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InterSystems IRIS vs MariaDB comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

InterSystems IRIS
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
4.2
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Database Management Systems (DBMS) (12th)
MariaDB
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
15th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of InterSystems IRIS is 0.9%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MariaDB is 3.2%, down from 5.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
InterSystems IRIS0.9%
MariaDB3.2%
Other95.9%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2892648 - PeerSpot reviewer
Developer/Database Administrator at a transportation company with 201-500 employees
Robust multidimensional database has enabled smooth API integrations and modern data workflows
I think InterSystems IRIS is a continuation of the Caché legacy. Since I have been working with it since 2005 with Caché, I think it is a really amazing tool. It is a very robust and very scalable database. It is very good to work with, and I am already used to working with it. Where it falls a bit short is in the availability of manpower and professionals who work with InterSystems IRIS or Caché. There are few professionals who work with it. Another thing is the cost and the license cost. I think there could be some kind of package that could serve smaller companies and small and medium-sized companies. That would reach a larger slice of the market, because the cost to work with Caché, InterSystems IRIS, and so on is high. I would make this remark about putting together a package and a new product that could serve small and medium-sized companies. The area where InterSystems IRIS falls a bit short is in the cost and the licensing cost. The licensing cost is the main issue I have already mentioned.
PR
Architect at LTIMindtree
Cloud deployment has improved security and performance but still needs richer query features
MariaDB is easy to install. Performance of MariaDB has improved with the query optimizer. We use MariaDB's data-at-rest encryption. Encryption is available in MariaDB, so we are secure for transmitting data without concern about moving over networks. Query optimization in MariaDB is better than Oracle. We use advanced replication for MariaDB. Role-based access is available in MariaDB, which is a good feature. The technical support of MariaDB is very helpful. They came and tuned our queries with one-to-one assistance.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The best features that InterSystems IRIS offers in my opinion are the speed in querying data, and due to our system, which requires a large query with a large volume of data, InterSystems IRIS stands out for its query speed, making my work easier."
"InterSystems IRIS as a database is very efficient, with its best features being its speed and high performance, along with an easy understanding of its data searching functionalities."
"The best features InterSystems IRIS offers are its powerful database and speed, which contribute greatly to my work."
"The best features InterSystems IRIS offers, in my experience, include being a really powerful engine and a really good database."
"My final observation is that everyone should use InterSystems IRIS; it is an amazing tool on the market."
"In my opinion, the best features that InterSystems IRIS offers are its very optimized database, which I found amazing, and the observability it provides for checking messages and how the data is being transferred, which I find very interesting."
"The best features that InterSystems IRIS offers are its capability to function as both a relational and non-relational database, with performance and speed as specific functionalities that serve as differentiators."
"InterSystems IRIS has had a positive impact on my organization by improving performance and data security."
"It is an absolutely stable solution."
"A valuable feature is that we can use it for quite a few things, all the things you'd expect from a server—along the lines of Linux's Lightweight Directory."
"The most valuable feature of MariaDB is the replication mode."
"Configuration, setup, and schema design are good features in MariaDB, and typical database features we have used include backup, configuration, recovery, archiving, and ETL."
"The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that it is a cloud-based tool, so it is pretty fast."
"MariaDB performs well as the backend database for our cloud-based telephony solution."
"The performance is very good."
"The solution is very stable. It was originally built under MySQL. It has a similar level of stability."
 

Cons

"Python support can be enhanced further, as it's really clunky at the moment, considering that the use of Python is pretty much all over the world and nobody knows ObjectScript really thoroughly and deeply."
"I cannot determine a very positive impact or a beneficial result from InterSystems IRIS, although this observability part is important because we were able to find problems much faster."
"The area where InterSystems IRIS falls a bit short is in the cost and the licensing cost."
"InterSystems IRIS can be improved by addressing the lack of libraries, mainly mathematical ones, where we would save a lot of time on some formulas that we have to build by hand every time we need them."
"InterSystems IRIS could be improved, particularly the internal interface of the database."
"InterSystems IRIS can be improved since its studio is very poor."
"It is not suitable for mission-critical applications, but it is stable for other applications."
"The license should be cheaper and closer to that offered by MySQL, Oracle and other products."
"I’m not sure if it can scale, so I’m not sure how it would fare for significant companies."
"I'd like to see improved materialized views, like the ability to save select queries. This feature is missing in MariaDB compared to other relational databases like Oracle and SQL Server."
"The price could be less expensive."
"I’m not sure if it can scale."
"The solution should do some fine-tuning on maybe the transaction per second so that users can get more than they can on the Microsoft SQL Server."
"It requires enterprise integration improvements from the security, and audit perspective (AD integration etc.). Also, existing integration into BI tools is not present."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The product is not expensive."
"MariaDB is available for free."
"The price of this solution represents a very good compromise between the cost and what it offers."
"It's an open-source solution."
"I rate the product's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price since there are some support costs involved, even though it isn't an open-source solution."
"My company uses the free version of the solution."
"When it comes to MariaDB, it should have a more cost-effective license."
"This is an open source solution with no licensing fees."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
26%
Comms Service Provider
16%
Healthcare Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise26
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with InterSystems IRIS?
InterSystems IRIS has already improved in many areas, and I enjoy using it. My work is sufficient for what I use, and I do not have anything more specific to make InterSystems IRIS better.
What is your primary use case for InterSystems IRIS?
My main use case for InterSystems IRIS is to manage bugs in the system when they are in production. A quick, specific example of how I use InterSystems IRIS to manage bugs in production is when the...
What advice do you have for others considering InterSystems IRIS?
Regarding InterSystems IRIS's AI capabilities, I believe the governance and security are positive. In my experience with its governance and security, I feel my data is well-protected, which is ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB?
MariaDB is in the pricey range, especially for huge databases handling terabytes of data. The cost depends on the volume of data and different features enabled during configuration, such as backup ...
What needs improvement with MariaDB?
The key area where MariaDB could be improved is its native GUI tooling; while the command-line interface works perfectly fine, the built-in visual tools for administration, management, and query de...
What is your primary use case for MariaDB?
My main use case for MariaDB was web applications, and I have been using MariaDB for just about a year now as I was in the development team. A specific web application where I used MariaDB is a hea...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Global Investment Bank, Parkview Medical Center
Google, Wikipedia, Tencent, Verizon, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Telefónica, Huatai Securities
Find out what your peers are saying about InterSystems IRIS vs. MariaDB and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
921,523 professionals have used our research since 2012.