IBM Db2 Database vs Oracle Database comparison

IBM and Oracle are both solutions in the Relational Databases Tools category. IBM is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.1, while Oracle is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.2. IBM holds a 7.1% mindshare in SQL, compared to Oracle’s 12.8% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Oracle users who would recommend it.

IBM Db2 Database

Read 73 IBM Db2 Database reviews

6,854 Views
4,346 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Oracle Database

Read 289 Oracle Database reviews

11,609 Views
9,638 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

IBM Db2 Database

Oracle Database

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Oracle Database and IBM Db2 are leading competitors in the enterprise database category, each offering unique strengths and areas needing improvement. While Oracle shines with its extensive feature set and reliability, IBM Db2 stands out for its cost-effectiveness and platform support. Based on feature comparison, both databases present strong capabilities but in different aspects.

Features: Oracle Database is known for high availability, robust security, and advanced workload diagnostics features such as Oracle RAC, Data Guard, and SQL Tuning Advisor. In contrast, IBM Db2 offers strong SQL query language, self-tuning memory management, and versatile platform support, ensuring efficient application development and integration.

Room for Improvement: Oracle users often experience high operational costs and complex configurations. Suggestions for Oracle include simplifying licensing and reducing costs. In contrast, IBM Db2 users have pointed out the need for a more user-friendly interface and advanced analytics support. Enhancing cross-platform capabilities and minimizing setup time are also areas for Db2 improvement.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Oracle supports a range of deployment models including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid, but user experiences with customer service vary, noting slow response times. IBM Db2 offers similar deployment flexibility and mirrors Oracle's mixed reviews in customer support, emphasizing a need for improved user guidance. Oracle deployments are perceived as technically challenging, in comparison to Db2's offerings.

Pricing and ROI: Oracle Database has a higher cost, associated with its extensive features, suitable for large enterprises, with a pricing model involving premium license and support fees but allows for volume negotiation. Despite high costs, Oracle provides satisfactory ROI due to stability and scalability. IBM Db2 is recognized for being more cost-effective, especially in large-scale implementations and packages inclusive of hardware, although users note licensing complexities. Its ROI is seen as favorable given its performance reliability.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Db2 Database vs. Oracle Database Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Db2 Database vs. Oracle Database

April 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

IBM Db2 Database

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

6th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Oracle Database

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

289

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of IBM Db2 Database is 7.1%, up from 6.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Database is 12.8%, down from 15.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Relational Databases Tools

Featured Reviews

SimonHiggins

Mainframe Technical Manager/Service Integration Lead at Saudi Business Machines

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.

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Ismail Aboulezz

Chief Executive Officer at LeaseWeb

Continuous updates improve performance and add valuable features to meet workload demands

Oracle Database ( /products/oracle-database-reviews ) is easy to install, customize, troubleshoot, and maintain. Its data management capabilities include data quality, data integration, data architecture, modeling, and data security, which are very important for data-driven companies. Furthermore, Oracle Database's performance and scalability features meet workload demands, and its continuous updates improve performance and add valuable features.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"As part of your licensing with IBM, you get access to their case system, which lets you raise incidents related to software or hardware. This system is helpful for problem determination and quickly identifying issues."

"The solution is a very stable relational database and has integration with legacy systems. It is a great product."

"It's a very mature product."

"The stability of IBM Db2 Database is stable. We have not faced any downtime in one year. Our work is mostly during business hours and during that time, we haven't faced any downtime."

"The most valuable feature is PowerPC support."

"The most valuable feature of IBM Db2 Database is its ability to perform automatic self-management, reducing the need for manual tasks such as managing logs and folders."

"Db2 Database has given us good results since we have started to use it. We predominantly use IBM hardware, and this is one of the reasons why we started to use Db2 Database. Db2 Database has a very good HADR capability. High availability resilience is also good in this solution. It also has pureScale, which allows you to upgrade one node to get very good and high-level resilience. If you are using a database on five nodes, you can take one node down, upgrade that, and let that node up. You can then bring the second node down, upgrade that, and so on."

"The most valuable features are with the industrial side."

More IBM Db2 Database pros

"The solution's most valuable feature is the row-level security that helps mask and encrypt data."

"The reporting feature was fine for what we were using it for. Oracle Database has been serving its purpose, and I was happy."

"The tool is efficient and fast compared to other alternatives. The tool's processing speed is fast, and we've experienced minimal hang-ups. This enables us to address queries within a shorter time frame. I wouldn't say it's just one particular feature, but overall, the efficiency and speed of Oracle Database have had a significant impact. Our support systems are more efficient, allowing us to accomplish tasks quickly."

"The database is very secure, robust, and scalable. It has all the features that you need, such as disaster recovery, replication, backup, etc. It comes with all the features."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the cost optimizer and partition exchanges."

"The feature that I worked with and that excited me the most is one that is not available in other databases, and it involves the use of Java Runtime."

"This solution is very reliable. The performance is great."

"RAC clustering allowed us to improve performance and provided additional redundancy."

More Oracle Database pros

Cons

"The ease of use, or ease of management, could be improved."

"Microsoft SQL Server is comparatively very simple to use. I wish IBM would move towards making Db2 easy to use for both basic and advanced users. This is where I see room for advancement. Db2 is also more expensive than Microsoft SQL Server, and its price can be reduced. The replication feature needs to be there in Db2. Microsoft provides similar functionality in SQL Server. IBM also has similar functionality, but it exists in a different product. So, to have the replication ability, you have to buy a different product. It makes sense to have this functionality within Db2 instead of a different product. It will also be helpful in terms of competition. In Africa, the problem for Db2 is competition. Oracle Database and Microsoft SQL Server have been in this market for a very long time. These companies have built the ecosystem and the brand within this market for a very long time. So, they are very popular with users. Db2 or IBM came a little later in the game, and that's where the problem lies. They also don't do a lot of marketing for it, which is also a problem."

"The initial set up was complex."

"It would be helpful to have more querying tools and more development tools for us to work easily with Microsoft."

"IBM Db2 Database could improve with better security."

"The solution could improve by providing more integration."

"There could be more user-friendly tools with features such as drag-and-drop functionality, visual basics, and low-code capabilities."

"The product needs to improve its configuration and storage."

More IBM Db2 Database cons

"Its administration side is very difficult. To install Oracle Database, you need to have some prior knowledge. You must learn their commands. I was new to this, so I found some difficulty in it. Its installation should be easier. It is expensive, and it should be cheaper."

"The integration can be made much easier for the Oracle tools, for example, Oracle Database or OPI. The integration sometimes can be a little complicated for us because we have to do a number of integrations with other tools, such as Oracle computation. The integration could be more streamlined and easier to work with."

"There are SQL plan flips that are happening with version 12c. We would basically like to have the next version wherein we don't see such plan flips because they create performance issues. There are quite a lot of features that I would like to see, but this is the main one for now."

"The solution could be cheaper."

"I'm in Indonesia. From what I know, Ali Cloud has already built a center in Indonesia, and Google also has a data center in Indonesia. I have heard that Amazon will also build a data center in Indonesia, and the same will be with Azure if they deal with the Indonesian government. I'm quite appreciative of what Amazon has done by deciding to have a local data center. I expect Oracle to do the same, but Oracle doesn't seem to have plans to build a data center in Indonesia. This is something that needs to be improved. Oracle should follow all the other cloud providers who see a potential market in Indonesia. It would be better for Oracle to be equal to other cloud providers and have a data center in Indonesia so they can compete. Having a local data center means that they can avoid performance issues, the latency of the network, and all the things that are related to the network for internet-based solutions. Customers in Indonesia expect a local data center."

"There are a lot of additional costs. That is the reason we are only leveraging for transactional related purposes, so that we do not spend so much on doing the same thing on Oracle. That is the reason we are looking for open source databases now."

"It should have flexible licensing across different platforms. It has got different licensing models for Intel Power and SPARC servers."

"The licensing formulation is too complicated."

More Oracle Database cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The total cost of the solution depends upon the PVU licensing"

"It is expensive when compared to other products."

"The solution's hardware and subscription model for support are very expensive."

"I would rate the pricing a five out of ten. It's not super expensive, but also not cheap."

"I rate the price of the IBM Db2 Database an eight out of ten."

"Clients are required to purchase a license."

"If I consider the price of IBM Db2 Database, I would say there are cheaper products in the market."

"There is a license for this solution and we pay every three years."

More IBM Db2 Database pricing and cost advice

"There are no licensing costs because the solution for me is open source."

"The licensing cost is not based on a yearly subscription but rather on the number of devices used annually."

"We are on an annual license for the use of this solution."

"The solution is expensive."

"It's not cheap, but sometimes, you get what you pay for."

"The tool is expensive. Compared to its stability and eligibility, the tool is expensive, but if I consider the tool's ROI to be better, the tool is affordable with its set of features."

"Its cost is astronomical. They charge by the size of the server rather than what you're actually using. It is just a terrible business model. It has got a ton of features that are great, but you have to pay for them, and we don't want to spend a lot of money. If you use any of their additional products, you have to pay for those. Almost everything extra is at an additional charge. We also use RAC, and there is an additional charge for that."

"Because it is a bundled product, we have no choice but to purchase the Oracle Database."

More Oracle Database pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

59%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

How do you run Oracle Database at your organization and why?

My company has been using Oracle Exadata Database Service for some years now, and we are happy with it. I will allow myself to answer your questions about why and what benefits it provides us with ...

See all answers

Do you know of any disadvantages of Oracle Database?

Undoubtedly, Oracle Database is a top product in its category. But it does have its disadvantages, and for me and my organization, that has been the limitations of the product. When it comes to Ora...

See all answers

What is the best use for Oracle Database?

Oracle Database is flexible and can be used for many things. My company's main use case for this product is for storing data. We benefit from its high level of security as well as from the fact tha...

See all answers

Comparisons

SQL Server vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 31% of the time

SAP HANA vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 16% of the time

Teradata vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 13% of the time

MySQL vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 5% of the time

IBM Informix vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 2% of the time

More IBM Db2 Database Competitors

SAP HANA vs Oracle Database

Compared 22% of the time

SQL Server vs Oracle Database

Compared 13% of the time

MariaDB vs Oracle Database

Compared 8% of the time

Tibero vs Oracle Database

Compared 8% of the time

MySQL vs Oracle Database

Compared 6% of the time

More Oracle Database Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Db2 Database

April 2025

Download IBM Db2 Database product report

Buyer's Guide

Oracle Database

March 2025

Download Oracle Database product report

Also Known As

DB2

Oracle 12c, RDBMS

Overview

DB2 Enterprise for Linux, UNIX, and Windows is the ideal data server for the most demanding workloads. New XML support is designed to help firms minimize the time and effort it takes to persist and use their XML data reducing development costs and improving business agility.

IBM

Oracle Database is a top-ranking multi-model database management system by Oracle Corporation. Through Oracle database services and products, clients receive cost-optimized and high-performing versions of Oracle Database, as well as in-memory, NoSQL, and MySQL databases. The solution is available by several service providers on premises, in the cloud, or as a hybrid installation. It can be run on vendor servers as well as on Oracle hardware, including Exadata on-premise, Oracle Cloud, or Cloud at Customer.

Users can select from various types of Oracle Database solutions, depending on what they aim to do with this product. Based on their specific needs, they can choose among options that include:

Autonomously managed Oracle databases: This type of database eliminates the complexity of operating and securing Oracle Database, while simultaneously ensuring high levels of performance, scalability, and availability for users.
Oracle Database on Exadata: Users who seek particularly fast platforms can select this type of running solution. Exadata is a computing platform that is optimized for running Oracle Databases and it serves as the fastest platform for Oracle Database.
Oracle Database on-premises deployment: The product allows for deployment on-premises for clients who have data residency and network latency concerns. This option also offers customers the benefit of updated Oracle Cloud technology, including Exadata and Autonomous Database.
Oracle Database in the cloud: Organizations can use a specific version of this tool in the cloud, benefiting from complete control over the versions they run and when these versions change.

Part of this product is a fully automated database service called Oracle Autonomous Database, which facilitates the development and deployment of application workloads for organizations. It is built on Oracle Database as well as on Oracle Exadata. This service supports various data types and simplifies application development and deployment from modeling and coding to extract, transform, load process (ETL), data analysis, and database optimization. The service achieves high results in:

Performance
Availability
Security for online transaction processing (OLTP)
Analytics
Batch
Internet of Things (IoT) workloads

Oracle Database Features

Oracle Database has various features which users can utilize in their work with the solution. Among these features are the following:

Backup and recovery: Oracle Database ensures the integrity of users' data in system failure situations. This feature utilizes a tool named Recovery Manager (RMAN), which allows administrators to perform cold, hot, and incremental database backups, as well as point-in-time recoveries.
Clustering: This feature enables high availability of systems in order to run without interruption of services on occasions when one or more servers in a cluster fail. Included is a tool called Oracle Real Application Clusters.
Data dictionary: Through this set of internal tables and views, Oracle Database can be administered more efficiently.
Logical data structure: Through its feature for logical data structure, Oracle Database stores data in a way that allows users to interact with the database without knowing where the physical storage of the data is located.
Memory catching: Through the memory caching architecture feature, users can scale up very large databases and still perform at a considerably high speed.
Partitioning: This feature allows users to divide large tables into different pieces and store the pieces across storage devices.

Oracle Database Benefits

Oracle Database offers its users various benefits. Some of these include:

The solution decreases costs for organizations and provides a high return on investment (ROI) through the multiple services and features it offers.
Oracle Database has high-security protection which includes encryption, key management, data masking, and activity monitoring, that secures organizations' data within the tool.
The tool offers users the ability to use a single database for all data types, simplifying the process for them.
Oracle Database can be deployed in multiple places, including data centers and public and private clouds, which allows great flexibility for users.
The product allows applications from different platforms to communicate with the database through its networking stack.
Oracle Database is ACID-compliant, which helps maintain data reliability and integrity.

Reviews from Real Users

Paul S., president at Advance Consulting Enterprise, likes Oracle Database because it gets the job done, doesn't fail, and suitable for massively scalable applications.

An Oracle DBA at a computer software company describes Oracle Database as reliable with good performance and very good stability.

Oracle

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

Agncia Nacional de guas, Anbima, Aria Systems, Asiana Airlines, Astelit LLC, Australian Finance Group, Banco Occidental de Descuento, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, BT, Caja de Seguros S.A., Casas GEO S.A.B. de C.V., Comic Relief UK, Corsair Components Inc., CSAM Health AS, CSOB Group, Datacraft Solutions, DenizBank A.S., Department of Treasury and Finance WA, Office of State Revenue, Deutsche B_rse AG, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Deutsche Messe AG, Digicel Haiti, DPR COSEA, Essar Group, Essatto Software Pty Ltd, Farmšcia e Drogaria Nissei Ltda., Fomento Econ‹mico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (FEMSA), FundaÊo Petrobras de Seguridade Social, Future Group, GFKL Financial Services AG, Grupo Posadas S.A.B. de C.V., Grupo Sinosserra, Guerra S.A. Implementos Rodovišrios, Hanatour International Service, Hays plc, Henan Mobile Co. Ltd, Hochschule Hof, Hong Kong and China Technology (Wuhan) Co. Ltd (Towngas Technology), Industries Corpa_al C.A., Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatstica, Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial, Kcell, LinkShare Corporation, MercadoLibre Inc., MetLife Inc., Nextgen Distribution, €BB-IKT GmbH, Octagon Research Solutions, Pacific Lutheran University, Paragon Data GmbH, Ping ltd., PJSC Trustbank, Prodaub _ Processamento de Dados de Uberl_ndia, Purdue University, Redknee Inc., Robi Axiata Limited, Shanghai Infoservice Technology Co. Ltd, Shanghai Sihua Technologies Co. Ltd, Sistema de Aguas de la Ciudad de M_xico, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Suddenlink Communications, Suprajit Engineering Limited, Tallink Grupp, Terminales Ro de la Plata S.A., Therap Services LLC, Think Passenger Inc., Trafigura, Transmed S.A.L Lebanon, ValeShop, VelQuest Corporation, Vodafone Group plc, West Virginia Network, WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A

Buyer's Guide

IBM Db2 Database vs. Oracle Database

April 2025

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