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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
10th
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
2nd
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
11th
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 August 2026, in the Embedded Database category, the mindshare of IBM Informix is 3.8%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Database In-Memory is 12.2%, up from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Embedded Database Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Oracle Database In-Memory12.2%
IBM Informix3.8%
Other84.0%
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."
"It supports in-house-built applications in .NET and VB6"
"Informix can support huge quantities of data with less memory and less capacity."
"This solution has made financial reporting possible by allowing financial people the opportunity to set Informix to "Auto Pilot" so that they can attend other duties."
"OLTP processing capacity and the availability of information with high availability implementation have been significantly improved."
"We don't have any problems with the Informix Database."
"For IoT business cases, having Informix Enterprise Edition work on edge computers, like Raspberry Pi and using Informix replication, makes complex situations simple to build and maintain."
"It is very easy to install IBM Informix, very easy to scale, and support is quite better."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its performance optimization within our hardware environment."
"The solution's ROI is excellent."
"We find the dashboard and the speed of data processing very valuable in Oracle Database In-Memory."
"I like Oracle because it is a backward-compatible solution."
"I cannot imagine IT today without Oracle databases."
"Combined with Exadata, it makes a solution that will deliver the best performance related to the volume of data."
"The valuable features of Oracle Database In-Memory include its capability to bypass disk storage for faster memory operations, which is critical for transactions and analytics."
"The most valuable aspects of this solution are the fast caching and improved performance to the database."
 

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."
"The support team could include local engineers to establish efficient communication. It will help us speed up the escalation process."
"It would be helpful to have IBM salespeople know that Informix exists, and sell it. Currently, it is completely ignored by IBM."
"The solution lacks some functionality."
"Continue extending the SQL language for compatibility with the competition's language, including Stored Procedure Language."
"The technical support services need substantial improvement."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"I really would love to have a QT plugin."
"Especially, if you have large data, then it's not very efficient."
"The solution should move to the new way of writing software code with AI that is intelligent and learns."
"The pricing could be improved. It would ideal if it was more reasonable."
"The product could benefit from enhancements in its graphical user interface."
"The solution is very expensive."
"For some reason, the stats optimizer doesn't work well. We had to disable some of the Oracle’s new features that are not quite mature."
""It depends". If you get a good support engineer, it is a dream. But, most times, it is not, unfortunately."
"They should lower the price. My customers think that it's too expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license."
"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."
"I am not aware of the licensing costs or terms."
"For me, it's always too expensive."
"The platform's licensing cost needs improvement."
"It's quite costly and it comes with a fixed price."
"Oracle Database In-Memory is expensive."
"There is a need to make a yearly payment towards the licensing costs, after which there is any to pay towards the support cost attached to the solution."
"The pricing is pretty good so I rate it an eight out of ten."
"I rate the pricing a zero out of ten because Database In-Memory is too costly."
"Database In-Memory is priced a bit higher than its competitors like Microsoft."
"The solution's pricing is high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

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: August 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.