Firebird SQL vs PostgreSQL comparison

Read 125 PostgreSQL reviews

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4,073 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Firebird SQL

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

PostgreSQL and Firebird SQL are both open-source database solutions in the same category, but PostgreSQL seems to have the upper hand due to its scalability, performance, and extensive feature set according to user reviews.

Features: PostgreSQL includes complex query handling, extensive language support, and robust integration capabilities. Firebird SQL offers ease of deployment, strong transactional integrity, and minimal administration requirements, making it suitable for lightweight applications.

Room for Improvement: PostgreSQL could improve query speed, support for additional SQL standards, and further enhance scalability and replication. Firebird SQL could benefit from better handling of larger datasets, improved support for modern data trends, and increased popularity among larger user bases.

Ease Of Deployment and Customer Service: PostgreSQL supports versatile deployment options including on-premises and cloud environments with community-driven support. Firebird SQL is mainly used in on-premises setups, known for its ease of deployment with minimal maintenance.

Pricing and ROI: Both PostgreSQL and Firebird SQL are open-source, offering minimal costs and rapid ROI. Additional costs with PostgreSQL may arise from third-party products or services, while Firebird SQL remains completely free, appealing to cost-conscious businesses.

To learn more, read our detailed Firebird SQL vs. PostgreSQL Report (Updated: June 2025).

Firebird SQL vs. PostgreSQL

June 2025

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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

1st

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Embedded Database (1st)

PostgreSQL

Ranking in Open Source Databases

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

125

Ranking in other categories

Vector Databases (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Firebird SQL is 17.7%, down from 20.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 17.9%, down from 20.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Open Source Databases

Featured Reviews

Nicolae Ancuta

Retail Solution & BI Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Strong event capabilities, allowing raising and displaying events in applications

On large databases, we have some difficulties. It is one of the areas of improvement. For example, under one gigabyte, it works perfectly. Between one and five gigabytes, you might experience some slight performance issues, but they are not significant. Beyond that, you have to index it, tier it, and perform some restore operations to free up space. It requires some effort, but it's manageable. It's quite challenging for the customer. Moreover, migrating from one firewall solution to another was a little bit difficult regarding the backup and restoring the other one. Since we have many databases, we didn't go forward with the latest versions.

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PavithrarajShetty

Software Architect at Tetherfi

Offers simplicity and is cheaply priced

I haven't gone through the scalability aspect since I was using MySQL Server. I haven't worked to a high level in PostgreSQL, but with MySQL Server, I have managed clustering and partitioning. I think I haven't put much focus on PostgreSQL, so I am not sure how it behaves or how it works.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

"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 appreciate the fact that, once the database is embedded, it doesn't need to be administered, and removes the requirement for a specific server."

"Robustness is the absolutely main feature."

"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."

More Firebird SQL pros

"The built-in code procedural language is the most valuable. It has a built-in layer for code procedures. Its installation is very easy and quick, and it is free. It is also stable, and its performance is also good."

"We managed to reduce the storage space needed to 10% of the original size, without affecting data integrity, and we significantly improved the performance."

"PostgreSQL has complete SQL dialects and is useful for writing sophisticated and complex queries. We have experience with Oracle database. My partner is experienced in DDA and he writes sophisticated SQL queries. The solution helps to get the job done in the best possible way. In today’s age, most developers do not have strong SQL knowledge or language command. They find it difficult to write even a SQL statement. These developers write cool queries which perform badly on the database end. As DBAs, we constantly urge the developers not to write bad queries, help them learn more, and write placebo commands."

"The product's deployment is easy."

"It is a pretty comprehensive database system. Its performance is good, and it does what it is supposed to do. It also integrates very well."

"It is very useful for both structured and unstructured data. You can store unstructured and structured data in PostgreSQL. It is easy to use. You can easily manage things through PostgreSQL Admin. It is cost-effective. Its on-premise version is free. It is agnostic of on-premise or cloud. You can install it on the cloud or on-premises. It is available with all clouds, and you can also install it on desktop or Windows Servers."

"PostgreSQL makes it very adaptable to several descriptions of a record. Instead of having several tables or several relations for one entity, I can adapt this entity. It can be a multiform entity. For example, here in Mexico, a company and a person can be sold to us as a physical entity or a physical person."

"The main value is that it is open source, which means it is free. Our organization has the initiative to go to open source to cut down on cost. Oracle costs us $6 million a year right now, which is killing us, and Postgres costs nothing. So, there is a big push to go to Postgres."

Cons

"It would be nice to have a graphical user interface to handle the product."

"It would be interesting if they added functionality with redundancy, reputation, and variability."

"On large databases, we have some difficulties."

"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."

"It would be good to have more automation and integration with the tools from other vendors."

"Firebird SQL's performance has slowed since Firebird SQL 3 or 3.5 versions, where they developed over-the-wire encryption."

"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."

"We would like to improve the management of very large databases."

More Firebird SQL cons

"There are several features I would like to improve that aren't working as expected. It's likely that the latest version is doing something that was missed in the previous versions. For example, the output parameters — the stored procedures — is something new in PostgreSQL that Firebird has already had for a long time."

"The search option is not very good."

"The pricing could be better."

"When you get a large number of records in a database and start doing various queries, it can adversely impact the performance of the live running systems. That's an area we continue to look at and mean to improve, but it is not only because of PostgreSQL. It is also because of the way the schemas are put together, and certain events are triggered. So, it is because of both parties."

"If it was free to use, it would be the perfect solution."

"They need to have a better graphical interface. There is a tool called pgAdmin 4 that they use, which is free. It is written in Java, and it is slow. They need to have a better product that is similar to Toad for Oracle, but, of course, it is hard to get something that's really great and free. Other than that, it is great."

"PostgreSQL could improve by providing a geographical solution for tracking trucks and people in the field. They might already have features similar to this and I have not found them. I haven't done research about this topic."

"Integration with other platforms could be improved."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is freely available."

"We are using the free solution, so there is no cost involved."

"The tool is open source."

"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."

"There is no licensing cost for this solution, as it is open-source."

"It's open-source and free."

"I was using the free version of Firebird SQL."

More Firebird SQL pricing and cost advice

"We use the open-source version of PostgreSQL and not the enterprise edition."

"It is free. In terms of operating costs, it basically needs the same platform on which Oracle runs."

"This solution can offer a cheaper choice for customers since it is open-source."

"We are using the free version of PostgreSQL."

"Our company pays for it. There are free versions available, but for advanced features, you obviously have to pay."

"PostgreSQL is open-source, so if capable admins are available then the setup cost can be $0."

"PostgreSQL is a free and open-source database."

"The licensing model is good."

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Firebird SQL?

It's open-source and free.

What do you like most about PostgreSQL?

It's a transactional database, so we use Postgres for most of our reporting. That's where it's helping.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PostgreSQL?

The tool is free of cost. For now, it's not about making money. But once we perfect it, we can offer it to customers willing to pay for support and other services. Most of my deployments are free.

What needs improvement with PostgreSQL?

Postgres should focus on building a stronger knowledge base. They also need to expand their integration capabilities, so more tools and resources are available to manage it. But it is more secure t...

Oracle MySQL Cloud Service vs Firebird SQL

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Product Reports

Download Firebird SQL product report

Embedded Database

May 2025

Download PostgreSQL product report

May 2025

Overview

Firebird SQL is an open-source, cross-platform relational database management system that offers an enterprise-level database solution. The solution is designed to be highly secure, efficient, and compatible with various platforms and programming languages. Firebird can operate in both embedded and server modes.

Firebird is an open-source project with an active community of developers and users. It is released under the Initial Developer's Public License (IDPL) and the InterBase Public License, allowing for free use, modification, and distribution.

The Firebird solution requires minimal configuration and its architecture allows it to efficiently handle databases ranging from a few KB to multiple terabytes. It is available for various operating systems, including Windows, Linux, macOS, and several Unix-like platforms.

What are the key features of Firebird SQL?

ACID Compliance: Firebird provides full support for ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) transactions, ensuring data integrity and consistency, even in the event of system failures or concurrent access.
SQL Language Support: Firebird SQL provides extensive support for ANSI SQL, which is the standard SQL language, making it compatible with a wide range of applications and tools.
Multi-Generational Architecture: Firebird employs a multi-generational architecture, which allows multiple versions of the same data to coexist within the database.
Concurrency and Performance: Firebird offers efficient concurrency control mechanisms, including multi-version concurrency control (MVCC), which allows multiple transactions to access and modify data simultaneously without locking or blocking each other, improving overall performance.
Embedded mode: In the embedded mode, the database engine is integrated directly into the application.
Security Features: Firebird provides user authentication, role-based access control, and encryption capabilities. It supports various authentication methods, such as native Firebird user accounts, external authentication sources (e.g., Windows domains), and single sign-on (SSO) mechanisms.
Backup and Restore: Firebird offers built-in backup and restore utilities, allowing users to create full or incremental backups of the database, as well as restore from these backups when needed.

As part of being a commonly used open-sourced solution, Firebird boasts a vibrant community of developers and users. The community provides extensive documentation, third-party tools, and active forums for support. Businesses can also opt for professional support services offered by third-party vendors for added assurance.

To summarize, Firebird SQL is a robust, scalable, and cost-effective database solution suitable for a wide range of applications and business sizes. Its comprehensive SQL support, security features, and cross-platform compatibility, combined with the active community support, make it a compelling choice for businesses looking to leverage the power of open-source software without compromising on performance or security.

Firebird

PostgreSQL is a versatile and reliable database management system commonly used for web development, data analysis, and building scalable databases.

It offers advanced features like indexing, replication, and transaction management. Users appreciate its flexibility, performance, and ability to handle large amounts of data efficiently. Its robustness, scalability, and support for complex queries make it highly valuable.

Additionally, PostgreSQL's extensibility, flexibility, community support, and frequent updates contribute to its ongoing improvement and stability.

Sample Customers

Elekt Labs, Streamsoft, wobe-systems GmbH, DRB Systems, Moscow City Hospital #31

1. Apple 2. Cisco 3. Fujitsu 4. Instagram 5. Netflix 6. Red Hat 7. Sony 8. Uber 9. Cisco Systems 10. Skype 11. LinkedIn 12. Etsy 13. Yelp 14. Reddit 15. Dropbox 16. Slack 17. Twitch 18. WhatsApp 19. Snapchat 20. Shazam 21. SoundCloud 22. The New York Times 23. Cisco WebEx 24. Atlassian 25. Cisco Meraki 26. Heroku 27. GitLab 28. Zalando 29. OpenTable 30. Trello 31. Square Enix 32. Bloomberg