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Firebird SQL vs MySQL 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)
MySQL
Ranking in Open Source Databases
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
152
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (4th)
 

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 MySQL is 11.4%, up from 10.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Open Source Databases Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
MySQL11.4%
Firebird SQL9.8%
Other78.8%
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…
Prabir Kumar Kundu - PeerSpot reviewer
SR AVP–Presales Cloud & Platform Management Services at Path Infotech ltd
Offers robust security and availability with impressive replication capabilities
Regarding their documentation and interface, there is room for improvement. Documentation is definitely required when running multiple databases on a cluster system. The load balancer, MySQL LB, which is used to connect to the application, lacks clear documentation. When there are multiple application servers connecting to the MySQL cluster and going through the MySQL load balancer, the documentation is not user-friendly. It's there, but only technical persons with deep knowledge of the MySQL database can implement it. Most of the community users or ISVs who use MySQL don't have many technical persons or DBA experts, so they face some challenges for the high availability of connecting high available databases from high available applications. That documentation should be simplified.

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 very useful for stock management."
"Robustness is the absolutely main feature."
"I like Firebird because it's very lightweight; it's very light and powerful, and I can do everything that I can with MS SQL Server and Oracle with Firebird, with very easy deployment on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows and great integration capabilities."
"I find the ease of deployment to be the most valuable aspect of this solution."
"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."
"We are happy with the event capabilities of Firebird SQL database. We can raise events from it and display them in our application."
"The product was easy to use."
"The relations in the database, the dynamic workflow, and the ability to connect with all columns. It's useful for e-commerce."
"The replication feature is the most valuable, and we are replicating our servers."
"The solution is free to use, which is its most valuable aspect."
"Combined with PHPMyAdmin, MySQL is an excellent database solution for small to medium sized businesses or installations."
"I would absolutely recommend this solution to others."
"For MySQL, in terms of the usage or as the end user, I don't have much to recommend, as long as the query latency meets your requirements, it will be great."
"MySQL is easy to use, has fast performance, and it is comfortable for end-user to use."
"The ML modules in MySQL are advantageous since they make data handling easy and quick at MNQM."
 

Cons

"The security of the users could improve in Firebird SQL."
"This solution isn't very user-friendly, or intuitive, which could be improved when it is developed."
"In the next release, it should support JSON, XML, and replication with third-party tools."
"They need to be more reactive and fast. Sometimes, they take too long to resolve some tickets."
"On large databases, we have some difficulties."
"It is not easy to integrate the tool with Visual Studio."
"It would be nice to have a graphical user interface to handle the product."
"I'd rate the solution five or six out of ten for the possibilities it has currently."
"There are some issues with compatibility with Java environments that need to be improved. When Oracle bought this solution there were some driver changes that caused some issues with operations."
"It isn't as reliable as an SQL Server."
"I would like to see the automatic backup feature in the solution as well. Data is very important and we need to preserve it in a safe place. It would be good if MySQL can back up the data automatically."
"I think that the stored procedures and the development tools to write and debug large queries could be improved."
"As for areas that could be improved, the tool is often used as a local database on laptops. But now, we're moving to cloud-based solutions that are more scalable and highly available. I think the tool should offer a cloud database option. This would let users keep a local copy of data if needed, but also have their data available across different regions through a cloud account."
"I would rate the stability a seven out of ten. It does break down a little at times."
"I did the implementation of the solution myself and I used community support. The support from the vendor costs money."
"If you have money, it would be better to use Oracle."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution, which means it is a free product."
"The tool is open source."
"There is a yearly maintenance fee for the use of the solution."
"It is a public domain system as every customer can install it on their system without paying any license fee."
"I was using the free version of Firebird SQL."
"It's open-source and free."
"It is okay."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is freely available."
"It is an open source platform."
"There is a licensing cost because we are going for a proprietary product. There are some other versions for which there is no licensing cost."
"MySQL is a free and open-source solution."
"The pricing is not much expensive, it's cheap."
"Microsoft licensing for SQL Server is probably ten times more expensive. I used to work for the government, and I remember when we were looking into upgrading to the enterprise version of SQL Server 2019, the licensing was going to cost 350,000. To get the equivalent in the cloud, it was going to be about four grand to get the same processing power and everything else. With MySQL, it was going to be about 300 for the same licensing. Cost-wise, for sure, there is a huge difference. Would you prefer to pay 300 a month or 3,000 to have the same amount of data resources? You might lose a few options that you need, but it isn't worth the price difference."
"There is no cost involved, no licensing fees."
"This is an open-source product that can be used free of charge."
"We do have a couple of clients who choose to use the paid, enterprise version of the solution and who take full advantage of it."
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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%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business74
Midsize Enterprise34
Large Enterprise63
 

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.
Why are MySQL connections encrypted and what is the biggest benefit of this?
MySQL encrypts connections to protect your data and the biggest benefit from this is that nobody can corrupt it. If you move information over a network without encryption, you are endangering it, m...
Considering that there is a free version of MySQL, would you invest in one of the paid editions?
I may be considered a MySQL veteran since I have been using it since before Oracle bought it and created paid versions. So back in my day, it was all free, it was open-source and the best among sim...
What is one thing you would improve with MySQL?
One thing I would improve related to MySQL is not within the product itself, but with the guides to it. Before, when it was free, everyone was on their own, seeking tutorials and how-to videos onli...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Elekt Labs, Streamsoft, wobe-systems GmbH, DRB Systems, Moscow City Hospital #31
Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.
Find out what your peers are saying about Firebird SQL vs. MySQL and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
899,324 professionals have used our research since 2012.