the most valuable features of this solution."
"This solution has made financial reporting possible by allowing financial people the opportunity to set Informix to "Auto Pilot" so that they can attend other duties."
"It supports in-house-built applications in .NET and VB6"
"It supports multiple applications and business intelligence tools."
"The most valuable feature is concurrency and locking because my customers usually use databases in OLTP mode. So, for a large number of competitive users. Other features that are well valued are quick large-scale data types. It is better than Oracle."
"The stability is incredible. I have customers with uptimes of several years."
"The scalability is very good."
"So far, we do not have a lot of issues. It's pretty problem-free."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the query speed it offers."
"It is very simple to install, and the commands are exactly the same as MySQL."
"What I like best about MariaDB is that it is open-source and reliable."
"The most valuable feature of MariaDB is the power it provides. It is a powerful solution."
"The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that it is an open-source product and offers its users great online community support."
"MariaDB has a straightforward initial setup with easy-to-understand documentation."
"MariaDB is easy to install and is stable and scalable."
"Great monitoring and performance stability."
 

Cons

"There should be more intelligence surrounding discovering data to be able to automatically create indexes."
"This solution is in need of more current tools."
"The solution really doesn't add new features very often."
"The support team could include local engineers to establish efficient communication. It will help us speed up the escalation process."
"The technical support services need substantial improvement."
"In my opinion, the packages could be improved. The version I use doesn't allow for packages. I can do some general procedures, but no packages like in Oracle. So, develop separate modules in SQL language. This would be most beneficial for me."
"I experienced poor input/output (IO) performance."
"Continue extending the SQL language for compatibility with the competition's language, including Stored Procedure Language."
"The customer service and support are okay. But the response time is slow. Moreover, the material is not available freely."
"One feedback I can quickly provide is the need for a robust IDE for MongoDB. The existing PHP admin console doesn't meet the client's requirements effectively."
"I’m not sure if it can scale."
"It would be helpful if I could specify multiple drives for the database storage."
"MariaDB's GUI is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"The solution is not scalable."
"I am editing."
"The price could be less expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license."
"For me, it's always too expensive."
"The free edition can be enough to handle moderate-size implementations, but you may want a pay for edition to benefit from more functionality, such as replication."
"I am not aware of the licensing costs or terms."
"There is a monthly subscription to use MariaDB."
"The cost is quite good. You can have the open source, free version, which has adequate capacity."
"MariaDB is an open-source software, meaning I don't need to pay for the product."
"MariaDB is open-source and self-hosted."
"We use the solution's free version."
"It is an open-source solution."
"The licensing cost is approximately $4000.00 per year and the licensing is based on the software and the number of posts that you make."
"The solution is free, but if you want the enterprise version you will need to pay for some licenses but the cost is less than other solutions, such as Oracle."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
66%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Computer Software Company
4%
Retailer
3%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Informix?
It supports multiple applications and business intelligence tools.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Informix?
The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license.
What needs improvement with IBM Informix?
The key areas for improvement revolve around understanding the current customer trends and demands, particularly in software and database requirements. The product's performance could be better com...
What do you like most about MariaDB?
The integration with other products is seamless.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB?
I have found the price of commercial MariaDB to be pretty steep, although not as high as Oracle. Customers often prefer the Community Edition because it's free.
What needs improvement with MariaDB?
The only potential area for improvement could be the pricing model, which might benefit from being more flexible or a bit cheaper.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Informix
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Shaspa, Hildebrand, Kaifa, Ranhill Powertron, Federaci‹ Farmacutica (FedeFarma), Camden Council, The German Aerospace Center (DLR), Myers, Votorantim Group, Doosan Infracore, GreenIvory
Google, Wikipedia, Tencent, Verizon, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Telefónica, Huatai Securities
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Informix vs. MariaDB and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.