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President with 51-200 employees
Vendor
I like the fact it is not tied directly to a server OS, such as Microsoft SQL Server.

What is most valuable?

It is fast, compact, flexible, and scalable. I like the fact it is not tied directly to a server OS, such as Microsoft SQL Server. Being open source it is very budget continuous for our clients.

How has it helped my organization?

There are a few little odds and ends like all SQL servers that differ from other SQL servers. The way it handles logical, the fact it does not support primary keys on views etc. My experience is all SQL servers have little differences from each other. PostgreSQL is far more robust and built for production use than MySQL which I have also used.

What needs improvement?

I would love to have primary keys on views. This function missing has made PostgreSQL harder than need be with Microsoft Access as a front end.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this as a back end server for various front end applications for about five years now.

Buyer's Guide
PostgreSQL
April 2025
Learn what your peers think about PostgreSQL. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
851,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

We have had no issues with the deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There have been no issues with the stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There have been no issues scaling it.

How are customer service and support?

Like all open source community supported products, the technical support is hit and miss. I have found tho, there is a large user base and I can usually get good ideas how to do a work around within a few hours, day or two at the most.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used Oracle, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server. Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server were simply too expensive for smaller customers. MySQL had too many short comings to make it a workable solution.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was pretty straightforward. A lot of the setup for a typical installation is a Linux scripted Boot-Install disk. Answer a few questions and you are off to the races.

What about the implementation team?

Did the implementation in house. Not for everyone, but then, if you are installing and utilizing a standalone SQL Server you have to be a pretty computer savvy person.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Being open source this is not really applicable.

What other advice do I have?

PostgreSQL is a great SQL database, powerful, flexible, but it is not something to be considered over other things. The most important issue for a database, if what back end do your mission critical front ends support. With PostgreSQL we found next to nothing we would not do with other open source applications.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

PeerSpot user
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    PeerSpot user
    Database Expert at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
    Consultant
    It is stable, and easy to use but lacks a backup feature.

    What is most valuable?

    The use of extensions for integration with different databases is valuable.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Our organization has MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL and flat files in our processes, and the use of extensions has facilitated the integration between these processes. Also, it's only 7-8/10 when comparing it to an Oracle database.

    What needs improvement?

    The use of XQuery besides XPath into PostgreSQL. It would also be nice for them to add some backup features similar to the one that Oracle Recovery Manager has. Also, a tool to query archive files would be a nice addition, and being able to change the execution plan through hints like we do in Oracle. There are some more but these would be my favorite ones.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've got six years experience with PostgreSQL, and 18 with Oracle.

    What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

    No issues encountered.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    No issues encountered.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    No issues encountered.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Customer Service:

    I'd rate it as 10/10 as an open source product with an active community.

    Technical Support:

    I'd say it's good.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We initially only used an Oracle database, but we decided to add PostgreSQL as an option because of its similarity to Oracle. Also, it's free and is the best open source database.

    How was the initial setup?

    It is simple, especially when you know the main components of a database.

    What about the implementation team?

    We implemented it in-house.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We didn't have any setup costs because it is free.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    • MySQL
    • SQL Server
    • Sedna XML

    What other advice do I have?

    I'd say go for it. It is stable, and easy to use but you should get an understanding of it to implement backup strategy.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

    PeerSpot user
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      it_user140712 - PeerSpot reviewer
      it_user140712Consultant at a tech consulting company
      Consultant

      Yes, you have many options for backup.

      Check some interesting free ones:

      - Barman (www.pgbarman.org).
      - Reliable PostgreSQL Backup & Restore www.pgbackrest.org
      - PgHoard github.com

      etc

      See all 2 comments
      Buyer's Guide
      PostgreSQL
      April 2025
      Learn what your peers think about PostgreSQL. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
      851,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.
      PeerSpot user
      Specialist of Information Security at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
      Vendor
      It increased the database possibilities within the company. I'd like the ability to import data safely and securely from other databases without errors.

      What is most valuable?

      I had many problems on v8.3 when I needed to use SSL client certificate authentication but on version 8.4 my problem was resolved, I’m an information security specialist and my focus is it so all features about security for me is important and the security on PostgreSQL after 8.4 was good.

      How has it helped my organization?

      I can say that PostgreSQL increased the database possibilities within the company.

      What needs improvement?

      I have a dream that a database could import data safely and securely from other databases without errors and by using a GUI to help migrate the data. 

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I've been using it for years.

      What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

      We have had no issues with the deployment.

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      There have been no performance issues.

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      It's been able to scale for our needs.

      Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

      In my last company, we had been using Access. We changed to PostgreSQL as we needed something more robust and usable. This was provided by PostgreSQL which at the time was the perfect solution for what we needed.

      What other advice do I have?

      PostgreSQL is a perfect database to be used by small to mid-sized companies. Many years ago when I worked with medium companies I would have given it a 10/10 but as the database community has grown, it has decreased.

      Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

      PeerSpot user
      Rich text editor
        it_user434985 - PeerSpot reviewer
        Sr. Database Architect at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
        Real User
        The full text search functionality helped a quite a number of times to avoid introducing another system for text search.

        What is most valuable?

        PostgreSQL is the only open source and multi-functional database solution out in the market today. I have used it to replace Oracle (RDBMS) up to MongoDB (Document DB). Postgres has very rich SQL and NoSQL features that gives it a special place in database industry. It’s easy configure and manage features helped to increase adoption in last decade or so.

        How has it helped my organization?

        PostgreSQL is the most flexible database I have worked in my career. For example, when I need geographical data processing for my application, I can use PostGIS. It is the best GIS solution out in the market, by installing extension the extension onto the database. Additionally, PostgreSQL's full text search functionality helped a quite a number of times to avoid introducing another system for text search and use PostgreSQL.

        What needs improvement?

        PostgreSQL has introduced number of new features to achieve out of the box multi-master replication and reach JSONB features, horizontal and vertical scalability and parallelization features. I’d like to see them to be production ready. As the number of users of application grows, the multi-master replication will helpful to replicate systems across the continents. We have started using JSONB in number of application, I would like to see some extended features to make JSONB data type more reachable. The horizontal/vertical scalability & parallelization features will help our big data analytics processes faster to improve application response time.

        For how long have I used the solution?

        I've used it for approximately 10 years.

        What do I think about the stability of the solution?

        I have experience working with over dozen of database and datastores in production environments but PostgreSQL has been the most stable database I have worked so far.

        What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

        It is missing some key scalability features such as sharding and automatic failover, but the Postgres developers are working on adding these features.

        How are customer service and technical support?

        Postgres community is very thriving and Postgres ecosystem is very strong. The product is open source but it has the best documentation and readable code among other open source products. The turnaround time for logged bug is much faster than some of the commercial vendor’s support team. Additionally, there are a number of PostgreSQL professional support companies in the US and all over world.

        Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

        I used to be an Oracle DBA over decade ago. I have used over dozen of database solutions ranging from MySQL to MongoDB in the distributed production environments but Postgres provides superior features but not limited to; extendibility, performance, scalability, analytics queries.

        How was the initial setup?

        PostgreSQL is easy to setup compare to any other commercial RDBMS out there in market. It is easy to install and configure.

        What about the implementation team?

        Postgres has great documentation and various open source tools available for maintenance. However, it is recommended to work with Postgres consulting services companies to expedite design and implementation.

        What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

        PostgreSQL is truly open source database system so the licensing cost is zero. If you are migrating from any commercial database system, you are saving licensing and recurring support costs.

        What other advice do I have?

        If you don’t have experience with PostgreSQL, I recommend to attend some of the local PostgreSQL user group meetups and/or conferences to learn how it is being used. If you need help discussing about the solution, you can reach to any of the Postgres consulting services company.

        Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

        PeerSpot user
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          it_user817356 - PeerSpot reviewer
          it_user817356Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
          Real User

          I am looking to implement PostgreSQL in AWS for a 100T database . Anyone with such experience?
          I don't think I can do RDS due to the 16T limitation. Suggestions please

          PeerSpot user
          Senior Programmer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
          Consultant
          We could improve our hardware, and we upgraded the Heroku plan as we grew.​

          What is most valuable?

          • Easy to use
          • Vastl documentation
          • Tough product

          How has it helped my organization?

          We used it from scratch of the organization. It helped a lot since we could improve our hardware, and we upgraded the Heroku plan as we grew.

          What needs improvement?

          It could be easier to perform some fragmentation in the database. It's possible, but still a hard job.

          For how long have I used the solution?

          I've used it for about three years. Currently we use PostgreSQL provided by Heroku and AWS. On Heroku we use a premium 6 plan with v9.4, and on AWS RDS the version is also 9.4.

          What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

          The biggest problem we found so far is not in the product exactly, it's in the service provided by Heroku. Heroku locks us in hiding some features that would make a lot easier moving to another PostgreSQL provider.

          What do I think about the stability of the solution?

          We have had no issues with the stability.

          What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

          We have had no issues scaling it for our needs.

          How are customer service and technical support?

          Customer Service:

          7/10

          Technical Support:

          7/10

          Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

          I used other solutions in other companies I've worked for before. When I arrived at my current company they were already using PostgreSQL.

          How was the initial setup?

          I wasn't involved in the setup as it was already in place when I joined.

          What about the implementation team?

          We implemented it through a vendor as using this kind of service is easy and fast to get started. You don't need experts, and you can keep concentrating on your core business. However, when you grow the costs grow, and as in our case, it might be hard to leave the vendor.

          What other advice do I have?

          It does what it's supposed to do, as simple as that. We don't regret any choosing this solution.

          Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

          PeerSpot user
          Rich text editor
            PeerSpot user
            Senior Consultant / Manager Technical Operations at a tech consulting company with 501-1,000 employees
            Consultant
            It has good HA and DR. It's not very user friendly, as it is open source and has no immediate support.

            Valuable Features

            • Security
            • HA and DR
            • Performance
            • Maintenance

            Improvements to My Organization

            I worked as a consultant/trainer. I have a few installations of Dev/Test in my VMs, and I don't have anything in the production installation in our organization.

            Room for Improvement

            It's not very user friendly, as it is open source and has no immediate support. You can download the Enterprise version of Postgres that is a GUI installation and also have a support contract.

            Use of Solution

            I've been using it for five to six years. I did the PostgreSQL DBA’s training and led the implementation and data migration projects.

            We also use the EDB Postgres Plus Advance Server v9.3 (EnterpriseDB). We use it to evaluate the Database migration from Oracle to Postgres. The data level migration was successful but for objects, and at the security level, you have to fix issues manually.

            Deployment Issues

            We've had no issues but setting up the replication, security, and login is different from other databases.

            Stability Issues

            We've had no issues with the stability.

            Scalability Issues

            There have been no issues with scaling it for our needs.

            Customer Service and Technical Support

            As mentioned earlier, there's no support contract for open source but with EDB (EnterpriseDB) you have the open to purchase the support contract. I don’t have any experience with EnterpriseDB support.

            Initial Setup

            It's straightforward, as it's an open source product.

            Implementation Team

            We did it in-house.

            ROI

            As it's open source the ROI is quick.

            Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing

            The core product is free but you have to pay for third-party utilities / plugins and support.

            Other Solutions Considered

            I have evaluated MySQL and Ingres previously and then PostgreSQL. My personal choice is PostgreSQL. I also worked on a migration project from Ingres to Oracle.

            Other Advice

            • Positive - 100% free as it's open source
            • Negative - it's hard to find expertise

            If you are planning to migrate an existing environment, please go through with the full UAT cycle at data, connectivity, objects and apps level.

            Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

            PeerSpot user
            Rich text editor
              Projects Manager at Emery Investments
              Real User
              Stable, open-source solution that makes scaling a database affordable; could be more user-friendly
              Pros and Cons
              • "It is very scalable and comes with a bonus: no licensing issues as you scale with your databases."
              • "As PostgreSQL is an open-source product, you do have to do a bit more configuration and management yourself."

              What is our primary use case?

              Our primary use case for PostgreSQL is data storage. 

              What needs improvement?

              As PostgreSQL is an open-source product, you do have to do a bit more configuration and management yourself. I would like to see it become more user-friendly. 

              For how long have I used the solution?

              I do not use PostgreSQL regularly but I have been running a project that has been utilizing it for six years. I head a tight-knit group that includes a front end developer, backend developers, and hardware people. They deal with PostgreSQL and I do not have hands-on experience with this solution. 

              What do I think about the stability of the solution?

              PostgreSQL is stable and easy to use. 

              What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

              It is very scalable and comes with a bonus: no licensing issues as you scale with your databases. 

              Currently, 15 people use PostgreSQL at our organization. 

              How are customer service and support?

              I am satisfied with PostgreSQL's technical support. 

              How was the initial setup?

              The initial deployment was fine. If you read through the steps, you should be OK. 

              What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

              The licensing is fine. It is not a paid database license. 

              Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

              PeerSpot user
              Rich text editor
                Computer engineering student at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
                Real User
                Good for database management, free to use, and easy to set up
                Pros and Cons
                • "It's a standard reliable database management system."
                • "The interface could be much better."

                What is our primary use case?

                The solution is primarily used to develop the databases for your application. I used it personally for a college assignment.

                What is most valuable?

                The solution is open-source and therefore free to use.

                You can do the same actions as you can with the SQL Server.

                It's a standard reliable database management system.

                The solution comes with an option to work in dark mode, which I appreciate.

                What needs improvement?

                The interface could be much better. Maybe it took a little bit longer to understand the menu options and so on. On top of that, it's a web interface. It makes it uninteresting to look at. It's not so appealing as the options that Microsoft offers. It's a separate program that works separately and you don't mess with the browser. It works okay, you can do what you need to do, however, it's not, in my opinion, so professional-looking. That said, it's open-source so I can understand that they prefer to do it like that.

                The installation process could be better organized.

                The stability could be better. they release new versions all the time and they aren't quite as stable as we'd like them to be.

                For how long have I used the solution?

                We've only used the solution for a few months. We used it for two projects. It was basically used across two semesters. We have used it in the past year.

                What do I think about the stability of the solution?

                The solution is not as stable in comparison to Microsoft SQL Server. I had some issues with a version, and I had to re-install it last year. Now, however, it's working fine. That said, they are always launching new updates and they seem to release them too early as they are not so stable.

                What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

                I'm not sure if I will continue to use the solution. I used it for an assignment, and that's it. 

                How are customer service and technical support?

                I did not contact technical support. I've never reached out to them directly. Therefore, I can't speak to how helpful or responsive they are.

                Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

                I've also worked with Microsoft SQL, and I find the product to be much more stable.

                How was the initial setup?

                The initial setup could be a bit better. They have some improvements to do especially with regards to the additional tools they propose. That part is just a little bit messy. Other than that, I thought it was very easy to install it. It's not overly complex.

                What about the implementation team?

                I was able to handle the implementation myself. I did not need the help of a consultant or integrator. 

                What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

                The solution doesn't cost anything to use. It's open-source.

                What other advice do I have?

                I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. I'm mostly happy with its capabilities.

                I wouldn't necessarily recommend this product for beginners. 

                Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

                PeerSpot user
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                  Buyer's Guide
                  Download our free PostgreSQL Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
                  Updated: April 2025
                  Buyer's Guide
                  Download our free PostgreSQL Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
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