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Firebird SQL vs MySQL 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 (4th)
MySQL
Ranking in Open Source Databases
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
152
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Firebird SQL is 9.9%, down from 15.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MySQL is 12.5%, up from 9.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Open Source Databases Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
MySQL12.5%
Firebird SQL9.9%
Other77.6%
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…
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 product was easy to use."
"The documentation is very well written."
"I find the ease of deployment to be the most valuable aspect of this solution."
"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."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution and can run on most operating systems, such as Linux, Unix, and Windows."
"The solution is very useful for stock management."
"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."
"The reliability and ease of management are very valuable."
"From our perspective, it's free to use, it's stable and it's fast and scalable."
"The feature that I have found most valuable is its ubiquity, as MySQL is everywhere, so if I need to find a developer to do things to it that I don't know, it's very easy to find someone who has expertise in it."
"The open source product is good; if you want advanced features go for the enterprise edition."
"I would recommend the solution to those interested in using the free, stable version of the solution which incurs no licensing costs."
"I am very satisfied with the performance."
"It is very fast and stable and at the same time not resource hungry compared to some other RDBMS products."
"Speed and stability of the MySQL DB are the most valuable features since we use it as the data store for most of our web applications."
"For starters, it's free, which is always nice, and it's also pretty straightforward to use. It's a nice conventional database."
 

Cons

"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."
"On large databases, we have some difficulties."
"It would be good to have more automation and integration with the tools from other vendors."
"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."
"Database sharing is a capability that Firebird SQL lacks."
"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."
"They need to be more reactive and fast. Sometimes, they take too long to resolve some tickets."
"Zero. No support at all. Only forums with no response."
"Sometimes, not because the version is not the latest version, there are some issues with it. Sometimes there's an issue with the server which creates issues with it."
"The product is a little bit complex and it is difficult to find sufficient documentation."
"Multi-master replication could be a bit more reliable."
"MySQL's performance needs to be improved for enterprise-level applications compared to Oracle and Postgres."
"Scalability could be improved."
"I feel that some tools which make it easier to create queries or make it easier for other functions would be really interesting to see."
"The GUI could improve in MySQL."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution, which means it is a free product."
"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."
"There is no licensing cost for this solution, as it is open-source."
"I was using the free version of Firebird SQL."
"It is okay."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is freely available."
"It's open-source and free."
"The tool is open source."
"The pricing is not much expensive, it's cheap."
"MySQL is free."
"We are using the free version of MySQL. We prefer paying for a yearly license."
"There is not a license required for this solution."
"MySQL is very cheap. It could be free. It also has a yearly licensing option."
"I think that MySQL is a premium product."
"The solution’s pricing depends on customer requirements. A license is not required for the community edition."
report
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912,069 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business75
Midsize Enterprise34
Large Enterprise64
 

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: September 2026.
912,069 professionals have used our research since 2012.