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IBM Informix vs Oracle Database comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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
28th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Embedded Database (9th)
Oracle Database
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
294
Ranking in other categories
Database Management Systems (DBMS) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of IBM Informix is 1.9%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Database is 10.3%, down from 12.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Oracle Database10.3%
IBM Informix1.9%
Other87.8%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Nasir Niamat - PeerSpot reviewer
DB Consultant at i2c
Has offered a cost-effective option despite frequent technical issues and limited market demand
We find some bugs in IBM Informix. Maybe we are using it more aggressively than others. Every month or every second month, we find some bugs in it, which is not ideal. It should be rare, not this frequent. The good thing is they cover those bugs in the next release within weeks or days on demand. IBM Informix should become hybrid and should include AI features similar to other DBMS systems such as Snowflake, Redshift, and DataBricks. This would help its value rise with the market.
Philemon Olusegun - PeerSpot reviewer
Qhse Manager at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees
Reliable backups and high-capacity data management have transformed large-scale census projects
When it comes to how Oracle Database can be improved, for me it is all about training and development in terms of gamification, creating awareness, and spreading the word to aspiring database administrators and database developers. As I have used it in the past and in recent times, many people are trying to get into IT, so the opportunity exists. Oracle has the market opportunity to take this time to spread its offerings and ensure that many aspiring professionals are aware of its services and products. From my perspective, there is not much to add regarding the needed improvements for the interface and the documentation. I give it a nine because I think Oracle sometimes can make things complicated. You have many services, many products, and many tools for different use cases. So it is difficult for someone who is only used to a particular product, such as Oracle Database, to understand all the other products and services that it provides. Probably streamlining it and making it available with categorized use cases for specific job roles would help. If you are a database developer, these are the tools that you need to be familiar with in Oracle's suite of products, and if you are a database administrator, these are the tools. Categorizing them based on the job role or function of people who are accessing these products and providing training capabilities on how to use them and how these products interchange and talk to each other would be very important because that is one of the things I struggled with when I started my journey as an Oracle Database administrator. Having that visibility of all the software products and providing free training and documentation on how you can improve and which products are best suited for integration to your product from Oracle would go a long way to help organizations and professionals. Regarding Oracle Database's AI capabilities, I am very keen on its governance and security. I think more work needs to be done on the security and ensuring that the database for a large number of people is watertight. AI is here to stay; however, governance and more stress testing of the AI capabilities needs to be done to ensure there is no breach of data. I would rate it currently at 6 over 10 and there is room for improvement. As long as there are government policies and Oracle policies that can mitigate any breaches of data and serious security issues, releasing people's records over the internet, there is always room for improvement in that regard.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"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 is quite stable and reliable; we use it mainly due to its general stable nature."
"We don't have any problems with the Informix Database."
"The initial setup is very simple."
"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."
"The scalability is very good."
"It supports in-house-built applications in .NET and VB6"
"The most important features are container and pluggable database, as now we have more control on the resource level and can segregate our application based on the pluggable database to utilize the resources better."
"I recommend this product; it's stable, advanced, and I think it's the number-one database."
"If you have the money, then you should invest in this product, because you can't compare it with anything else on the market as far as a database is concerned."
"Oracle Database is easy to use."
"Everything is good in Oracle Database."
"The scalability is quite good."
"Scalability, reliability, and performance are what we are getting with this solution. It is highly scalable and has very good performance. It also has in-built monitoring and optimized optimizer. It is quite stable and secure. When it comes to integration, you can integrate it with other tools as well. However, we have been using Oracle Database within our own premises. So, it is kind of difficult for us to basically do a kind of integration with the outside software. We prefer to do things within our own premises."
"It's certainly been around for a long time, it's incredibly scalable, and its stability is industry-leading."
 

Cons

"I experienced poor input/output (IO) performance."
"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."
"The technical support services need substantial improvement."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"For me, it's always too expensive. The problem is that Informix sometimes competes with free products, so yes, it's very expensive, but when we're talking about licensed products like SQL Server or anything, the midsize pricing could be significantly improved."
"Every month or every second month, we find some bugs in it, which is not ideal."
"I really would love to have a QT plugin."
"The support team could include local engineers to establish efficient communication. It will help us speed up the escalation process."
"The price of the Oracle Database should be cheaper."
"More integration, in my opinion, would be beneficial."
"We have downtime during upgrades that can last from hours to days."
"For those parts, to be honest, Oracle Database requires more effort than the other databases."
"If their database encryption features could come in bytes, that would be a major improvement. They should bring the encryption model to their standard databases as well."
"The setup process can be a bit complex."
"I've encountered stability issues with Oracle on Windows Server after regular updates."
"The documentation needs improvement because as it is now, providing support is a headache."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not aware of the licensing costs or terms."
"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."
"The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license."
"For me, it's always too expensive."
"Because it is a bundled product, we have no choice but to purchase the Oracle Database."
"The solution is expensive."
"Seeing as a lot of our applications use Oracle, our team has been able to negotiate a better deal."
"The product is costly."
"I do not have first-hand knowledge of the price of the support. However, I have heard from my seniors or the experienced people who work on the pricing and scaling, the price of Oracle is a bit higher. The reason is Oracle provides enterprise-level applications, only large enterprises can afford Oracle applications or tools."
"It is an excellent product, as long as the organization can afford the price tag."
"Oracle is an expensive product."
"You buy it initially, and then you pay for yearly support if you need support. If you don't need support, you can also use it without the support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
12%
Construction Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business87
Midsize Enterprise66
Large Enterprise181
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Informix?
There is a cost reason to move from IBM Informix. It is relatively cheaper than Oracle. The second reason is that moving the whole application to a new database would require significant cost. The ...
What needs improvement with IBM Informix?
We find some bugs in IBM Informix. Maybe we are using it more aggressively than others. Every month or every second month, we find some bugs in it, which is not ideal. It should be rare, not this f...
What is your primary use case for IBM Informix?
We are using IBM Informix for OLTP systems. We are using IBM Informix although it is a technology that is not very popular compared to others. We are using it because our application was initially ...
How do you run Oracle Database at your organization and why?
My company has been using Oracle Exadata Database Service for some years now, and we are happy with it. I will allow myself to answer your questions about why and what benefits it provides us with ...
Do you know of any disadvantages of Oracle Database?
Undoubtedly, Oracle Database is a top product in its category. But it does have its disadvantages, and for me and my organization, that has been the limitations of the product. When it comes to Ora...
What is the best use for Oracle Database?
Oracle Database is flexible and can be used for many things. My company's main use case for this product is for storing data. We benefit from its high level of security as well as from the fact tha...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Informix
Oracle 12c, RDBMS
 

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
Agncia Nacional de guas, Anbima, Aria Systems, Asiana Airlines, Astelit LLC, Australian Finance Group, Banco Occidental de Descuento, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, BT, Caja de Seguros S.A., Casas GEO S.A.B. de C.V., Comic Relief UK, Corsair Components Inc., CSAM Health AS, CSOB Group, Datacraft Solutions, DenizBank A.S., Department of Treasury and Finance WA, Office of State Revenue, Deutsche B_rse AG, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Deutsche Messe AG, Digicel Haiti, DPR COSEA, Essar Group, Essatto Software Pty Ltd, Farmšcia e Drogaria Nissei Ltda., Fomento Econ‹mico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (FEMSA), FundaÊo Petrobras de Seguridade Social, Future Group, GFKL Financial Services AG, Grupo Posadas S.A.B. de C.V., Grupo Sinosserra, Guerra S.A. Implementos Rodovišrios, Hanatour International Service, Hays plc, Henan Mobile Co. Ltd, Hochschule Hof, Hong Kong and China Technology (Wuhan) Co. Ltd (Towngas Technology), Industries Corpa_al C.A., Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatstica, Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial, Kcell, LinkShare Corporation, MercadoLibre Inc., MetLife Inc., Nextgen Distribution, €BB-IKT GmbH, Octagon Research Solutions, Pacific Lutheran University, Paragon Data GmbH, Ping ltd., PJSC Trustbank, Prodaub _ Processamento de Dados de Uberl_ndia, Purdue University, Redknee Inc., Robi Axiata Limited, Shanghai Infoservice Technology Co. Ltd, Shanghai Sihua Technologies Co. Ltd, Sistema de Aguas de la Ciudad de M_xico, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Suddenlink Communications, Suprajit Engineering Limited, Tallink Grupp, Terminales Ro de la Plata S.A., Therap Services LLC, Think Passenger Inc., Trafigura, Transmed S.A.L Lebanon, ValeShop, VelQuest Corporation, Vodafone Group plc, West Virginia Network, WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Informix vs. Oracle Database and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.