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Firebird SQL vs PostgreSQL comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 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)
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 September 2025, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Firebird SQL is 15.8%, down from 20.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 16.8%, down from 19.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Open Source Databases Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
PostgreSQL16.8%
Firebird SQL15.8%
Other67.4%
Open Source Databases
 

Featured Reviews

Ruben Conti - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
PavithrarajShetty - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 reliability and ease of management are very valuable."
"The solution is very useful for stock management."
"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 can deploy it on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows — it's very easy."
"Robustness is the absolutely main feature."
"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 is very scalable and comes with a bonus: no licensing issues as you scale with your databases."
"Clustering will be the number 1 feature. It is also open-source so it is free. It can also be clustered, to allow fault tolerance."
"Initial setup is simple."
"We often use PostgreSQL for operations monitoring because we are a manufacturing company."
"The solution has many valuable features such as it easy to use and the interface is intuitive."
"The solution is open-source and free to use."
"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."
"This is an open-source solution, operates at a high speed, and supports more than one SQL language."
 

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."
"It would be good to have more automation and integration with the tools from other vendors."
"It is not easy to integrate the tool with Visual Studio."
"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."
"On large databases, we have some difficulties."
"The security of the users could improve in Firebird SQL."
"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."
"There could be a plugin to distribute the data on servers for the product."
"The scalability is limited."
"I have noticed that user and access management should be improved."
"The performance of PostgreSQL could improve."
"It needs more integration."
"PostgreSQL could improve by adding data warehousing tools."
"We have to set up event API, which takes a lot of events from the user."
"Sometimes, it becomes slow because of the network. So, there is room for improvement in performance."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is freely available."
"It is okay."
"I was using the free version of Firebird SQL."
"We are using the free solution, so there is no cost involved."
"It's open-source and free."
"Our company pays for it. There are free versions available, but for advanced features, you obviously have to pay."
"The tool is cheaply priced compared to other RDBMS providers in the market."
"The community version of Postgre is basically free."
"PostgreSQL is a free and open-source database."
"Affordable solution."
"It is free, but if you need support, you can go for the commercial version called EnterpriseDB. They provide paid support, and they can even do hosting for you if you want standby and support."
"We do not pay for licensing."
"PostgreSQL is open-source, so if capable admins are available then the setup cost can be $0."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business58
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise45
 

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 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...
 

Comparisons

 

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Find out what your peers are saying about Firebird SQL vs. PostgreSQL and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.