Exasol Data Warehouse vs IBM Db2 Database comparison

Exasol and IBM are both solutions in the Relational Databases Tools category. Exasol is ranked #23 with an average rating of 8.5, while IBM is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.3. Exasol holds a 1.3% mindshare in SQL, compared to IBM’s 7.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Exasol users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Exasol Data Warehouse

Read 8 Exasol Data Warehouse reviews

579 Views
498 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Db2 Database

Read 75 IBM Db2 Database reviews

3,890 Views
3,734 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Exasol Data Warehouse

IBM Db2 Database

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

IBM Db2 Database and Exasol Data Warehouse compete in the database management market, serving different needs. IBM Db2 shows strength with its comprehensive enterprise features, making it suitable for large organizations, while Exasol prioritizes speed, appealing to those needing rapid analytics.

Features: IBM Db2 Database includes comprehensive data security, integration with other IBM services, and strong support for SQL and NoSQL. Exasol Data Warehouse offers high-performance analytics, in-memory processing, and scalability for large data volumes.

Room for Improvement: IBM Db2 could enhance its user interface and simplify deployment processes. Improving documentation accessibility and offering more out-of-the-box analytics tools would also benefit its users. Exasol may improve in providing stronger enterprise-level support, developing more robust data integration capabilities, and expanding its cloud service offerings.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Db2 Database supports traditional deployment with thorough documentation and extensive enterprise-level support services. Exasol focuses on rapid deployment with an agile process, offering effective support for smooth and simple implementations.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Db2 Database pricing aligns with its wide-ranging enterprise features and infrastructure, providing value through robust support. Exasol offers competitive pricing aimed at excellent cost-performance for businesses needing fast analytics, focusing on maximizing ROI with high-performance capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Exasol Data Warehouse vs. IBM Db2 Database Report (Updated: November 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Exasol Data Warehouse vs. IBM Db2 Database

November 2025

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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

Exasol Data Warehouse

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

23rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM Db2 Database

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

6th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of Exasol Data Warehouse is 1.3%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Db2 Database is 7.3%, up from 7.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Relational Databases Tools Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM Db2 Database	7.3%
Exasol Data Warehouse	1.3%
Other	91.4%

Relational Databases Tools

Featured Reviews

Shubham-Agarwal

Manager - Projects at Cognizant

Fast query processing and easy-to-store all the data

There are very few companies that are using Exasol, but the majority of companies are using SQL Server, Cloud or IBM Db2 Database, or any other databases. Therefore, the resources are limited, which is my only concern. So if I face any issues, limited resources are available to help me resolve the issue with Exasol. From that perspective, it can be a bit of a struggle for me to find a solution. In the next release, I would like to see better compatibility issues. Currently, Exasol has limited compatibility with other software like Python and R. For example, If I talk about SQL Server, we can connect it to big data or Python, which is also compatible with different servers.

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Shariq Ahmed

Data Engineer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

Data access is simplified with key identification but outdated interface needs revamping

Db2 is an on-premises solution. I only use SQL over there. It's very easy to figure out how the data is present. I can check what the keys in the table are. I can easily export that to further work on it in Snowflake. For data modeling and other tasks, I have to pull the information from Db2.

Read full review

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 hands-off; you set it up insert your data and it self tunes queries."

"The speed is very good compared to other databases, like SQL Server or Oracle."

"It is easy to scale."

"Performance is a top priority, and it excels in this aspect."

"We mainly chose Exasol for its performance reasons."

"The most valuable feature of Exasol is its speed."

"Its speed is great."

"We can quickly scale the solution as it works on an MPP system."

"The structure is straightforward, consisting of the test file and the logical and physical files. You have one physical file and many logical files related to it."

"The most valuable feature of the IBM Db2 Database is the ease of use, and the ability to do query writing of any SQL statement and have an output."

"The valuable features include access path optimization, excellent performance, a robust locking mechanism, parallelism, and effective buffering in memory."

"I have found the most valuable feature to be its availability."

"The stability of IBM Db2 Database is stable. We have not faced any downtime in one year. Our work is mostly during business hours and during that time, we haven't faced any downtime."

"The solution's security is very tough and impenetrable."

"Its functionality and availability are valuable. Its availability is great. It is available 99.99% of the time."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the integration with other IBM products."

More IBM Db2 Database pros

Cons

"They should improve the security features for MPP processing."

"Lacks a cloud-based platform."

"It would be beneficial if the updates would occur more often."

"They don't talk very well to with other products when it comes to connectivity. Integration is lacking."

"There are limited resources available to help me resolve the issue with Exasol."

"You have to install Exasol drivers, and it's not easy to find or implement a driver into different systems."

"It's not cloud-native so many maintenance operations require downtime."

"The only area where we found it could improve was in custom role creation and security, and it was difficult to work with."

"The solution's UI hasn't been upgraded. The solution’s UI is an area to improve because the solution was developed long ago."

"The queries can be difficult for beginners because there are so many. I would like to see more use cases for flow analysis that enable us to correlate the flow with events. Adding this feature in a QI format would be good for beginners."

"GUI needs improvement."

"Not very solid compared to its competitors' products."

"I would say that the tool has to be made more cloud-friendly and should have agreements with AWS, Microsoft, or Google to run things on hyperscalers."

"We need some time to improve the performance. We have to perform a weekly REORG, or else RUNSTATS for the databases."

"There could be better integration with some cloud solutions."

"Microsoft SQL Server is comparatively very simple to use. I wish IBM would move towards making Db2 easy to use for both basic and advanced users. This is where I see room for advancement. Db2 is also more expensive than Microsoft SQL Server, and its price can be reduced. The replication feature needs to be there in Db2. Microsoft provides similar functionality in SQL Server. IBM also has similar functionality, but it exists in a different product. So, to have the replication ability, you have to buy a different product. It makes sense to have this functionality within Db2 instead of a different product. It will also be helpful in terms of competition. In Africa, the problem for Db2 is competition. Oracle Database and Microsoft SQL Server have been in this market for a very long time. These companies have built the ecosystem and the brand within this market for a very long time. So, they are very popular with users. Db2 or IBM came a little later in the game, and that's where the problem lies. They also don't do a lot of marketing for it, which is also a problem."

More IBM Db2 Database cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's cost is mid-ranged."

"I would rate the pricing a five out of ten. It's not super expensive, but also not cheap."

"The solution's hardware and subscription model for support are very expensive."

"There is a license for this solution and we pay every three years."

"I think that everyone knows that with IBM the standard price is higher than the others."

"I rate the product pricing a nine out of ten."

"We don't see what the specific price of the DB2 license is because we pay for the backup license as a package."

"They are competitive and honest (compared to how peer firms approach licensing conversations). "

"We purchase the product's yearly license."

More IBM Db2 Database pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Retailer

17%

Computer Software Company

Logistics Company

Financial Services Firm

20%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	1
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	6

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	48

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Exasol?

The most valuable feature of Exasol is its speed.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Exasol?

You have to use upper-column names in Exasol, which is strange. You have to install Exasol drivers, and it's not easy to find or implement a driver into different systems.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Exasol?

We implemented our data problem issues from Tableau. We inserted the data into the Exasol database in order to run 10 to 20 reports from Tableau. This was just a small but problematic report for us.

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Db2 Database?

Db2 database scalability and performance capabilities match our database needs. It covers pretty much everything a database administrator or engineer might need.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Db2 Database?

IBM Db2 is an expensive solution. While I am not heavily involved with pricing, additional companies provide capabilities or products like those from BMC, which many installations might also purchase.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Db2 Database?

The IBM Db2 Database is a good solution, but now there is a high maintenance charge. The IBM Db2 Database needs improved support, and there are many difficulties in using it. We tend to use the clo...

See all answers

Comparisons

SQL Server vs Exasol Data Warehouse

Compared 16% of the time

Oracle Database vs Exasol Data Warehouse

Compared 15% of the time

Teradata vs Exasol Data Warehouse

Compared 13% of the time

MySQL vs Exasol Data Warehouse

Compared 13% of the time

SAP HANA vs Exasol Data Warehouse

Compared 12% of the time

More Exasol Data Warehouse Competitors

SQL Server vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 35% of the time

Oracle Database vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 18% of the time

Teradata vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 13% of the time

SAP HANA vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 13% of the time

MySQL vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM Db2 Database Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Exasol Data Warehouse

November 2025

Download Exasol Data Warehouse product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Db2 Database

October 2025

Download IBM Db2 Database product report

Also Known As

No data available

DB2

Overview

Exasol is a high-performance data warehouse solution that accelerates BI and reporting features. Its speed, stability, and self-tuning queries make it valuable, and it doesn't require a database administrator. It's a backend database for Tableau dashboards, resulting in faster report loading times and increased efficiency in querying data.

Exasol's high performance allows users to connect insights and fire queries instead of looking at cached dashboards. It has impressive aggregation capabilities that help calculate metrics on the fly based on user-selected filters.

Exasol

DB2 Enterprise for Linux, UNIX, and Windows is the ideal data server for the most demanding workloads. New XML support is designed to help firms minimize the time and effort it takes to persist and use their XML data reducing development costs and improving business agility.

IBM

Sample Customers

1&1 Internet SE 11880 Internet Services AG AB Svenska Spel Accarda AG Aera Technology Inc. AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG Apotheken-Rechen-Zentrum GmbH AQR Capital Management, LLC arvato distribution GmbH ARZ Allgemeines Rechenzentrum GmbH Badoo Limited Baur Versand (GmbH & Co. KG) BIScience Ltd Blocket Blue Yonder GmbH Codilink UK Ltd T/A Coniq crealytics GmbH dailyme TV GmbH Dailymotion S.A. Dataforce Verlagsgesellschaft für Business Information mbH Deutsche Postbank AG Digitales Rezept Zentrum GmbH DIKW Groep direct services Gütersloh GmbH DR Technologies Ltd. dress-for-less GmbH econda GmbH emetriq GmbH empiriecom GmbH & Co. KG Flaconi GmbH Fresenius Netcare GmbH Fyber GmbH GfK SE Grant Street Group, Inc. Gruner + Jahr GmbH Gymshark UK Hahn Air Lines GmbH Hermes Einrichtungs Service GmbH & Co. KG INNOVATIVE SCHEDULING, LLC internetstores GmbH INTERSPORT Deutschland eG IQVIA Commercial GmbH & Co. OHG IQVIA Commercial Sp. z o.o. IQVIA Incorporated iVantage Health Analytics K - Mail Order GmbH & Co. KG LIQ CORP SA Manor AG Basel Match2Lists Limited MEDION AG Midasplayer AB Monsoon Accessorize Limited m-pathy GmbH msales Ltd. MTG Modern Services AB MW Aviation GmbH & Co. KG Myntra Designs Pvt Ltd Netzeffekt GmbH New Company Services Ltd. NOVENTI HealthCare GmbH Olympus Europa SE & Co. KG Operation Fistula OpsDataStore OTTO (GmbH & Co KG) Panda Retail Co. PAPSTAR GmbH Piedmont Healthcare, Inc. Questback GmbH RatePAY GmbH Revolut Ltd. Saarland-Sporttoto GmbH Sagarmatha Ltd. SIA Damara Technologies Supermärkte Nord Vertriebs GmbH & Co. KG The National Research Center for College & University Admissions, Inc. United Utilities Water Ltd. Verlag C.H. Beck oHG Vocal Planet Ltd. Vodafone Group Services GmbH Webtrekk GmbH wer liefert was? GmbH Windeln.de SE Wooga GmbH XING SE Zalando SE

Knorr-Bremse, Mizuho Bank Ltd., Australian Government Department of Defence, SCHWENK Zement, Friedhelm Loh Group, YAZAKI Europe Limited, Ekornes ASA, Baldor Electric, VSN Systemen BV, Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC, PLANSEE Group, TE Connectivity, Hansgrohe SE, Openmatics, University of Toronto

Buyer's Guide

Exasol Data Warehouse vs. IBM Db2 Database

November 2025

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