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IBM Informix vs Progress OpenEdge RDBMS 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 Embedded Database
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (28th)
Progress OpenEdge RDBMS
Ranking in Embedded Database
7th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Embedded Database category, the mindshare of IBM Informix is 4.1%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Progress OpenEdge RDBMS is 7.6%, up from 3.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Embedded Database Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Progress OpenEdge RDBMS7.6%
IBM Informix4.1%
Other88.3%
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.
reviewer1648848 - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President Strategic Development at a hospitality company with 1-10 employees
Customizable, intelligent, and reacts in real-time
There aren't any areas of improvement. We have a very long relationship with their R&D group. They're fairly dynamic there, however, it's not the relationships I manage. The only big hurdle for us is that most customers aren't familiar with it, so it's scary. If you're in commercial environments, everybody knows SQL, everybody knows Oracle, or whatever. It doesn't really matter due to the fact that it's embedded, however, they're paying those licenses. The only drawback is you can't just say, "Hey, provide us three Enterprise SQL licenses," and they just go reach into their Microsoft licensing deal and plug them in and go. Instead, it's plugging a new product into the mix that they otherwise would take care of on their own. The apparent cost is higher, however, in the end, it's really not.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is very easy to install IBM Informix, very easy to scale, and support is quite better."
"The initial setup is pretty easy."
"My advice is to take it; you will never regret it."
"The initial setup is very simple."
"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."
"It supports multiple applications and business intelligence tools."
"The solution's stability, performance, enhanced functionality, and replication are all great features."
"The stability is incredible. I have customers with uptimes of several years."
"It's my 'go to' database if I want a database to just run 24/7/365, year-after-year with absolute minimal downtime."
"It is very customizable and it's intelligent."
"The product can be scaled in any direction and a very nice feature is that you can logically split the database by the value of the data, which is great."
"Once you switch it on, it simply runs and runs."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
 

Cons

"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."
"The solution should offer replication. It would be helpful if the solution would allow us to access third-party tools."
"The technical support services need substantial improvement."
"Informix is very sturdy, but the problem for us is the marketing action around Informix."
"This product could be made easier to use for beginners."
"The solution doesn't include functionality like data anonymization."
"The solution really doesn't add new features very often. Other solutions are much more actively pushing out upgrades and improvements."
"I would like to see backups from secondary servers."
"The only big hurdle for us is that most customers aren't familiar with it, so it's scary. If you're in commercial environments, everybody knows SQL, everybody knows Oracle, or whatever."
"Advanced security would be a good additional feature."
"The installation process can be a bit confusing for someone who's new to OpenEdge."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not aware of the licensing costs or terms."
"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."
"The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
12%
Construction Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Healthcare Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Legal Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise8
No data available
 

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 ...
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Also Known As

Informix
OpenEdge RDBMS, Progress OpenEdge
 

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
Apero Solutions, Heath Village, International Energy Services, Exact Software, PepsiCo Russia, Pero, SVK, FreshERP
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Informix vs. Progress OpenEdge RDBMS and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,336 professionals have used our research since 2012.