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IBM Informix vs Oracle Database In-Memory 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 Informix
Ranking in Embedded Database
9th
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
25th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Oracle Database In-Memory
Ranking in Embedded Database
3rd
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
10th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Embedded Database category, the mindshare of IBM Informix is 3.6%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Database In-Memory is 11.7%, up from 8.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Embedded Database Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Oracle Database In-Memory11.7%
IBM Informix3.6%
Other84.7%
Embedded Database
 

Featured Reviews

Nasir Niamat - PeerSpot reviewer
DB Consultant at i2c
Has offered a cost-effective option despite frequent technical issues and limited market demand
We find some bugs in IBM Informix. Maybe we are using it more aggressively than others. Every month or every second month, we find some bugs in it, which is not ideal. It should be rare, not this frequent. The good thing is they cover those bugs in the next release within weeks or days on demand. IBM Informix should become hybrid and should include AI features similar to other DBMS systems such as Snowflake, Redshift, and DataBricks. This would help its value rise with the market.
Hosney Osman - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Solution Architect at Vodafone
Real-time analytics have transformed response times and support huge data volumes with compression
I do not have any comment related to the improvement of the solution; for sure, it needs improvement, but for my use cases, it is very sufficient, and I think for the biggest companies, it needs a very powerful infrastructure. The area where improvement is required the most in the product is the UI. The problem with the UI is that it is not complex for understanding, but it needs some training to know what each button does, how it works, and the many variables needed.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Overall, this is a great product. It works really well, is very stable, and is very scalable."
"The solution's stability, performance, enhanced functionality, and replication are all great features."
"Every version is faster than the previous."
"IBM Informix benefits users with high availability and good integration capabilities."
"My advice is to take it; you will never regret it."
"OLTP processing capacity and the availability of information with high availability implementation have been significantly improved."
"Replication is a valuable feature and easy to use."
"Flexible Grid provides the ability to automatically create database objects, such as tables, indexes, and stored procedures on all nodes within the grid as a single operation."
"The on-premise version is stable. We have different teams and resources for the server side, for admin, and for development. We can easily take care of all the services and applications."
"The scalability is very good."
"The product offers high scalability."
"We are using Oracle Database In-Memory as an indirect approach to improving response times, and in mixed-workload environments, we use the In-Memory column store to support OLAP-type queries without harming the latency-critical OLTP operations the systems earn money with."
"Combined with Exadata, it makes a solution that will deliver the best performance related to the volume of data."
"I find the performance features of Oracle Database In-Memory to be most beneficial, with system performance in milliseconds, dual format architecture positively impacting our data processing, and clear financial benefits from its efficient operation that improve our overall operational efficiency."
"The most valuable feature of Database In-Memory is that it's really fast."
"We can provide a high standard with this solution to our customers by using such products."
 

Cons

"In my opinion, the packages could be improved. The version I use doesn't allow for packages. I can do some general procedures, but no packages like in Oracle. So, develop separate modules in SQL language. This would be most beneficial for me."
"This solution is in need of more current tools."
"The solution should offer replication. It would be helpful if the solution would allow us to access third-party tools."
"The product needs a lot more marketing involvement from IBM."
"There should be more intelligence surrounding discovering data to be able to automatically create indexes."
"The technical support services need substantial improvement."
"This product could be made easier to use for beginners."
"The solution really doesn't add new features very often. Other solutions are much more actively pushing out upgrades and improvements."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"Oracle should include column store or advanced query optimization so a database can be optimized by enabling analytic queries to run faster."
"In the next release, Oracle should include column store or advanced query optimization so a database can be optimized by enabling analytic queries to run faster."
"Technical support is below our expectations currently. It could be improved."
"They should lower the price. My customers think that it's too expensive."
"The pricing could be improved. It would ideal if it was more reasonable."
"The high cost of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The product could be more economical."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not aware of the licensing costs or terms."
"The free edition can be enough to handle moderate-size implementations, but you may want a pay for edition to benefit from more functionality, such as replication."
"For me, it's always too expensive."
"The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license."
"The platform's licensing cost needs improvement."
"The product is expensive."
"I rate the pricing a zero out of ten because Database In-Memory is too costly."
"Oracle Database In-Memory is expensive."
"Database In-Memory is priced a bit higher than its competitors like Microsoft."
"It's quite costly and it comes with a fixed price."
"The solution's pricing is high."
"The pricing is pretty good so I rate it an eight out of ten."
report
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893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Informix?
There is a cost reason to move from IBM Informix. It is relatively cheaper than Oracle. The second reason is that moving the whole application to a new database would require significant cost. The ...
What needs improvement with IBM Informix?
We find some bugs in IBM Informix. Maybe we are using it more aggressively than others. Every month or every second month, we find some bugs in it, which is not ideal. It should be rare, not this f...
What is your primary use case for IBM Informix?
We are using IBM Informix for OLTP systems. We are using IBM Informix although it is a technology that is not very popular compared to others. We are using it because our application was initially ...
What needs improvement with Oracle Database In-Memory?
I do not have any comment related to the improvement of the solution; for sure, it needs improvement, but for my use cases, it is very sufficient, and I think for the biggest companies, it needs a ...
What is your primary use case for Oracle Database In-Memory?
The major use case for Oracle Database In-Memory is real-time applications that need a fast response between the application and the database directly without any latency.
 

Also Known As

Informix
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Shaspa, Hildebrand, Kaifa, Ranhill Powertron, Federaci‹ Farmacutica (FedeFarma), Camden Council, The German Aerospace Center (DLR), Myers, Votorantim Group, Doosan Infracore, GreenIvory
Shanghai Customs
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Informix vs. Oracle Database In-Memory and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.