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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
17th
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
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of IBM Informix is 1.8%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MariaDB is 6.3%, down from 9.1% 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

"The scalability is very good."
"So far, we do not have a lot of issues. It's pretty problem-free."
"The stability is incredible. I have customers with uptimes of several years."
"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 solution's stability, performance, enhanced functionality, and replication are all great features."
"Replication, all levels of replication, query charting, and the MongoDB embedded are the most valuable features of this solution."
"For IoT business cases, having Informix Enterprise Edition work on edge computers, like Raspberry Pi and using Informix replication, makes complex situations simple to build and maintain."
"IBM Informix benefits users with high availability and good integration capabilities."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is a relational database, which is fairly reliable...It is a stable solution."
"I haven't faced any technical issues with the product, and it works fine."
"It's a very easy product to set up."
"I am editing."
"The solution runs very quickly. It's not slow at all."
"The product has good documentation and you can find many examples online."
"The solution is very easy to implement."
"MariaDB can solve things better than MySQL. Maria DB has better performance than MySQL."
 

Cons

"The technical support services need substantial improvement."
"The solution really doesn't add new features very often."
"I experienced poor input/output (IO) performance."
"Continue extending the SQL language for compatibility with the competition's language, including Stored Procedure Language."
"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."
"This solution is in need of more current tools."
"The support team could include local engineers to establish efficient communication. It will help us speed up the escalation process."
"It would be helpful to have IBM salespeople know that Informix exists, and sell it. Currently, it is completely ignored by IBM."
"The performance could be a bit better."
"When we have had issues with accidental computer shutdown or a power outage, our MariaDB database was corrupted."
"In the next release, I would like to see improvements in the scalability and redundancy features."
"It does not have tools for debugging procedures and functions."
"The maintenance and performance could be a bit better."
"It should work across all fields like SQLite, as it is the basis of any application, even apps for phones and the like."
"The dashboard and pricing need improvement."
"The ability to create stored procedures in MariaDB is an area where the tool lacks a bit."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not aware of the licensing costs or terms."
"The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license."
"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."
"For me, it's always too expensive."
"The price of this solution represents a very good compromise between the cost and what it offers."
"When it comes to MariaDB, it should have a more cost-effective license."
"The cost is quite good. You can have the open source, free version, which has adequate capacity."
"There is a monthly subscription to use MariaDB."
"MariaDB is a free-to-use solution."
"I used the open-source version, which is available free of charge."
"My company uses the free version of the solution."
"I rate the product's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price since there are some support costs involved, even though it isn't an open-source solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
32%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Retailer
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

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: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.