Firebird SQL vs PostgreSQL comparison

Read 125 PostgreSQL reviews

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Firebird SQL

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

PostgreSQL and Firebird SQL are competitors in the open-source database management system market. PostgreSQL seems to have the upper hand due to its extensive features and scalability, making it ideal for complex applications.

Features: PostgreSQL offers a robust feature set, supporting complex queries, stored procedures, and data types, making it suitable for diverse applications. It is fully ACID-compliant and supports asynchronous commit, providing reliability and cost-effectiveness. Firebird SQL is appreciated for its lightweight nature and ease of deployment, making it a good choice for simpler database needs but lacking PostgreSQL's wide feature range.

Room for Improvement: PostgreSQL can improve read-only query performance, SQL operation efficiency, and storage engine variety. Firebird SQL could benefit from enhanced performance with large databases, better integration features, and improved database sharing tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: PostgreSQL supports diverse deployment strategies including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid models, offering robust community support but lacking formal customer service. Firebird SQL is easy to deploy and best suited to on-premises setups, though it may need more comprehensive support for larger operations.

Pricing and ROI: Both PostgreSQL and Firebird SQL provide high ROI as they are open-source and incur no licensing fees. PostgreSQL might require additional costs for third-party plugins or support, whereas Firebird SQL offers straightforward savings with its public domain model.

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

Firebird SQL vs. PostgreSQL

November 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

3rd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Embedded Database (3rd)

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 (12th)

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Firebird SQL is 14.6%, down from 20.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 16.1%, down from 19.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Open Source Databases Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
PostgreSQL	16.1%
Firebird SQL	14.6%
Other	69.3%

Open Source Databases

Featured Reviews

Ruben Conti

Owner at Intersoftware sas

Offers good performance for up to a hundred end users, open source and easy to setup

Firebird can compete with well-known names like Oracle and SQL Server when you don't have more than a few hundred thousand users. It's a level below SQL Server, and the application of SQL is a kind of database you can rely on for situations where you don't have too much information to deal with. For example, you can use it for the internet or national projects, but when you have millions of users, then it's not possible for other services.

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AdityaSharma3

Vice President Business at Techmagnate: Digital Marketing Agency

Transaction processes are fast and good replication capability

Use cases include querying data warehouses and databases to fetch data for clients already working on PostgreSQL. We also use Postgres for building reports It's a transactional database, so we use Postgres for most of our reporting. That's where it's helping. The query speed is fast, and the…

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

"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."

"The solution is very useful for stock management."

"The documentation is very well written."

"The product was easy to use."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is reliable, offers good performance, and is easy to use."

"I find the ease of deployment to be the most valuable aspect of this solution."

"The reliability and ease of management are very valuable."

More Firebird SQL pros

"One of the most valuable features is real-time data capture; it optimizes database performance. I think using real-time data capture reduces job running time and the amount of data sent at once with batch loads."

"PostgreSQL is stable. It's available, stable, and reliable."

"The solution is open-source and free to use."

"The solution is scalable, it is very good."

"The product is quite flexible."

"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 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."

"The product is easy to use and works fast for relational databases."

Cons

"This solution isn't very user-friendly, or intuitive, which could be improved when it is developed."

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

"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 is not easy to integrate the tool with Visual Studio."

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

"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."

"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."

"On large databases, we have some difficulties."

More Firebird SQL cons

"I'd like to see better memory management. I think that that's one of the few areas that Postgres does not handle as well as MySQL does or did."

"Integration with other platforms could be improved."

"As PostgreSQL is an open-source product, you do have to do a bit more configuration and management yourself."

"The pricing could be better."

"PostgreSQL could improve by being more user-friendly. In SQL Server they have a studio where you can easily do management but not in this solution."

"Instead of the installation agent downloading all the packages for the install, it should allow the user to download the packages separately on their own to do the install."

"The performance of PostgreSQL could improve."

"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."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a yearly maintenance fee for the use of the solution."

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

"It is a public domain system as every customer can install it on their system without paying any license fee."

"Firebird SQL is an open-source solution, which means it is a free product."

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

"It is okay."

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

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

More Firebird SQL pricing and cost advice

"The licensing model is good."

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

"It is free. There is no license on it."

"It is open-source. If you use it on-premise, it is free. It also has enterprise or commercial versions. If you go for the cloud version, there will be a cost, but it is lower than Oracle or Microsoft."

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

"It is also open-source so it is free."

"It is an open-source platform."

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

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	3

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	58
Midsize Enterprise	26
Large Enterprise	45

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...

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Product Reports

Download Firebird SQL product report

Embedded Database

October 2025

Download PostgreSQL product report

October 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