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Firebird SQL vs MariaDB comparison

 

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 (4th)
MariaDB
Ranking in Open Source Databases
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Firebird SQL is 9.8%, down from 17.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MariaDB is 5.6%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Open Source Databases Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Firebird SQL9.8%
MariaDB5.6%
Other84.6%
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…
AB
Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd
Has supported web application data needs but requires design adjustments to manage complex queries efficiently
Complex queries in MariaDB where the query needs to parse thousands of lines or data values face some performance issues. For small and medium-size volume, it is pretty good. If it goes beyond certain data and complex queries, we see performance issues. We tried the advanced replication feature between different regions, replicating data specifically residing on MariaDB to two different regions of MariaDB data, and there were some technical snags in terms of slowness and longer processing time. Point-in-time recovery in MariaDB is good for small databases. When data volume increases beyond 5 GB or 10 GB per day or runs into double-digit GBs, we found some performance issues. For data below 10 GB, it works fine. Performance is the primary focus area for MariaDB, particularly during transactions or complex query jobs where slow performance is observed. MariaDB is scalable and easy to scale.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find the ease of deployment to be the most valuable aspect of this solution."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution."
"I can deploy it on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows — it's very easy."
"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."
"The solution is very useful for stock management."
"We are happy with the event capabilities of Firebird SQL database. We can raise events from it and display them in our application."
"Robustness is the absolutely main feature."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is reliable, offers good performance, and is easy to use."
"The solution is very easy to implement, the product makes it very easy to use as a primary database or a standby database, and the switches are easy to use."
"They provide a high level of technical support."
"MariaDB performs well as the backend database for our cloud-based telephony solution."
"MariaDB is easy to install and is stable and scalable."
"It delivers fast processing times, particularly for frequent select queries and insert/update operations."
"The solution is very scalable."
"The product has good documentation and you can find many examples online."
"The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that it is a cloud-based tool, so it is pretty fast."
 

Cons

"I'd rate the solution five or six out of ten for the possibilities it has currently."
"It would be good to have more automation and integration with the tools from other vendors."
"In the next release, it should support JSON, XML, and replication with third-party tools."
"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."
"It would be interesting if they added functionality with redundancy, reputation, and variability."
"The security of the users could improve in Firebird SQL."
"Firebird SQL's performance has slowed since Firebird SQL 3 or 3.5 versions, where they developed over-the-wire encryption."
"They need to be more reactive and fast. Sometimes, they take too long to resolve some tickets."
"The scaling for database online transactions needs improvement."
"The performance could be a bit better."
"It would be good if they can maybe improve the mass import in the database. Currently, for importing a large number of data, we create a CSV file and upload all the things in the system. The system does not activate them by default. We have to do this manually. This may be due to the version we are using, but this is something we would like to see improved."
"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."
"The product needs more features and more functionality. It's imperative that it supports more platforms, and supports more operating systems."
"Could have more integration with user platforms."
"The stability could always continue to be improved upon."
"The customer service and support are okay. But the response time is slow. Moreover, the material is not available freely."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution, which means it is a free product."
"I was using the free version of Firebird SQL."
"The tool is open source."
"There is no licensing cost for this solution, as it is open-source."
"It's open-source and free."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is freely available."
"It is okay."
"There is a yearly maintenance fee for the use of the solution."
"I used the open-source version, which is available free of charge."
"My company uses the free version of the solution."
"I rate the product's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price since there are some support costs involved, even though it isn't an open-source solution."
"MariaDB is open-source and self-hosted."
"It is free of charge."
"MariaDB is an open-source software, meaning I don't need to pay for the product."
"This is an open source solution with no licensing fees."
"MariaDB is available for free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
University
8%
 

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?
Sometimes, complex queries that were supported in Oracle are not available in MariaDB. Advanced indexing is not available. Oracle is very advanced compared to MariaDB, and those advanced features a...
What is your primary use case for MariaDB?
My client has been using MariaDB for the last four years. We are using MariaDB in the cloud.
 

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: June 2026.
900,051 professionals have used our research since 2012.