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IBM Db2 Database vs MariaDB comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 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

IBM Db2 Database
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MariaDB
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of IBM Db2 Database is 7.1%, up from 6.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MariaDB is 6.8%, down from 9.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

SimonHiggins - PeerSpot reviewer
Very scalable with high availability and excellent technical support
The good thing is that there are improvements coming with later function levels for the z/OS Db2. I'd like it if, with the operating system that we've got, z/OS, on the mainframe, it would allow us to refresh the hardware to run Linux dockers on the mainframe. This means this might give us opportunities for different ways of coming into the Db2 environment in the future. We just want a bit more integration with Linux. That said, we are already seeing Linux more readily available on the mainframe environment. Not only have we got the premium operating systems on OS. We can run LPARs on the same mainframe footprint that is also supporting Linux. This is what has improved and made the mainframe environment more competitive. We're also looking at AI for Db2 as well, and machine learning for the future. We know that AI has come out, that we're going to get that, and we're going to evaluate that product next year for Db2. That said, I haven't got any real complaints about Db2 on the mainframe. For the most part, a lot of the problems we have nowadays are to do with communication between the various teams that you would class as stakeholders.
KumarManish - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to deploy, cost-effective, and integrates seamlessly with other products
We had planned for an RDBMS version and not NoSQL. We use MariaDB Galera Cluster. It's a good product. It is cheap, scalable, performs well, and is efficient. We use GCP’s BigQuery for machine learning. We must follow the best practices of the tool. We missed some best practices like the storage engine and InnoDB. It was very difficult to identify why we were having performance issues. Then, we realized that some of our tables were still on MyISAM, the default storage engine. When we switched it back to the InnoDB, it was very smooth. InnoDB is the recommended one. We must follow the best practices given in the documentation during the initial setup. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the integration with other IBM products."
"The setup process has become much easier recently."
"I can easily export that to further work on it in Snowflake."
"It has a good, stable performance."
"It is quite a stable solution."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its compatibility with IBM Power Systems."
"The solution is easy to install and simple to maintain. The most valuable aspect of the solution is its general user-friendliness for users of all kinds."
"IBM DB2 pureScale Feature is valuable."
"What I like best about MariaDB is that it is open-source and reliable."
"It is a stable solution."
"A valuable feature is that we can use it for quite a few things, all the things you'd expect from a server—along the lines of Linux's Lightweight Directory."
"The solution is very easy to implement."
"Easy to use and available in most environments."
"Visual Studio offers unit testing integration and extensive searching capabilities."
"It's open source."
"MariaDB can solve things better than MySQL. Maria DB has better performance than MySQL."
 

Cons

"The initial set up was complex."
"There could be more user-friendly tools with features such as drag-and-drop functionality, visual basics, and low-code capabilities."
"There could be better integration with some cloud solutions."
"​Not very solid compared to its competitors' products.​"
"The only drawback that we see in Db2 Database is the crash recovery. When there is a crash and somebody has to do the recovery, Db2 Database first stops, and then it does any crash recovery. In Oracle Database, crash recovery happens within the database. The database is not shut down."
"The user interface is not user-friendly."
"The queries can be difficult for beginners because there are so many. I would like to see more use cases for flow analysis that enable us to correlate the flow with events. Adding this feature in a QI format would be good for beginners."
"The usage of Db2 could be simplified, as it is quite complex and requires substantial knowledge of Db2 and zOS."
"Replication could be better, and it's not so simple. It would be better if they had a replication server. It would make things a lot easier. You need to have that replication server, but not in the same server farm. Then there will be a bit of latency between both because you should have one in one city and another one in a different city. That kind of solution should be more baked into every single database today. Mirroring the database in a live environment where any record written on the production server replicates instantly across the fiber on the other server wasn't easy. Many people don't even bother with that, and they just run one server."
"While MariaDB is a good relational database, it can be inflexible for complex use cases."
"I am editing."
"I’m not sure if it can scale."
"In the next release, I would like to see improvements in the scalability and redundancy features."
"It should work across all fields like SQLite, as it is the basis of any application, even apps for phones and the like."
"The PL/SQL performance is slow if you have big batch jobs running overnight."
"The solution can improve by having support for more integration. However, at this time it is working well for us."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive."
"Among Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and Db2, Microsoft SQL Server is the cheapest one, and Oracle is the most expensive one. Db2 is in the middle. As compared to SQL Server, its price could go down. It will be good for customers."
"I rate the product pricing a nine out of ten."
"It is expensive when compared to other products."
"We don't see what the specific price of the DB2 license is because we pay for the backup license as a package."
"The solution's hardware and subscription model for support are very expensive."
"If I consider the price of IBM Db2 Database, I would say there are cheaper products in the market."
"I rate the price of the IBM Db2 Database an eight out of ten."
"My company uses the free version of the solution."
"This is an open source solution with no licensing fees."
"The product is not expensive."
"It's an open-source solution."
"MariaDB is open-source and self-hosted."
"It is an open-source solution."
"This is an open-source product, which can be used free of charge."
"I rate the product's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price since there are some support costs involved, even though it isn't an open-source solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
59%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
4%
Government
4%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Educational Organization
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Db2 Database?
Db2 database scalability and performance capabilities match our database needs. It covers pretty much everything a database administrator or engineer might need.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Db2 Database?
IBM Db2 is an expensive solution. While I am not heavily involved with pricing, additional companies provide capabilities or products like those from BMC, which many installations might also purchase.
What needs improvement with IBM Db2 Database?
The user interface is old and needs to be improved. It doesn't match the responsive and suggestion-rich UI of cloud solutions. New functions don't come to mind.
What do you like most about MariaDB?
The integration with other products is seamless.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB?
I have found the price of commercial MariaDB to be pretty steep, although not as high as Oracle. Customers often prefer the Community Edition because it's free.
What needs improvement with MariaDB?
The only potential area for improvement could be the pricing model, which might benefit from being more flexible or a bit cheaper.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

DB2
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Knorr-Bremse, Mizuho Bank Ltd., Australian Government Department of Defence, SCHWENK Zement, Friedhelm Loh Group, YAZAKI Europe Limited, Ekornes ASA, Baldor Electric, VSN Systemen BV, Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC, PLANSEE Group, TE Connectivity, Hansgrohe SE, Openmatics, University of Toronto
Google, Wikipedia, Tencent, Verizon, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Telefónica, Huatai Securities
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Db2 Database vs. MariaDB and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.