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Firebird SQL vs MariaDB comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

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
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Embedded Database (5th)
MariaDB
Ranking in Open Source Databases
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (15th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Firebird SQL is 10.0%, down from 14.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MariaDB is 5.5%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Open Source Databases Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Firebird SQL10.0%
MariaDB5.5%
Other84.5%
Open Source Databases
 

Featured Reviews

SS
Research and Development Project Manager at Sixense Monitoring
Efficient data storage with reliable and easy management
We are working on monitoring software that involves making a lot of measurements with sensors. We store all the data in Firebird, which is why we use It primarily for data storage It's difficult to describe how it has improved our organization because we have been using Firebird for a very long…
PR
Architect at LTIMindtree
Cloud deployment has improved security and performance but still needs richer query features
MariaDB is easy to install. Performance of MariaDB has improved with the query optimizer. We use MariaDB's data-at-rest encryption. Encryption is available in MariaDB, so we are secure for transmitting data without concern about moving over networks. Query optimization in MariaDB is better than Oracle. We use advanced replication for MariaDB. Role-based access is available in MariaDB, which is a good feature. The technical support of MariaDB is very helpful. They came and tuned our queries with one-to-one assistance.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We are satisfied with Firebird SQL, and we will keep on using it."
"We are happy with the event capabilities of Firebird SQL database. We can raise events from it and display them in our application."
"The solution has worked perfectly; I've never run into issues or had to reach out to technical support for troubleshooting."
"The documentation is very well written."
"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 product was easy to use."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution and can run on most operating systems, such as Linux, Unix, and Windows."
"It helps us in detecting all kinds of problems in the code, such as bad quality, unclear code, or any violation in the code or best practices."
"The solution is valuable because it has PL/SQL compatibility."
"The solution's high availability is its most valuable aspect."
"The integration with other products is seamless."
"The solution's features have effectively met our operational requirements as a standard SQL database."
"Great monitoring and performance stability."
"The product has been stable and reliable."
"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."
"MariaDB can solve things better than MySQL, and MariaDB has better performance than MySQL."
 

Cons

"It would be nice to have a graphical user interface to handle the product."
"It would be interesting if they added functionality with redundancy, reputation, and variability."
"I'd rate the solution five or six out of ten for the possibilities it has currently."
"It is not easy to integrate the tool with Visual Studio."
"Firebird SQL's performance has slowed since Firebird SQL 3 or 3.5 versions, where they developed over-the-wire encryption."
"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."
"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."
"They need to be more reactive and fast. Sometimes, they take too long to resolve some tickets."
"The interface should be more user-friendly. It should be able to connect directly to the database and Interact with it without having to use commands. It needs better integration."
"Replication could be better, and it's not so simple. It would be better if they had a replication server."
"Integration with AWS could be improved."
"I’m not sure if it can scale, so I’m not sure how it would fare for significant companies."
"There is not much support available."
"MariaDB's GUI is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"The stability could always continue to be improved upon."
"There is room for improvement in terms of security."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I was using the free version of Firebird SQL."
"It is a public domain system as every customer can install it on their system without paying any license fee."
"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."
"It is okay."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is freely available."
"I used the open-source version, which is available free of charge."
"MariaDB is available for free."
"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."
"It is an open-source solution."
"We pay for a yearly license."
"This is an open-source product, which can be used free of charge."
"When it comes to MariaDB, it should have a more cost-effective license."
"MariaDB is an open-source software, meaning I don't need to pay for the product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise26
 

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 needs improvement with Firebird SQL?
We would like to improve the management of very large databases. We have databases up to three or four terabytes, and it's not so easy to manage such large databases.
What is your primary use case for Firebird SQL?
We are working on monitoring software that involves making a lot of measurements with sensors. We store all the data in Firebird, which is why we use It primarily for data storage.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB?
MariaDB is in the pricey range, especially for huge databases handling terabytes of data. The cost depends on the volume of data and different features enabled during configuration, such as backup ...
What needs improvement with MariaDB?
The key area where MariaDB could be improved is its native GUI tooling; while the command-line interface works perfectly fine, the built-in visual tools for administration, management, and query de...
What is your primary use case for MariaDB?
My main use case for MariaDB was web applications, and I have been using MariaDB for just about a year now as I was in the development team. A specific web application where I used MariaDB is a hea...
 

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: November 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.