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IBM Informix vs Progress OpenEdge RDBMS 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
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (23rd)
Progress OpenEdge RDBMS
Ranking in Embedded Database
8th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Embedded Database category, the mindshare of IBM Informix is 2.3%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Progress OpenEdge RDBMS is 3.9%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Embedded Database Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Progress OpenEdge RDBMS3.9%
IBM Informix2.3%
Other93.8%
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.
reviewer1648848 - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President Strategic Development at a hospitality company with 1-10 employees
Customizable, intelligent, and reacts in real-time
There aren't any areas of improvement. We have a very long relationship with their R&D group. They're fairly dynamic there, however, it's not the relationships I manage. The only big hurdle for us is that most customers aren't familiar with it, so it's scary. If you're in commercial environments, everybody knows SQL, everybody knows Oracle, or whatever. It doesn't really matter due to the fact that it's embedded, however, they're paying those licenses. The only drawback is you can't just say, "Hey, provide us three Enterprise SQL licenses," and they just go reach into their Microsoft licensing deal and plug them in and go. Instead, it's plugging a new product into the mix that they otherwise would take care of on their own. The apparent cost is higher, however, in the end, it's really not.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The scalability is very good."
"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."
"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."
"So far, we do not have a lot of issues. It's pretty problem-free."
"Every version is faster than the previous."
"Replication, all levels of replication, query charting, and the MongoDB embedded are the most valuable features of this solution."
"The initial setup is pretty easy."
"It supports multiple applications and business intelligence tools."
"The product can be scaled in any direction and a very nice feature is that you can logically split the database by the value of the data, which is great."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
 

Cons

"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."
"There should be more intelligence surrounding discovering data to be able to automatically create indexes."
"This product could be made easier to use for beginners."
"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."
"Continue extending the SQL language for compatibility with the competition's language, including Stored Procedure Language."
"I would like to see backups from secondary servers."
"This solution is in need of more current tools."
"The only big hurdle for us is that most customers aren't familiar with it, so it's scary. If you're in commercial environments, everybody knows SQL, everybody knows Oracle, or whatever."
"Advanced security would be a good additional feature."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"I am not aware of the licensing costs or terms."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Energy/Utilities Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Legal Firm
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise8
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Informix?
It supports multiple applications and business intelligence tools.
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...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Informix
OpenEdge RDBMS, Progress OpenEdge
 

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
Apero Solutions, Heath Village, International Energy Services, Exact Software, PepsiCo Russia, Pero, SVK, FreshERP
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Informix vs. Progress OpenEdge RDBMS and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.