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Firebird SQL vs PostgreSQL comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 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 (3rd)
PostgreSQL
Ranking in Open Source Databases
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
125
Ranking in other categories
Vector Databases (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Firebird SQL is 13.6%, down from 19.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 15.2%, down from 19.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Open Source Databases Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
PostgreSQL15.2%
Firebird SQL13.6%
Other71.2%
Open Source Databases
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1991775 - PeerSpot reviewer
Chapter Lead at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
An open-source database to hold customer data, but its performance should be improved
Firebird SQL significantly improved our data management in many parts of our self-developed ERP system. I rate the solution's performance and speed a six out of ten. Two or three database administrators are needed to maintain the solution. A few years ago, migrating data to or from Firebird SQL was a little bit difficult because the identifier names for tables or stored procedures were limited to 20 to 30 characters. Transferring the structure to Firebird SQL was difficult, but they fixed it in version 3, which was much easier. We are developing software with Delphi, and Delphi is also by Embarcadero. Using InterBase or Firebird SQL databases is very common, and you have some good tools for developing with Firebird SQL. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
AC
Senior Assosiate Consultant at Applied Materials
Real-time data capture optimizes database performance but Views create problems
One of the most valuable features is real-time data capture; it optimizes database performance. I think using real-time data capture reduces job running time and the amount of data sent at once with batch loads. Replicating the same data daily isn't optimal, so real-time reception improves application performance and reduces latency.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I can deploy it on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows — it's very easy."
"The documentation is very well written."
"The solution is very useful for stock management."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution and can run on most operating systems, such as Linux, Unix, and Windows."
"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."
"The product was easy to use."
"I find the ease of deployment to be the most valuable aspect of this solution."
"Initial setup is simple."
"It is very scalable and comes with a bonus: no licensing issues as you scale with your databases."
"It is easy to install and easy to manage. There is no license on it, so it is free. There is high compatibility with Oracle, and there are many tools for the migration of data from Oracle to Postgre."
"PostgreSQL is very powerful, easy to manage, and has many features."
"The most valuable features are the price, stability, it is scalable and is used by our clients in small business environments, and it is a simple product to use."
"The solution has many valuable features such as it easy to use and the interface is intuitive."
"We often use PostgreSQL for operations monitoring because we are a manufacturing company."
"What I like is that it's quite powerful in terms of performance."
 

Cons

"The security of the users could improve in Firebird SQL."
"On large databases, we have some difficulties."
"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."
"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."
"It would be interesting if they added functionality with redundancy, reputation, and variability."
"This solution isn't very user-friendly, or intuitive, which could be improved when it is developed."
"It would be nice to have a graphical user interface to handle the product."
"PostgreSQL doesn't have a feature for temporal SQL, which is useful for gathering versions of data. This feature should be included in PostgreSQL. This feature is available in MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle Database, and DB2."
"Sometimes, the views create problems. If you don't have the view, sometimes what happens is you need to have the drivers properly set up for PostgreSQL."
"We have to set up event API, which takes a lot of events from the user."
"It could be improved by using parallelization. You want basically, distributed computing."
"Sometimes, it becomes slow because of the network. So, there is room for improvement in performance."
"Instead of the installation agent downloading all the packages for the install, it should allow the user to download the packages separately on their own to do the install."
"I'd like to see better memory management. I think that that's one of the few areas that Postgres does not handle as well as MySQL does or did."
"The solution could improve the integration."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's open-source and free."
"It is a public domain system as every customer can install it on their system without paying any license fee."
"The tool is open source."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution, which means it is a free product."
"I was using the free version of Firebird SQL."
"There is a yearly maintenance fee for the use of the solution."
"It is okay."
"We are using the free solution, so there is no cost involved."
"PostgreSQL is a free and open-source database."
"The need for our customers to pay for licences is contingent on their projects and budgets."
"Our company pays for it. There are free versions available, but for advanced features, you obviously have to pay."
"The licensing model is good."
"It could be much cheaper. If you would like to build an application on Amazon today, PostgreSQL is the standard database with Redshift. If you want other databases, you can add them, but PostgreSQL is the basis of everything. It's a question of money, that's it."
"It is free. There is no license on it."
"It is an open-source platform."
"It is open-source. If you use it on-premise, it is free. It also has enterprise or commercial versions. If you go for the cloud version, there will be a cost, but it is lower than Oracle or Microsoft."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business57
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise46
 

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 PostgreSQL?
It's a transactional database, so we use Postgres for most of our reporting. That's where it's helping.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PostgreSQL?
The tool is free of cost. For now, it's not about making money. But once we perfect it, we can offer it to customers willing to pay for support and other services. Most of my deployments are free.
What needs improvement with PostgreSQL?
Postgres should focus on building a stronger knowledge base. They also need to expand their integration capabilities, so more tools and resources are available to manage it. But it is more secure t...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

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Find out what your peers are saying about Firebird SQL vs. PostgreSQL and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.