Firebird database
Ranked 16 of 22 databases by recommenders
Free, full-featured SQL database with working ALTER TABLE, durability and good concurrency, sitting between SQLite and PostgreSQL.
Free, full-featured SQL database with working ALTER TABLE, durability and good concurrency, sitting between SQLite and PostgreSQL.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 90%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 9 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Proper ALTER TABLE support
“It's a fully featured database though, with everything you expect from one, including actually working ALTER TABLEs.”
Comment from 16 Jul 2026 in “SQLite should have (Rust-style) editions” “it supports proper ALTER TABLE which doesn't force you to recreate tables and copy data around”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “Decimal-Java is a library to convert java.math.BigDecimal to and from IEEE-754r” Between SQLite and PostgreSQL
“has been flying under the radar in-between SQLite and full-blown PostgreSQL for decades”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “Quack: The DuckDB Client-Server Protocol” “What it gives you over both is single-file databases which are easy to share”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “Decimal-Java is a library to convert java.math.BigDecimal to and from IEEE-754r” Better concurrency and speed
“it is faster, has better concurrency and has very low memory footprint”
Comment from 11 Apr 2026 in “PGLite Evangelism” “better concurrency and more complete system, also a tad faster”
Comment from 7 Apr 2026 in “SQLite in Production: Lessons from Running a Store on a Single File”
Other databases people recommend
The four most recommended other databases, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PostgreSQL | 816 | 233 | 78% | 13 | 10 yrs42 owners | Approved |
| MySQL | 124 | 107 | 54% | 12 | — | — |
| Microsoft SQL Server | 73 | 59 | 55% | 12 | 20 yrs6 owners | — |
| Microsoft Access | 62 | 39 | 61% | 12 | — | — |
| Firebird databaseThis page | 9 | 1 | 90% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
12 of the 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It's a fully featured database though, with everything you expect from one, including actually working ALTER TABLEs.”
“But then it never really went anywhere.”
“Firebird might be a good choice due to simpler install and admin.”
“has been flying under the radar in-between SQLite and full-blown PostgreSQL for decades”
“it is faster, has better concurrency and has very low memory footprint”
“better concurrency and more complete system, also a tad faster”
“it is supposed to be renowned for its durability (i.e. resistance to corruption) and fast start times”
“What it gives you over both is single-file databases which are easy to share”
“it supports proper ALTER TABLE which doesn't force you to recreate tables and copy data around”
“Nice to see Firebird still being actively developed.”
“I'm honestly surprised it isn't used more.”
“I recently moved over to Linux Mint and Firebird for email and have not looked back.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.