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IBM Informix vs MySQL 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)
MySQL
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
149
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (2nd)
 

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 MySQL is 8.0%, down from 8.2% 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…
Muzzamil  Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
Native encryption ensures secure data management with a simple deployment
The most valuable feature is the on-premises data encryption facilities. By default, we can provide encryption, and this feature in MySQL is why we prefer it over other databases. The native encryption in MySQL encourages us to use this database model more frequently compared to Oracle and other databases. With Oracle, we have to buy another solution for encryption and masking, but MySQL supports native encryption, which enhances our return on investment. It perfectly supports our ROI, and we have no issues with its functionality.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup is pretty easy."
"IBM Informix benefits users with high availability and good integration capabilities."
"It supports multiple applications and business intelligence tools."
"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."
"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"
"Every version is faster than the previous."
"Replication is a valuable feature and easy to use."
"For sure, the solution is very stable."
"MySQL is easy to use, has fast performance, and it is comfortable for end-user to use. The schema level and structure we are using are very simple and easy to understand. Additionally, packaging tool development is straightforward and the data is presented in a way that is very simple to understand."
"The solution is a small application and is very easy to deploy."
"It has a community version. When I have to create a new database, I have no problems with licenses."
"It's a good tool, a good database platform."
"MySQL is an easy-to-use solution that provides stability, reliability, flexibility, performance, security, and high availability."
"The solution is easy to use."
"It is a scalable solution."
 

Cons

"This solution is in need of more current tools."
"The solution lacks some functionality."
"This product could be made easier to use for beginners."
"I would like to see backups from secondary servers."
"The solution really doesn't add new features very often."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"The technical support services need substantial improvement."
"There should be more intelligence surrounding discovering data to be able to automatically create indexes."
"We face certain integration issues, especially when we integrate the database with security solutions like IBM QRadar, which affects database performance."
"The licensing of the solution is on the expensive side."
"The integration with other systems can be improved as can the integration between other databases."
"The auto-tuning and NDB cluster has some limitations regarding foreign keys."
"Even for the best database, we always want the database to perform much better, so we wish MySQL would be much better, in terms of performance."
"Sometimes, not because the version is not the latest version, there are some issues with it. Sometimes there's an issue with the server which creates issues with it."
"Oracle should start putting in some of the enterprise features in the standard feature. There are some key features that should be part of the standard."
"The data masking functionality should be improved as well as the native encryption functionality in the MySQL database."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"I am not aware of the licensing costs or terms."
"This is an open-source product that can be used free of charge."
"This product has a good price point."
"The tool is open source."
"It has a community version."
"MySQL is cheaper than Microsoft SQL Server."
"I am using the Community Edition, which is available free of charge."
"There is a licensing cost because we are going for a proprietary product. There are some other versions for which there is no licensing cost."
"We are using the free community version of the 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
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
 

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...
Why are MySQL connections encrypted and what is the biggest benefit of this?
MySQL encrypts connections to protect your data and the biggest benefit from this is that nobody can corrupt it. If you move information over a network without encryption, you are endangering it, m...
Considering that there is a free version of MySQL, would you invest in one of the paid editions?
I may be considered a MySQL veteran since I have been using it since before Oracle bought it and created paid versions. So back in my day, it was all free, it was open-source and the best among sim...
What is one thing you would improve with MySQL?
One thing I would improve related to MySQL is not within the product itself, but with the guides to it. Before, when it was free, everyone was on their own, seeking tutorials and how-to videos onli...
 

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
Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Informix vs. MySQL and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.