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Senior Production Support Engineer at a tech company with 501-1,000 employees
Consultant
Apr 28, 2016
It allows us to deploy test functionality on a very simple normal computer and not on a server.
Pros and Cons
  • "Its reliability is key."
  • "It was a bit complex to setup, although I think this was due to ignorance on the project."

What is most valuable?

It's reliability is key.

How has it helped my organization?

It allows us to deploy test functionality on a very simple normal computer and not on a server.

What needs improvement?

I'd like to have NoSQL available in this version. It is available in the latest one.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using it for six years.

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PostgreSQL
June 2026
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What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

We had no issues with the deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I've had no stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It scaled for our needs.

How are customer service and support?

8/10

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I switched as I needed to increase the volume of data.

How was the initial setup?

It was a bit complex to setup, although I think this was due to ignorance on the project.

What about the implementation team?

We did it in-house, but only to test different databases.

What other advice do I have?

Use it, to change the default database, it's a good option.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Co-Founder, Technical Manager, Consultant at a hospitality company with 51-200 employees
Vendor
Apr 28, 2016
Large open-source extensions, modules and software helpers eco-system.
Pros and Cons
  • "PostgreSQL syntax is much clearer and consistent, and its stored procedures are powerful and fast."
  • "There is no tech support, however there is a lot of information available in forums or sites like serverfault.com."

What is most valuable?

  • Flexible stored procedures and external functions
  • WITH clauses
  • Partitioning
  • Large open-source extensions, modules and software helpers eco-system

How has it helped my organization?

The documentation is very well written and detailed, it helps to implement the right features for your needs in a timely manner.

What needs improvement?

Parallel processing of queries.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for 12 years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

There's been no issues deploying it.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product always worked as described.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We've had no issues scaling it.

How are customer service and technical support?

There is no tech support, however there is a lot of information available in forums or sites like serverfault.com.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used MySQL. PostgreSQL syntax is much clearer and consistent, and its stored procedures are powerful and fast. The documentation is also much better and of more help.

How was the initial setup?

On Debian, the provided packages are very easy to install and provide automatic updates. On Mac OS X, EnterpriseDB provides packages that work very well but as not as well integrated than in Debian.

What about the implementation team?

I implemented in-house. PostgreSQL databases needs some maintenance but that can be easily automated by a skilled administrator.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

PostgreSQL is free and open source.

What other advice do I have?

Read the documentation.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
PostgreSQL
June 2026
Learn what your peers think about PostgreSQL. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.
PeerSpot user
Director of Client Integration at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
Vendor
Apr 27, 2016
The query syntax and functions are well documented and easy to use.​
Pros and Cons
  • "PostgreSQL is a powerful and open source database, which is central all data processing."
  • "We'd like to be able to start using JSON objects for easy code representation."

What is most valuable?

The h-stores are very powerful for handling collections of key-value pairs. The query syntax and functions are well documented and easy to use.

How has it helped my organization?

PostgreSQL is a powerful and open source database, which is central all data processing.

What needs improvement?

We'd like to be able to start using JSON objects for easy code representation. This feature is available in v10.4.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using it for eight years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

We've had no issues with the deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There have been no stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's been able to scale for our needs.

How are customer service and technical support?

I use online documentation, which met my needs.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were using version 8 before, and also an earlier Oracle instance. We chose the product because it is powerful, well documented, and open source.

How was the initial setup?

I did not set up the actual installation. I did set up the schema, tables, foreign keys, etc. That was straightforward in that it was well documented.

What about the implementation team?

In house. You do need someone that knows PostgreSQL or that can spend time learning about the product.

What was our ROI?

It's open source. ROI is a matter of time.

What other advice do I have?

The challenge with this product would be finding the IT resource that can implement the product.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Software architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
Apr 27, 2016
It is very easy to optimize queries within bigger databases (100GB).
Pros and Cons
  • "For its open source model and very good documentation, it is very easy to optimize queries within bigger databases (100GB), and because it is free, it lowers the price of our solution so we can address smaller customers."
  • "The biggest issue that we are having is upgrading and moving databases between servers and versions."

What is most valuable?

Many supported features out of box like fulltext search, partitioning, easy replication - slony, pgpool-II and streaming wal and additional features such as JSON, XML, arrays in columns, and many extensions for it as PostGIS.

How has it helped my organization?

I'm working as architect for a custom software development company and we are using Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle DB and PostgreSQL as our main databases, in recent years Postgre is offering more and more useful features which we can use. For its open source model and very good documentation is very easy to optimize queries within bigger databases (100GB). Also its free and its lowering price of our solution so we can (and we are) address smaller customer.

What needs improvement?

The biggest issue that we are having is upgrading and moving databases between servers and versions. Restoring database is slow with pg_restore because indexes are need to be rebuilt. What I'm missing is a query profiler similar to what is in Microsoft SQL Server. PgAdmin should also be easier to use for beginner users.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using PostgreSQL for about 10 years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

After many years of usage we are not experiencing any unusual problems with PostgreSQL.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

After many years of usage we are not experiencing any unusual problems with PostgreSQL.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

After many years of usage we are not experiencing any unusual problems with PostgreSQL.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

We are not using customer service or technical support.

Technical Support:

We are not using customer service or technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We are using PostgreSQL for new installations and new versions of our solutions where it's possible, and the customer does not require a specific SQL server. Nowadays it's covering all of our needs.

How was the initial setup?

Depends, for basic setup, it is quite straightforward but for more advanced features (like WAL streaming and hash indexes) it is a bit harder during the first few days because of a lack of documentation and experience.

What about the implementation team?

We did it in-house.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There are no license fees for getting PostgreSQL and we don't yet have experience with paid support such as from EnterpriseDB, but we never needed it.

Your first investment is only in people working with PostgreSQL, and it is the same as with Microsoft SQL Server, but less than with Oracle. Hardware costs are lower for PostgreSQL and Oracle but those are not significant.

What other advice do I have?

My advice is to read documentation thoroughly and don't be afraid to look into source code. A great source is https://momjian.us/main/presentations/overview.html

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Director GIS/Analytics/IT at a non-profit with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
Top 20
Apr 27, 2016
As it's free, this enables us to develop applications without having to think about budgets, and gives us greater flexibility. It needs improvement with programming languages like PHP.
Pros and Cons
  • "As PostgreSQL is free, this enables us to develop applications without having to think about budgets, and give us greater flexibility."
  • "In development it’s super sensitive with comma, quotations, and letter cases; if we use uppercase sometimes it works and sometimes not, and it needs to be single quote sometimes but sometimes double quote."

What is most valuable?

Speed and price, it’s fast and reliable, and free.

How has it helped my organization?

Due to budget restraints procuring software is always an issue, and mainly production systems are well maintained. However development systems are not usually so well off. As PostgreSQL is free, this enables us to develop applications without having to think about budgets, and give us greater flexibility. There is still reluctance by business to accept free ‘Open Source’ software, but proof of concept development can be achieved at no to low cost.

What needs improvement?

Simplicity in design and improvement with programming languages like PHP.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for four years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

In development it’s super sensitive with comma, quotations, and letter cases. It should not be. If we use uppercase sometimes it works and sometime not, and its need to be single quote sometimes but sometimes double quote.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There have been no issues with the stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We've had no issues with scaling it.

How are customer service and technical support?

I've never used customer services, but it needs a better documentation.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We use both MySQL & PostgreSQL, some applications have better compatibility or built in tools, this decides which database we use.

How was the initial setup?

It's straightforward.

What other advice do I have?

So far we have not had any issues with this database are we are using this in development and production systems.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
President with 51-200 employees
Vendor
Apr 27, 2016
I like the fact it is not tied directly to a server OS, such as Microsoft SQL Server.
Pros and Cons
  • "PostgreSQL is a great SQL database, powerful, flexible, but it is not something to be considered over other things."
  • "I would love to have primary keys on views. This function missing has made PostgreSQL harder than need be with Microsoft Access as a front end."

What is most valuable?

It is fast, compact, flexible, and scalable. I like the fact it is not tied directly to a server OS, such as Microsoft SQL Server. Being open source it is very budget continuous for our clients.

How has it helped my organization?

There are a few little odds and ends like all SQL servers that differ from other SQL servers. The way it handles logical, the fact it does not support primary keys on views etc. My experience is all SQL servers have little differences from each other. PostgreSQL is far more robust and built for production use than MySQL which I have also used.

What needs improvement?

I would love to have primary keys on views. This function missing has made PostgreSQL harder than need be with Microsoft Access as a front end.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this as a back end server for various front end applications for about five years now.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

We have had no issues with the deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There have been no issues with the stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There have been no issues scaling it.

How are customer service and technical support?

Like all open source community supported products, the technical support is hit and miss. I have found tho, there is a large user base and I can usually get good ideas how to do a work around within a few hours, day or two at the most.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used Oracle, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server. Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server were simply too expensive for smaller customers. MySQL had too many short comings to make it a workable solution.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was pretty straightforward. A lot of the setup for a typical installation is a Linux scripted Boot-Install disk. Answer a few questions and you are off to the races.

What about the implementation team?

Did the implementation in house. Not for everyone, but then, if you are installing and utilizing a standalone SQL Server you have to be a pretty computer savvy person.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Being open source this is not really applicable.

What other advice do I have?

PostgreSQL is a great SQL database, powerful, flexible, but it is not something to be considered over other things. The most important issue for a database, if what back end do your mission critical front ends support. With PostgreSQL we found next to nothing we would not do with other open source applications.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Senior Software Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
Apr 27, 2016
HStore is a data type that gives the flexibility to store key/value pair.
Pros and Cons
  • "We switched to PostgreSQL and never looked back."
  • "Slow count. As the number of rows exceed a couple million, the count query and queries which get to the depth of the data (like FTS) start taking too much time even with all the right indexes in place."

What is most valuable?

HStore is a data type in PostgreSQL database that gives the flexibility for storing sets of key/value pairs which is quite an awesome feature.

What needs improvement?

Slow count. As the number of rows exceed a couple million, the count query and queries which get to the depth of the data (like FTS) start taking too much time even with all the right indexes in place.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for two and a half years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

We use RDS Multi - AZ deployment which takes care of it all for us.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We've had no stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There have been no issues with scalability.

How are customer service and technical support?

I've never had an issue with the product, and therefore never had to reach out.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We tried RethinkDB a couple of years back, and it was unstable at that time. Also, MySQL didn't have a JSON type back then. We switched to PostgreSQL and never looked back.

How was the initial setup?

I do remember facing problems with the initial setup, but the overall documentation and SO answers has increased since then. New users face much less problem now. But there is still scope for improvement here.

What other advice do I have?

I'd recommend reading Greg Smith's PostgreSQL High Performance.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
DWH Analyst at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
Apr 26, 2016
It can be used by people on pure user level, without deep knowledge of OS administration, programming.
Pros and Cons
  • "Nowadays, the solution is on a competitive level to other commercial software solutions, especially for small companies."
  • "There is room to improve some user friendly properties such as input and output tools, some people may find interesting to implement MERGE as a SQL command."

Valuable Features

The reason why I started with PostgreSQL database was the (geo)spatial support. GIS software, such as Quantum GIS (QGIS) or PostGIS, is a good example of where you are able to use this feature. Nowadays, the solution is on a competitive level to other commercial software solutions, especially for small companies.

Improvements to My Organization

PostgreSQL (geo)spatial support is stable, and you can add, remove, and edit all standardized GIS features. Thanks to projects such as EDB, Bitnami etc., PostgreSQL can be used by people on pure user level, without deep knowledge of OS administration, programming.

Room for Improvement

There is room to improve some user friendly properties such as input and output tools, some people may find interesting to implement MERGE as a SQL command. I am looking forward to trying UPSERT and would like to test some analytic functions definitely.

Use of Solution

I've been using v9.4 for a half year. I also have experience with previous versions of PostgreSQL. Currently we have PostgreSQL 9.4.7 on Fedora Server 23 and PostgreSQL 9.4.5 packaged by EnterpriseDB (EDB) on Windows 10 Pro.

Deployment Issues

I had trouble with the reinstallation of EDB. If I have a previous version on my Windows PC, I have to take some steps to clean the registries and folders, then everything is OK.

Customer Service and Technical Support

Customer Service:

If you are interested in you can find answers for troubleshooting. Many companies, I have mentioned above, are there for service and support. I didn’t find any big bug in the latest stable release over the last few months.

Technical Support:

If you are interested in you can find answers for troubleshooting. Many companies, I have mentioned above, are there for service and support. I didn’t find any big bug in the latest stable release over the last few months.

ROI

I recommend Linux installation, but it is also possible to use Windows. With PostgreSQL you don't have to pay much money which is a good advantage. You have to take into account that you will spent some time finding out how to implement something or what is the right tool you have to use.

Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing

PostgreSQL is a long-lasting investment for people who like computers and don’t want to spent much money for database layer implementation.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Senior Programmer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
Top 20
Apr 26, 2016
We could improve our hardware, and we upgraded the Heroku plan as we grew.​
Pros and Cons
  • "We don't regret any choosing this solution."
  • "It could be easier to perform some fragmentation in the database."

What is most valuable?

  • Easy to use
  • Vastl documentation
  • Tough product

How has it helped my organization?

We used it from scratch of the organization. It helped a lot since we could improve our hardware, and we upgraded the Heroku plan as we grew.

What needs improvement?

It could be easier to perform some fragmentation in the database. It's possible, but still a hard job.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for about three years. Currently we use PostgreSQL provided by Heroku and AWS. On Heroku we use a premium 6 plan with v9.4, and on AWS RDS the version is also 9.4.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

The biggest problem we found so far is not in the product exactly, it's in the service provided by Heroku. Heroku locks us in hiding some features that would make a lot easier moving to another PostgreSQL provider.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have had no issues with the stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have had no issues scaling it for our needs.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

7/10

Technical Support:

7/10

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used other solutions in other companies I've worked for before. When I arrived at my current company they were already using PostgreSQL.

How was the initial setup?

I wasn't involved in the setup as it was already in place when I joined.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented it through a vendor as using this kind of service is easy and fast to get started. You don't need experts, and you can keep concentrating on your core business. However, when you grow the costs grow, and as in our case, it might be hard to leave the vendor.

What other advice do I have?

It does what it's supposed to do, as simple as that. We don't regret any choosing this solution.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Team Lead ETL at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
Apr 25, 2016
It is a very safe and stable solution.​ ​A better export facility which is GUI friendly would be an improvement.
Pros and Cons
  • "JSON data support is most valuable to me as it saves design and maintenance time."
  • "A better export facility which is GUI friendly would be an improvement."

What is most valuable?

JSON data support is most valuable to me as it saves design and maintenance time. It is a very safe and stable solution.

How has it helped my organization?

We are spending less time parsing API response and more time exploring data. We spend time understanding APIs and how to interact with them, If we can load responses directly to the database that saves many man hours for a project.

What needs improvement?

A better export facility which is GUI friendly would be an improvement. Also if we could export data from grid that would have been helpful.I have used HeidiSQL for MySQL which is very user friendly, pgAdmin III is not that helpful when it comes to different features we need to use like export,filtering and connections.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using it for one year and am still exploring it.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

We had no deployment issues.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We had no issues with the stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We had no issues scaling it.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have worked with MySQL, Microsoft SQL, db2, and Oracle. We chose PostgreSQL for its JSON support as our APIs are sending JSON responses and PostgreSQL is like home for JSON. Choosing it has helped our cloud computing requirements a lot.

How was the initial setup?

On Windows it's straightforward, but on Ubuntu, it was a bit complex when it came to database and tablespace division through PSQL.

What about the implementation team?

We did it in-house.

What other advice do I have?

If you are thinking of using PostgreSQL, all database names, table names and column names should be in small letters. PostgreSQL requires every capital letter to be quoted which makes life difficult for developer.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free PostgreSQL Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: June 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free PostgreSQL Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.