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IBM Informix vs MariaDB comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 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

IBM Informix
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
17th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Embedded Database (9th)
MariaDB
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of IBM Informix is 1.8%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MariaDB is 6.3%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Nazzareno Maria Rezzini - PeerSpot reviewer
Supports multiple business intelligence tools, but the technical support services need improvement
IBM Informix is a central database solution across various environments, supporting multiple applications and business intelligence tools The key areas for improvement revolve around understanding the current customer trends and demands, particularly in software and database requirements. The…
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

"It supports in-house-built applications in .NET and VB6"
"Every version is faster than the previous."
"Replication, all levels of replication, query charting, and the MongoDB embedded are the most valuable features of this solution."
"So far, we do not have a lot of issues. It's pretty problem-free."
"This solution has made financial reporting possible by allowing financial people the opportunity to set Informix to "Auto Pilot" so that they can attend other duties."
"For IoT business cases, having Informix Enterprise Edition work on edge computers, like Raspberry Pi and using Informix replication, makes complex situations simple to build and maintain."
"The initial setup is pretty easy."
"It supports multiple applications and business intelligence tools."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is a relational database, which is fairly reliable...It is a stable solution."
"MariaDB is scalable."
"The product has good documentation and you can find many examples online."
"It delivers fast processing times, particularly for frequent select queries and insert/update operations."
"A valuable feature is that we can use it for quite a few things, all the things you'd expect from a server—along the lines of Linux's Lightweight Directory."
"I am editing."
"The most valuable feature of MariaDB is that it is open-source and we can easily migrate from other databases, such as Oracle to MariaDB."
"I like the global transaction IDs (GTIDs) feature. It's quite reliable for replication between a master and a replica server, and it's a feature that MySQL also has but implemented differently."
 

Cons

"It would be helpful to have IBM salespeople know that Informix exists, and sell it. Currently, it is completely ignored by IBM."
"In my opinion, the packages could be improved. The version I use doesn't allow for packages. I can do some general procedures, but no packages like in Oracle. So, develop separate modules in SQL language. This would be most beneficial for me."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"This product could be made easier to use for beginners."
"There should be more intelligence surrounding discovering data to be able to automatically create indexes."
"I would like to see backups from secondary servers."
"I really would love to have a QT plugin."
"The support team could include local engineers to establish efficient communication. It will help us speed up the escalation process."
"The solution can improve by having support for more integration. However, at this time it is working well for us."
"We'd like more data intelligence."
"Data continuity could be improved."
"The scaling for database online transactions needs improvement."
"I would like to see more compatibility going forward. This would help if there is a need to change databases."
"The customer service and support are okay. But the response time is slow. Moreover, the material is not available freely."
"In the next release, I would like to see improvements in the scalability and redundancy features."
"MariaDB could be improved by adding more automation."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license."
"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."
"I am not aware of the licensing costs or terms."
"MariaDB is an open-source software, meaning I don't need to pay for the product."
"MariaDB is a free-to-use solution."
"There is a monthly subscription to use MariaDB."
"This is an open source solution with no licensing fees."
"I used the open-source version, which is available free of charge."
"The licensing cost is approximately $4000.00 per year and the licensing is based on the software and the number of posts that you make."
"We use the solution's free version."
"MariaDB is available for free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
19%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Retailer
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Informix?
It supports multiple applications and business intelligence tools.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Informix?
The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license.
What needs improvement with IBM Informix?
The key areas for improvement revolve around understanding the current customer trends and demands, particularly in software and database requirements. The product's performance could be better com...
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

 

Also Known As

Informix
No data available
 

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
Google, Wikipedia, Tencent, Verizon, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Telefónica, Huatai Securities
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Informix vs. MariaDB and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.