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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
7.0
Number of Reviews
151
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Firebird SQL is 9.6%, down from 16.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MySQL is 12.3%, up from 9.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Open Source Databases Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
MySQL12.3%
Firebird SQL9.6%
Other78.1%
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."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution."
"The documentation is very well written."
"The reliability and ease of management are very valuable."
"The solution has worked perfectly; I've never run into issues or had to reach out to technical support for troubleshooting."
"I can deploy it on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows — it's very easy."
"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."
"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."
"As a developer I have used many database engines but MySQL is by far the best known and most popular Open Source database engine."
"MySQL gives us all of the critical features that we need in a database, but without the costs."
"MySQL comes from open-source so it means it's a cost-effective solution, but the important thing is this product has its own principle that is supporting this product."
"MySQL is easy to integrate. It works with just about every language."
"Setup is easy. MySQL of various flavours has community editions to easily test, deploy, and run.​"
"Now we use something where we can share the instances of the database which were created virtually, which is a very good feature, which I felt has improved our organization."
"MySQL is a popular database platform for businesses because it is extremely easy to use."
"We use it as a data store and from that perspective, we get everything we need."
 

Cons

"Database sharing is a capability that Firebird SQL lacks."
"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."
"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."
"In the next release, it should support JSON, XML, and replication with third-party tools."
"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."
"It would be good to have more automation and integration with the tools from other vendors."
"MySQL is good but it should be able to handle the large transaction levels that Oracle can."
"Even for the best database, we always want the database to perform much better, so we wish MySQL would be much better, in terms of performance."
"I would like to see more integrations of the solution with other platforms and improve the support on different data types."
"This solution needs to be improved when it comes to working with desktop applications on the developer side."
"It does not scale well when there are concurrent requests."
"The licensing of the solution is on the expensive side."
"It does not stand out regarding scalability. When the company size increases, the user base having actual experience with (very) large MySQL solutions is reduced."
"It is a community driven project, which means that support is sometimes scarce and hard to find."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are using the free solution, so there is no cost involved."
"It is okay."
"The tool is open source."
"There is no licensing cost for this solution, as it 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."
"It's open-source and free."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is freely available."
"It's cheaper than other solutions."
"We've never bought a commercial license. We just use the open-source community edition."
"There is a license for this solution. A lot of the time the solution gets bundled with other hardware or software purchases."
"We're using the open-source version right now, which is free. I do see some value in some of the more enterprise functions. We're using the open-source version right now, and I was interested in the MySQL Enterprise version really for the tools that they provide, but we decided not to make the purchase."
"For the on-premise version, no license is required."
"MySQL is a cheap solution."
"It is free. It is an open-source platform."
"There is not a license required for this solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing 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.
907,731 professionals have used our research since 2012.