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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
152
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Firebird SQL is 9.5%, down from 17.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MySQL is 11.9%, up from 9.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Open Source Databases Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
MySQL11.9%
Firebird SQL9.5%
Other78.6%
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…
Varuns Ug - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Developer at NIT
Reliable transactions have supported secure payments, refunds, and bookings at high volumes
Regarding MySQL improvements, a pain point is horizontal scalability. MySQL scales very well vertically and can support read replicas, but as a system grows significantly, sharding and distributed data management can become complex compared to databases that are designed to scale horizontally from the beginning. This is one of the areas where I think MySQL should work more. Another area is handling very large analytic workloads. MySQL is excellent for transactional systems, but for large-scale analytics or reporting, specialized analytic databases may sometimes be a better fit. Apart from that, one area is performance troubleshooting. As the database grows, diagnosing things such as slow queries, lock contention, and deadlocks becomes complex.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"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."
"We are satisfied with Firebird SQL, and we will keep on using it."
"I find the ease of deployment to be the most valuable aspect of this solution."
"The solution has worked perfectly; I've never run into issues or had to reach out to technical support for troubleshooting."
"The reliability and ease of management are very valuable."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution and can run on most operating systems, such as Linux, Unix, and Windows."
"Robustness is the absolutely main feature."
"I can deploy it on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows — it's very easy."
"Simple syntax and simple administration are the most valuable features."
"The initial setup was pretty straightforward. I would have worked with our IT team in terms of the initial setup."
"The solution is a small application and is very easy to deploy."
"It has a relational database system."
"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 easy access to the data and the ability to sort the data with multiple methods are very valuable features."
"We majorly use the application now, and using MySQL to read our select queries helps us to achieve stability."
"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."
 

Cons

"In the next release, it should support JSON, XML, and replication with third-party tools."
"It would be interesting if they added functionality with redundancy, reputation, and variability."
"It would be nice to have a graphical user interface to handle the product."
"This solution isn't very user-friendly, or intuitive, which could be improved when it is developed."
"There aren't a lot of people using this solution — it's not very popular in the marketplace."
"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."
"I'd rate the solution five or six out of ten for the possibilities it has currently."
"The security of the users could improve in Firebird SQL."
"The solution is expensive."
"Sometimes, I get lost in the toggles and buttons, and a better visual design would be nice. The layout is not user-friendly or efficient."
"Security in the data files needs manipulation."
"In MySQL, you can only have one master. The master's scalability was always a problem."
"​MySQL needs improvements on its diagnostic features.​"
"Oracle should start putting in some of the enterprise features in the standard feature. There are some key features that should be part of the standard."
"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."
"It isn't as reliable as an SQL Server."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I was using the free version of Firebird SQL."
"There is a yearly maintenance fee for the use of the solution."
"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution, which means it is a free product."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is freely available."
"It is okay."
"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."
"There is no licensing cost for this solution, as it is open-source."
"​Enterprise editions and support are definitely needed for the heavy users who need direct support. ​"
"The tool is open source."
"There is a license needed for this solution."
"It has a community version."
"When you know the setup will continue to grow, make sure you have the paid support."
"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."
"This is an open-source product that can be used free of charge."
"MySQL is released under an open-source license, so you have nothing to pay to use it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Computer Software Company
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 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.
903,182 professionals have used our research since 2012.