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Firebird SQL vs MySQL comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

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
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Embedded Database (3rd)
MySQL
Ranking in Open Source Databases
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
152
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Firebird SQL is 13.3%, down from 19.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MySQL is 9.0%, down from 12.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Open Source Databases Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
MySQL9.0%
Firebird SQL13.3%
Other77.7%
Open Source Databases
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1991775 - PeerSpot reviewer
Chapter Lead at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
An open-source database to hold customer data, but its performance should be improved
Firebird SQL significantly improved our data management in many parts of our self-developed ERP system. I rate the solution's performance and speed a six out of ten. Two or three database administrators are needed to maintain the solution. A few years ago, migrating data to or from Firebird SQL was a little bit difficult because the identifier names for tables or stored procedures were limited to 20 to 30 characters. Transferring the structure to Firebird SQL was difficult, but they fixed it in version 3, which was much easier. We are developing software with Delphi, and Delphi is also by Embarcadero. Using InterBase or Firebird SQL databases is very common, and you have some good tools for developing with Firebird SQL. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
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

"I find the ease of deployment to be the most valuable aspect of this solution."
"We are happy with the event capabilities of Firebird SQL database. We can raise events from it and display them in our application."
"I can deploy it on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows — it's very easy."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is reliable, offers good performance, and is 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."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of Firebird SQL is the creation of databases."
"The documentation is very well written."
"The initial setup was easy. I work in an agile way, which means coding and deploying quickly."
"I like the simplistic view of MySQL to build custom queries and things like that as compared to SQL Server, which seems more cluttered. SQL Server has a query analyzer. MySQL pretty much does the same, and performance-wise, it has less overhead for connecting to our ERP system. It seems more responsive and cleaner. With MySQL, you get what you need without any overbloating, for which Microsoft is known. That's why they have so many constant security patches for everything because there is so much stuff, which degrades performance."
"I find MySQL's relational data storage format very useful for data management. Our structure is well-defined and easy for end users and business stakeholders to read. I appreciate the tool's simplicity and ability to integrate with our backend tools."
"The main advantage is the very large user base. This enables users to fix about any issue by answering any question."
"It creates a unified view of the entire architecture and performance factor, helping to manage the network more easily."
"Compared to other databases, MySQL is cheaper and we were using the community edition which was free of cost. ML is fully integrated with the database in HeatWave. It has also many other features. MySQL is a far better solution in terms of pricing."
"MySQL is open-source. There are a lot of open-source communities trying to come up with their own patches, and to come up with their own features, which help MySQL develop faster than traditional databases like Oracle, which is closed source."
"It is easy to use. It is simple to implement, which makes it suitable for our projects because we have deadlines. MySQL is also open-source, which is another plus point."
 

Cons

"On large databases, we have some difficulties."
"The security of the users could improve in Firebird SQL."
"It would be nice to have a graphical user interface to handle the product."
"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."
"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."
"In the next release, it should support JSON, XML, and replication with third-party tools."
"This solution isn't very user-friendly, or intuitive, which could be improved when it is developed."
"We would like to improve the management of very large databases."
"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."
"I do not think MySQL's data security features were at an industrial level for my project, so I did not make use of them."
"They should come up with a better solution than the NDB cluster for better scaling. If they could come up with a better solution for write scaling, apart from the NDB cluster, which is supported by all open source communities, that would be great. Although the NDB cluster, I believe, is an open-source tool, it's not widely supported as a solution."
"When it comes to supporting big data, there is space to improve upon the database engines that are supported by MySQL."
"Stability needs improvement and the backup needs to be enhanced."
"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."
"The solution could be more secure."
"We face certain integration issues, especially when we integrate the database with security solutions like IBM QRadar, which affects database performance."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is freely available."
"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."
"We are using the free solution, so there is no cost involved."
"It's open-source and free."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution, which means it is a free product."
"I was using the free version of Firebird SQL."
"There is a yearly maintenance fee for the use of the solution."
"I rate the solution's pricing as four out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. For our basic needs, it's quite affordable. However, the cost increases when we need to scale up or require high availability. Our developer team of about 600 people uses MySQL without much issue. The pricing becomes more of a concern on the business side, as we have more end users and need constant database availability and scaling. In those cases, the solution gets a bit more expensive, even though it provides good value for the business."
"For the on-premise version, no license is required."
"I don't pay for a license."
"I would rate the solution’s pricing a six out of ten. The solution is not cheap but it’s a fair value. The pricing depends on the use cases of our customers. Some of our customers use the community edition which is license free and a good fit for their use cases. However, we encourage our bigger customers to sign up because of the scalability issues. The paid versions get direct technical support from Oracle."
"MySQL is a cheap solution."
"​Enterprise editions and support are definitely needed for the heavy users who need direct support. ​"
"It has a community version."
"The tool is open source."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
 

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 Enterprise32
Large Enterprise62
 

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 do you like most about Firebird SQL?
Firebird SQL is an open-source solution.
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: December 2025.
879,853 professionals have used our research since 2012.