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IBM Informix vs SAP HANA comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 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
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
SAP HANA
Ranking in Embedded Database
1st
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
93
Ranking in other categories
Data Virtualization (2nd), Database Management Systems (DBMS) (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Embedded Database category, the mindshare of IBM Informix is 3.6%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP HANA is 11.1%, up from 9.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Embedded Database Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP HANA11.1%
IBM Informix3.6%
Other85.3%
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.
HP
SAP Analytics Lead at Miracle Software Systems, Inc
Performs well with high database and reporting performance
We face difficulties replicating the AC DOCA table, which is a huge table, from S/4HANA to SAP HANA BAS, Business Application Studio, or HANA Studio using SLT. For developing Power BI reports using the AC DOCA table, we are replicating full data daily. We want to implement delta load, and while we used OData service for one client, the delta OData service link is not properly updating delta records. Licensing costs with SAP HANA are very high. Due to high pricing, many clients are moving from BW on SAP HANA and S/4HANA to Azure SQL. I have worked with several clients who have moved all data flows to Azure and developed Power BI queries on top of Azure. Many clients are also using Google Cloud Platform (GCP). The certification costs are also very high, more than ₹1,40,000 INR. Previously, it was ₹30,000 to ₹40,000. I want to pursue three certifications but am unable to do so due to the cost.

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 very simple."
"My advice is to take it; you will never regret it."
"The solution's stability, performance, enhanced functionality, and replication are all great features."
"We don't have any problems with the Informix Database."
"So far, we do not have a lot of issues. It's pretty problem-free."
"IBM Informix benefits users with high availability and good integration capabilities."
"It is very easy to install IBM Informix, very easy to scale, and support is quite better."
"Replication is a valuable feature and easy to use."
"SAP HANA is not just a memory database, it's a big platform, it's a very, very safe database, and the performance is very, very good for an in-memory database."
"Using this solution has given us better details for reporting and analytics."
"The benefits include high database loading performance, superior reporting performance, and ease of use."
"SAP HANA has everything, and that is the advantage of SAP because you can get everything in one suite, whatever you need for your company."
"As I only worked part-time on SAP HANA, I did not have the opportunity to explore the advanced features of the solution. However, I did work with basic features, such as user administration and access controls for the accounting department. The feature that stood out to me the most was the Single Sign-On and user administration, backup, and server management. My experience with SAP HANA was mainly focused on basic server improvements."
"The performance is very, very good. It's one of the best aspects of the solution."
"We can save data very easily."
"The data in HANA is stored in columns rather than rows, which speeds up searches and aggregations."
 

Cons

"The solution doesn't include functionality like data anonymization."
"This product could be made easier to use for beginners."
"This solution is in need of more current tools."
"The product needs a lot more marketing involvement from IBM."
"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."
"Informix is very sturdy, but the problem for us is the marketing action around Informix."
"The support team could include local engineers to establish efficient communication. It will help us speed up the escalation process."
"There should be more intelligence surrounding discovering data to be able to automatically create indexes."
"The solution needs to work on its performance and make it faster."
"HANA could be improved by adding analytics and development models in the institution."
"However, for the pricing part, this is the main issue. SAP has to do much more on SAP HANA pricing because it is quite expensive."
"There are a few areas wherein there could be a patch upgrade, and that can cover up the country-specific payroll areas."
"I'd just like to see some more improvements done on the training, both on the functional training and technical training sides as a part of the complete solution."
"More standards would help in the future."
"Needs graphical programming without coding."
"Because SAP HANA is completely in-memory, it requires the use of bigger systems which have a higher amount of RAM. If the system does go down then coming back up is difficult and can take 30 to 40 minutes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license."
"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."
"For me, it's always too expensive."
"Its licensing is expensive for SMEs and large enterprises alike."
"Setup and licensing require planning and proper budgeting, as it is not cheap."
"A monthly or yearly license must be purchased, although its utility will be based on the cost-benefit analysis that is reached by the individual customer."
"The price of licensing is dependent on the size of the project, however, we have found that there is scope to negotiate the cost. If the solution is implemented on-premises there may be some extra costs for hosting etc."
"SAP HANA is more expensive than other solutions."
"The pricing is relatively high for both customers and partners."
"The tool has a high price. I rate the solution’s pricing, one on a scale of ten, where one is expensive and ten is cheap."
"People who are technical will accept the cost, but financially they will assess whether this solution will bring them revenue or not. People often ask, how will I profit when the cost is so high?"
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
5%
 

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 Business26
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise63
 

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 are the biggest benefits of using SAP HANA?
Based on my work with SAP HANA, the biggest benefit that it can bring to your business is total data management. This product is by SAP - a company that serves almost all needs a client may have co...
Is SAP HANA’s customer and technical support reliable?
We have been using SAP HANA for a fairly short period of time and have only taken advantage of their customer support. So far, we have not had issues that required specialized help from technical s...
Is SAP HANA difficult to set up and start using?
SAP HANA is fairly easy to set up, however, I do not think a complete beginner can do it. You certainly need some preparation - either you need to have experience with similar solutions, or with ot...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Informix
SAP High-Performance Analytic Appliance, HANA
 

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
Unilever, NHS 24, adidas Group, CHIO Aachen, Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Informix vs. SAP HANA and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.