Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Firebird SQL vs MariaDB comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 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

Firebird SQL
Ranking in Open Source Databases
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Embedded Database (1st)
MariaDB
Ranking in Open Source Databases
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Firebird SQL is 18.0%, down from 20.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MariaDB is 6.5%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Open Source Databases
 

Featured Reviews

Doug Meuross - PeerSpot reviewer
A reliable tool that offers good performance and is easy to use
I have had no issues with the stability of the product since it has always been a 100 percent reliable product and much better than the other databases available in the market. The multi-platform part is not good, especially when locked into things like Windows. You can judge your platform with Linux or Unix or whatever since they are good.
KumarManish - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to deploy, cost-effective, and integrates seamlessly with other products
We had planned for an RDBMS version and not NoSQL. We use MariaDB Galera Cluster. It's a good product. It is cheap, scalable, performs well, and is efficient. We use GCP’s BigQuery for machine learning. We must follow the best practices of the tool. We missed some best practices like the storage engine and InnoDB. It was very difficult to identify why we were having performance issues. Then, we realized that some of our tables were still on MyISAM, the default storage engine. When we switched it back to the InnoDB, it was very smooth. InnoDB is the recommended one. We must follow the best practices given in the documentation during the initial setup. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is very useful for stock management."
"I appreciate the fact that, once the database is embedded, it doesn't need to be administered, and removes the requirement for a specific server."
"I like that we don't have to pay external fees to migrate this data. So, we are looking to relocate from Postgres or EDB."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is reliable, offers good performance, and is easy to use."
"We are happy with the event capabilities of Firebird SQL database. We can raise events from it and display them in our application."
"The reliability and ease of management are very valuable."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution."
"The product was easy to use."
"It is very simple to install, and the commands are exactly the same as MySQL."
"This solution is user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature of MariaDB is the replication mode."
"MariaDB can solve things better than MySQL. Maria DB has better performance than MySQL."
"The solution's high availability is its most valuable aspect."
"From a customer perspective, MariaDB is a good choice for cluster configuration. It's also easy to operate and cheap."
"I haven't faced any technical issues with the product, and it works fine."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the query speed it offers."
 

Cons

"I don't think the solution is very scalable, because the scalability of the performance when using more than one process is not very good."
"In the next release, it should support JSON, XML, and replication with third-party tools."
"Firebird SQL's performance has slowed since Firebird SQL 3 or 3.5 versions, where they developed over-the-wire encryption."
"The solution could improve by providing partitioning and encryption. It is not at the higher level of database solution but it could be with some upgrades."
"Database sharing is a capability that Firebird SQL lacks."
"The main feature I expect is to be able to work with different databases at the same time because that's a wishlist item for me."
"Technical support and performance could be better. We have some problems with this solution, but we don't know if the problem is with the database or the configuration. For example, sometimes, the users can't access the database."
"On large databases, we have some difficulties."
"With respect to clustering and the master-slave configuration, sometimes the slave goes out of synch."
"The solution should do some fine-tuning on maybe the transaction per second so that users can get more than they can on the Microsoft SQL Server."
"The configuration could be improved. It should be easier."
"The solution is not scalable."
"The solution can improve by having support for more integration. However, at this time it is working well for us."
"I'd like to see improved materialized views, like the ability to save select queries. This feature is missing in MariaDB compared to other relational databases like Oracle and SQL Server."
"There is room for improvement in terms of security."
"Master-master replication is something that needs to be simplified."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is okay."
"There is a yearly maintenance fee for the use of the solution."
"I was using the free version of Firebird SQL."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is freely available."
"We are using the free solution, so there is no cost involved."
"It's open-source and free."
"There is no licensing cost for this solution, as it is open-source."
"The tool is open source."
"The tool is open-source."
"We pay for a yearly license."
"The price could be less expensive."
"It is free of charge."
"This is an open-source product, which can be used free of charge."
"It's an open-source solution."
"We use the solution's free version."
"MariaDB is open-source and self-hosted."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Open Source Databases solutions are best for your needs.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Firebird SQL compare with PostgreSQL?
PostgreSQL was designed in a way that provides you with not only a high degree of flexibility but also offers you a cheap and easy-to-use solution. It gives you the ability to redesign and audit yo...
What do you like most about Firebird SQL?
Firebird SQL is an open-source solution.
What do you like most about MariaDB?
The integration with other products is seamless.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB?
I have found the price of commercial MariaDB to be pretty steep, although not as high as Oracle. Customers often prefer the Community Edition because it's free.
What needs improvement with MariaDB?
The only potential area for improvement could be the pricing model, which might benefit from being more flexible or a bit cheaper.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Elekt Labs, Streamsoft, wobe-systems GmbH, DRB Systems, Moscow City Hospital #31
Google, Wikipedia, Tencent, Verizon, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Telefónica, Huatai Securities
Find out what your peers are saying about Firebird SQL vs. MariaDB and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.