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IBM Informix vs Progress OpenEdge RDBMS comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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 (28th)
Progress OpenEdge RDBMS
Ranking in Embedded Database
7th
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 October 2026, in the Embedded Database category, the mindshare of IBM Informix is 4.0%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Progress OpenEdge RDBMS is 7.2%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Embedded Database Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Progress OpenEdge RDBMS7.2%
IBM Informix4.0%
Other88.8%
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

"It supports multiple applications and business intelligence tools."
"So far, we do not have a lot of issues. It's pretty problem-free."
"Every version is faster than the previous."
"It is very easy to install IBM Informix, very easy to scale, and support is quite better."
"The initial setup is pretty easy."
"The initial setup is very simple."
"We don't have any problems with the Informix Database."
"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."
"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."
"Once you switch it on, it simply runs and runs."
"It is very customizable and it's intelligent."
"It's my 'go to' database if I want a database to just run 24/7/365, year-after-year with absolute minimal downtime."
 

Cons

"Every month or every second month, we find some bugs in it, which is not ideal."
"There should be more intelligence surrounding discovering data to be able to automatically create indexes."
"Continue extending the SQL language for compatibility with the competition's language, including Stored Procedure Language."
"The support team could include local engineers to establish efficient communication. It will help us speed up the escalation process."
"This product could be made easier to use for beginners."
"The product needs a lot more marketing involvement from IBM."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"Informix is very sturdy, but the problem for us is the marketing action around Informix."
"Advanced security would be a good additional feature."
"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."
"The installation process can be a bit confusing for someone who's new to OpenEdge."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license."
"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."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
13%
Construction Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
No data available
 

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 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 ...
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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: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.