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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
5th
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
152
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 solution is very useful for stock management."
"I can deploy it on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows — it's very easy."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution."
"The product was easy to use."
"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 most valuable feature of Firebird SQL is the creation of databases."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is reliable, offers good performance, and is easy to use."
"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."
"It’s been used as the main databases for a lot of the developments we have done."
"The most valuable feature is the on-premises data encryption facilities."
"MySQL is a light database; it's not very complex, and it's easy to develop, easy to maintain, and easy to back up and restore."
"It is a stable, reliable, and powerful solution that is quite suited for small to medium organizations and/or projects."
"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."
"Offers high performance due to its unique storage engine architecture as well as it's core written in powerful languages such as C and C++."
"MySQL is easy and convenient for me. I don't need to rely on anyone. I can write the code and extract the information. It is fast if you know how to use it. The solution is not expensive, and most of the developers know how to use it. It is easy to create tables. The solution is stable and has good performance. The connection with AWS gives regular updates, which is manual otherwise and a nightmare."
"MySQL solution is overall stable."
 

Cons

"This solution isn't very user-friendly, or intuitive, which could be improved when it is developed."
"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 nice to have a graphical user interface to handle the product."
"On large databases, we have some difficulties."
"Firebird SQL's performance has slowed since Firebird SQL 3 or 3.5 versions, where they developed over-the-wire encryption."
"There aren't a lot of people using this solution — it's not very popular in the marketplace."
"They need to be more reactive and fast. Sometimes, they take too long to resolve some tickets."
"I'd rate the solution five or six out of ten for the possibilities it has currently."
"As an open-source product, there isn't really any technical support available if you get into trouble or have issues."
"MySQL needs to be more accessible and user-friendly."
"If you want to scale it you will require more knowledge on the product and you will need more support for it."
"I recommend another solution for large data, like billions of records."
"It requires a training platform."
"The analytics features are in need of improvement."
"We require more ease of use, scalability, and high availability. These are some of the critical features that we use and look for in a product. It should be easier to manage clusters. Scalability is very important for us because our projects and concurrency requirements are quite big. We also require high availability of the server, application, and other things. It should also have more performance-based features or enhancements from the performance point of view. When we divide a database, it should be able to handle the queries very fast."
"The cluster is not the best when it comes to MySQL; that's why we switched to MariaDB, for that simple reason that the cluster there is better, more manageable, and easier to work with."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"There is a yearly maintenance fee for the use of the solution."
"We are using the free solution, so there is no cost involved."
"It is a public domain system as every customer can install it on their system without paying any license fee."
"The tool is open source."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution, which means it is a free product."
"It's open-source and free."
"I don't pay for a license."
"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."
"MySQL is a cheap solution."
"We are using the licensed version of MySQL."
"I am using the Community Edition, which is available free of charge."
"For the on-premise version, no license is required."
"It's free."
"It is an open source platform."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
 

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: August 2026.
910,454 professionals have used our research since 2012.