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IBM Informix vs Oracle Database In-Memory 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 Embedded Database
10th
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
25th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Oracle Database In-Memory
Ranking in Embedded Database
2nd
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
11th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Embedded Database category, the mindshare of IBM Informix is 3.8%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Database In-Memory is 12.2%, up from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Embedded Database Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Oracle Database In-Memory12.2%
IBM Informix3.8%
Other84.0%
Embedded Database
 

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.
Hosney Osman - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Solution Architect at Vodafone
Real-time analytics have transformed response times and support huge data volumes with compression
I do not have any comment related to the improvement of the solution; for sure, it needs improvement, but for my use cases, it is very sufficient, and I think for the biggest companies, it needs a very powerful infrastructure. The area where improvement is required the most in the product is the UI. The problem with the UI is that it is not complex for understanding, but it needs some training to know what each button does, how it works, and the many variables needed.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It supports in-house-built applications in .NET and VB6"
"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."
"Informix can support huge quantities of data with less memory and less capacity."
"It is very easy to install IBM Informix, very easy to scale, and support is quite better."
"The scalability is very good."
"Flexible Grid provides the ability to automatically create database objects, such as tables, indexes, and stored procedures on all nodes within the grid as a single operation."
"We don't have any problems with the Informix Database."
"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."
"Security is the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable aspects of this solution are the fast caching and improved performance to the database."
"I cannot imagine IT today without Oracle databases."
"Database In-Memory, to me, is the most compelling reason to go to Oracle 12c, release 1."
"The application development is very user-friendly."
"I've been an Oracle customer with different companies, and one of the key things that stands out for Oracle is the support, because I also work with other database vendors and that's the biggest differentiator."
"The solution provides a good environment and it's a product we trust."
"Oracle Database In-Memory is a suite of features that improves performance for real-time analytics and mixed workloads."
 

Cons

"The product needs a lot more marketing involvement from IBM."
"The solution really doesn't add new features very often. Other solutions are much more actively pushing out upgrades and improvements."
"It would be helpful to have IBM salespeople know that Informix exists, and sell it. Currently, it is completely ignored by IBM."
"I would like to see backups from secondary servers."
"This product could be made easier to use for beginners."
"Informix is very sturdy, but the problem for us is the marketing action around Informix."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"Every month or every second month, we find some bugs in it, which is not ideal."
"The product could benefit from enhancements in its graphical user interface."
"We have a very large table and a low dose. It is very expensive in data to load all of them into In-Memory. It takes up more memory slots in the server, as well as a lot of RAM."
"The area where improvement is required the most in the product is the UI."
"You need to have platinum service to get good support. Otherwise, you'll have to struggle a bit."
"Personally, this solution wouldn't be my top choice, as it makes things difficult."
"The product could be more economical."
"Lacks sufficient integration with other tools."
"We use some partitions in In-Memory. We have a very large table and a low dose. It is very expensive in data to load all of them into In-Memory. It takes up more memory slots in the server, as well as a lot of RAM. We use last partitions on the table. We always need to create a script and make a schedule that can load a last partition in In-Memory. Oracle doesn't have features to do this automatically. I would like them to allow us to load last partitions, as well as other table partitions, in In-Memory. I think a good feature would do that automatically, letting you see a table, load a large partition, and monitor loading memory. It's quite a good feature."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not aware of the licensing costs or terms."
"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."
"Oracle Database In-Memory is expensive."
"Database In-Memory is priced a bit higher than its competitors like Microsoft."
"The product is expensive."
"The pricing is pretty good so I rate it an eight out of ten."
"There is a need to make a yearly payment towards the licensing costs, after which there is any to pay towards the support cost attached to the solution."
"It's quite costly and it comes with a fixed price."
"The solution's pricing is high."
"I rate the pricing a zero out of ten because Database In-Memory is too costly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

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 Business6
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise23
 

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 ...
What needs improvement with Oracle Database In-Memory?
I do not have any comment related to the improvement of the solution; for sure, it needs improvement, but for my use cases, it is very sufficient, and I think for the biggest companies, it needs a ...
What is your primary use case for Oracle Database In-Memory?
The major use case for Oracle Database In-Memory is real-time applications that need a fast response between the application and the database directly without any latency.
 

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
Shanghai Customs
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Informix vs. Oracle Database In-Memory and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.