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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

"The most valuable feature of Firebird SQL is the creation of databases."
"I find the ease of deployment to be the most valuable aspect of this solution."
"The product was easy to use."
"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."
"We are satisfied with Firebird SQL, and we will keep on using it."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution."
"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 documentation is quite straightforward."
"It has worked very well for us so far."
"I recommend this solution; it's great for web applications and it just works."
"What I like is that it's very easy to configure, and just from time to time, you can make your backups, and that's it."
"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."
"If you want a reliable, easy to maintain database solution, I think that MariaDB on RedHat/CentOS is an option that every DBA should consider."
"It is a scalable solution. It easily scales up and scales down."
"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

"On large databases, we have some difficulties."
"I'd rate the solution five or six out of ten for the possibilities it has currently."
"The security of the users could improve in Firebird SQL."
"In the next release, it should support JSON, XML, and replication with third-party tools."
"It would be good to have more automation and integration with the tools from other vendors."
"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."
"They need to be more reactive and fast. Sometimes, they take too long to resolve some tickets."
"There aren't a lot of people using this solution — it's not very popular in the marketplace."
"MariaDB's GUI is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"The solution is not scalable."
"Maria DB has to improve from a management perspective."
"The solution should do some fine-tuning on maybe the transaction per second so that users can get more than they can on the Microsoft SQL Server."
"With respect to clustering and the master-slave configuration, sometimes the slave goes out of synch."
"An improvement would be scaling it up to the levels of Oracle, especially when it comes to resilience, so that we can do higher transactions for two databases or power our operation."
"Lacks time series data and additional driving support would be helpful."
"In the next release, I would like to see improvements in the scalability and redundancy features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is open source."
"I was using the free version of Firebird SQL."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is freely available."
"There is no licensing cost for this solution, as it is open-source."
"It is okay."
"It's open-source and free."
"We are using the free solution, so there is no cost involved."
"There is a yearly maintenance fee for the use of the solution."
"The solution is free, but if you want the enterprise version you will need to pay for some licenses but the cost is less than other solutions, such as Oracle."
"MariaDB is an open-source software, meaning I don't need to pay for the product."
"This is an open-source product, which can be used free of charge."
"My company uses the free version of the solution."
"MariaDB is available for free."
"It's an open-source solution."
"There is a monthly subscription to use MariaDB."
"We pay for a yearly license."
report
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902,270 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
11%
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.
902,270 professionals have used our research since 2012.