DBMS > Informix vs. PostgreSQL

System Properties Comparison Informix vs. PostgreSQL

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Editorial information provided by DB-Engines

Name

Description

A secure embeddable database from IBM, positioned besides IBM Db2 as a relatively low-cost product optimized for OLTP and Internet of Things data

Widely used open source RDBMS

Developed as objectoriented DBMS (Postgres), gradually enhanced with 'standards' like SQL

Primary database model

Relational DBMS

Since Version 12.10 support for JSON/BSON datatypes compatible with MongoDB

Relational DBMS

with object oriented extensions, e.g.: user defined types/functions and inheritance. Handling of key/value pairs with hstore module.

Secondary database models

Document store
Spatial DBMS
Time Series DBMS

with Informix TimeSeries Extension

Document store
Graph DBMS

with Apache Age
Spatial DBMS
Vector DBMS

with pgvector extension

DB-Engines Ranking measures the popularity of database management systems
Trend Chart

Score	16.28
Rank	#36	Overall
	#21	Relational DBMS

Score	652.16
Rank	#4	Overall
	#4	Relational DBMS

Website

www.ibm.com/products/informix

www.postgresql.org

Technical documentation

informix.hcldoc.com
www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSGU8G/welcomeIfxServers.html

www.postgresql.org/docs

Developer

IBM, HCL Technologies

Effective May 1st, 2017, HCL took on development, technical support, and product management teams, and works jointly with IBM on product strategy, marketing, and sales.

PostgreSQL Global Development Group

www.postgresql.org/developer

Initial release

1984

1989

1989: Postgres, 1996: PostgreSQL

Current release

14.10.FC5, November 2020

16.4, August 2024

License

Commercial or Open Source

commercial

free developer edition available

Open Source

BSD

Cloud-based only

Only available as a cloud service

DBaaS offerings (sponsored links)

Database as a Service

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Implementation language

C, C++ and Java

Server operating systems

AIX
HP-UX
Linux
macOS
Solaris
Windows

FreeBSD
HP-UX
Linux
NetBSD
OpenBSD
OS X
Solaris
Unix
Windows

Data scheme

yes

Typing

predefined data types such as float or date

yes

Since Version 12.10 support for JSON/BSON datatypes

yes

XML support

Some form of processing data in XML format, e.g. support for XML data structures, and/or support for XPath, XQuery or XSLT.

yes

specific XML-type available, but no XML query functionality.

Secondary indexes

yes

SQL

Support of SQL

yes

standard with numerous extensions

APIs and other access methods

JDBC
JSON API

MongoDB compatible
MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport)
ODBC
RESTful HTTP API

ADO.NET
JDBC
native C library
ODBC
streaming API for large objects

Supported programming languages

.Net
C
C++
Java
JavaScript (Node.js)
PHP
Python
Ruby

.Net
C
C++
Delphi
Java

JDBC
JavaScript (Node.js)
Perl
PHP
Python
Tcl

Server-side scripts

Stored procedures

yes

user defined functions

realized in proprietary language PL/pgSQL or with common languages like Perl, Python, Tcl etc.

Triggers

yes

Partitioning methods

Methods for storing different data on different nodes

Sharding

partitioning by range, list and (since PostgreSQL 11) by hash

Replication methods

Methods for redundantly storing data on multiple nodes

Multi-source replication
Source-replica replication

Source-replica replication

other methods possible by using 3rd party extensions

MapReduce

Offers an API for user-defined Map/Reduce methods

Consistency concepts

Methods to ensure consistency in a distributed system

Immediate Consistency

Foreign keys

Referential integrity

yes

Transaction concepts

Support to ensure data integrity after non-atomic manipulations of data

ACID

Concurrency

Support for concurrent manipulation of data

yes

Durability

Support for making data persistent

yes

In-memory capabilities

Is there an option to define some or all structures to be held in-memory only.

yes

User concepts

Access control

Users with fine-grained authentication, authorization, and auditing controls

fine grained access rights according to SQL-standard

More information provided by the system vendor

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Related products and services

3rd parties

SharePlex is the reliable and affordable data replication solution for PostgreSQL migrations, high availability and more.
» more

CYBERTEC is a premier consulting company that provides open-source database PostgreSQL management and data science solutions. By offering PostgreSQL migrations, administration, design, and more, CYBERTEC provides an all-in-one catalog of powerful PostgreSQL support. It's through this exceptional service, equipped with a team of experts, that the company has established a proven reputation. When it comes to Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Big Data, CYBERTEC offers services customized for you.
» more

pgDash: In-Depth PostgreSQL Monitoring.
» more

We invite representatives of vendors of related products to contact us for presenting information about their offerings here.

More resources

DB-Engines blog posts

PostgreSQL is the DBMS of the Year 2023
2 January 2024, Matthias Gelbmann, Paul Andlinger

Snowflake is the DBMS of the Year 2022, defending the title from last year
3 January 2023, Matthias Gelbmann, Paul Andlinger

Snowflake is the DBMS of the Year 2021
3 January 2022, Paul Andlinger, Matthias Gelbmann

show all

Conferences, events and webinars

more DBMS events

PASS Data Community Summit
Seattle, Washington, 4-8 November 2024

Recent citations in the news

IBM Informix Database in the Cloud
1 May 2009, AWS Blog

Is Informix back?
21 September 1998, Forbes

Fugitive Silicon Valley tech executive hauled into federal court
15 October 2019, The Mercury News

10 CEOs Who Were Jailed
30 November 2020, Siliconindia.com

Esri & IBM Integration | Combining GIS with Analytics & AI Solutions
9 July 2021, Esri

provided by Google News

Clock's ticking on PostgreSQL 12, but not everyone is ready to say goodbye
22 October 2024, The Register

Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL and Amazon DynamoDB zero-ETL integrations with Amazon Redshift now generally available | Amazon Web Services
15 October 2024, AWS Blog

PostgreSQL 17 accelerates open source database with replication and JSON tables
26 September 2024, VentureBeat

AWS Makes ETL Disappear for Aurora PostgreSQL, DynamoDB
17 October 2024, The New Stack

PostgreSQL 17 packs big performance and feature enhancements
26 September 2024, ZDNet

provided by Google News

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