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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
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (17th)
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 August 2025, in the Embedded Database category, the mindshare of IBM Informix is 1.4%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Progress OpenEdge RDBMS is 3.2%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Embedded Database
 

Featured Reviews

Nazzareno Maria Rezzini - PeerSpot reviewer
Supports multiple business intelligence tools, but the technical support services need improvement
IBM Informix is a central database solution across various environments, supporting multiple applications and business intelligence tools The key areas for improvement revolve around understanding the current customer trends and demands, particularly in software and database requirements. The…
reviewer1648848 - PeerSpot reviewer
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 initial setup is pretty easy."
"The stability is incredible. I have customers with uptimes of several years."
"The solution's stability, performance, enhanced functionality, and replication are all great features."
"The scalability is very good."
"Replication, all levels of replication, query charting, and the MongoDB embedded are the most valuable features of this solution."
"The most valuable feature is concurrency and locking because my customers usually use databases in OLTP mode. So, for a large number of competitive users. Other features that are well valued are quick large-scale data types. It is better than Oracle."
"It supports multiple applications and business intelligence tools."
"IBM Informix benefits users with high availability and good integration capabilities."
"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 technical support services need substantial improvement."
"The solution really doesn't add new features very often."
"It would be helpful to have IBM salespeople know that Informix exists, and sell it. Currently, it is completely ignored by IBM."
"I experienced poor input/output (IO) performance."
"Continue extending the SQL language for compatibility with the competition's language, including Stored Procedure Language."
"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."
"I would like to see backups from secondary servers."
"There should be more intelligence surrounding discovering data to be able to automatically create indexes."
"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."
 

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."
"I am not aware of the licensing costs or terms."
"For me, it's always too expensive."
"The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Retailer
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Energy/Utilities Company
19%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Legal Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
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?
The product has reasonable pricing. We purchase its yearly license.
What needs improvement with IBM Informix?
The key areas for improvement revolve around understanding the current customer trends and demands, particularly in software and database requirements. The product's performance could be better com...
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: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.