Databases · alternatives
Alternatives to IBM Db2
24 databases tools sit alongside IBM Db2 in this directory. Below is what separates each from IBM Db2 on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 24
- With a free tier
- 19
- Cheaper to start
- 4
- IBM Db2 starts at
- Free, then $99/month
Why people look past IBM Db2
Nothing on the record flags a reason to move. IBM Db2 has a free tier, and starts at $99/month against a category median of $199/month. People still switch over fit and workflow, and those are not things a catalogue entry can measure, which is what the comparisons below are for.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
The world's most complete, reliable, and secure database
- Starts $47401 a processor dearer, at $47500/processor.
The world's most advanced open source relational database
Priced and rated the same as IBM Db2 on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
The world's most popular open source database
- Starts $99 a month cheaper, at Free.
Enterprise-grade relational database management system
- 4 tiers to IBM Db2's 3.
MPP analytical database with a MySQL wire protocol and sub-second aggregation on wide tables
- 1 tier to IBM Db2's 3.
The Meta-lineage distributed SQL query engine, distinct from the Trino fork
- 1 tier to IBM Db2's 3.
Every IBM Db2 alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBM Db2 (this page) | Free, then $99/month | - | 3 | |
| Oracle DatabaseEnterprise relational database competing on scalability, advanced features, and mission-critical workload support. | Free, then $47500/processor | - | - | vs IBM Db2 |
| PostgreSQLOpen-source relational database with strong enterprise features and no licensing costs, increasingly used for mainframe workload migration. | Free | - | - | vs IBM Db2 |
| MySQLOpen-source relational database popular for web applications offering simplicity and cost-effectiveness as DB2 alternative. | Free | Freemium | 3 | vs IBM Db2 |
| Microsoft SQL ServerEnterprise database from Microsoft competing on performance, integration with Windows environments, and advanced analytics. | Free | - | 4 | vs IBM Db2 |
| Apache Doris | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs IBM Db2 |
| Presto | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs IBM Db2 |
| EMQX | Free, then $234/month | Per month by connection and session volume | 4 | vs IBM Db2 |
| StarRocks | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs IBM Db2 |
| Solace PubSub+ | Free | Quote | 4 | vs IBM Db2 |
| Tinybird | Free, then $25/month | Per month by compute and storage | 4 | vs IBM Db2 |
| Dremio | Free, then $0.2/hour | Per Dremio Compute Unit consumed | 3 | vs IBM Db2 |
| VerneMQ | Free | Quote | 3 | vs IBM Db2 |
| Timeplus | Free, then $199/month | Per month for cloud, quoted for self-hosted | 3 | vs IBM Db2 |
| RisingWave | Free, then $0.227/hour | Per RisingWave Unit hour | 4 | vs IBM Db2 |
| NATS | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs IBM Db2 |
| Redpanda | Free | Source-available community edition with paid enterprise and cloud tiers | 1 | vs IBM Db2 |
| RabbitMQ | Free | Open source, no licence fee; managed services billed separately | 1 | vs IBM Db2 |
| Canary Labs | $3000/year | Per tag band per year | 4 | vs IBM Db2 |
| Instaclustr | On request | Quote | 1 | vs IBM Db2 |
| Immuta | On request | Quote | 1 | vs IBM Db2 |
| Privacera | On request | Quote | 1 | vs IBM Db2 |
| TIBCO Enterprise Message Service | On request | Quote | 1 | vs IBM Db2 |
| Apache Solr | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs IBM Db2 |
| Apache Pulsar | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs IBM Db2 |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the IBM Db2 badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (19)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Oracle Database , Free, then $47500/processor
- PostgreSQL , Free
- MySQL , Free
- Microsoft SQL Server , Free
- Apache Doris , Free
- Presto , Free
- EMQX , Free, then $234/month
- StarRocks , Free
Cheaper than IBM Db2 (4)
Entry price under IBM Db2's $99/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- MySQL , Free
- Tinybird , Free, then $25/month
- Dremio , Free, then $0.2/hour
- RisingWave , Free, then $0.227/hour
What you would be giving up
IBM Db2 is most often brought in for transaction processing, data storage, application backend, reporting, data analytics. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If IBM Db2 is broadly right and the question is cost, the IBM Db2 pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Databases category lists everything the directory holds, and best databases tools ranks them.
IBM Db2 runs on ibm cloud, on-premises (mainframe), linux, unix. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about IBM Db2 alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to IBM Db2?
- 24 other databases tools are listed in this directory, led by Oracle Database, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to IBM Db2?
- 19 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Oracle Database, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Apache Doris.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to IBM Db2?
- Yes. 4 of the alternatives below start under IBM Db2's $99/month: MySQL at Free, Tinybird at Free, then $25/month, Dremio at Free, then $0.2/hour, RisingWave at Free, then $0.227/hour.
- Is there a reason to switch away from IBM Db2?
- Nothing in the data flags one. IBM Db2 has a free tier, and starts at $99/month against a category median of $199/month. Fit and workflow are the usual reasons to move, and those are not things this record can measure.
- What would I give up by switching from IBM Db2?
- IBM Db2 is most often brought in for transaction processing, data storage, application backend, reporting, data analytics. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to IBM Db2?
- None of the databases tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these IBM Db2 alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Databases, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare IBM Db2 against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against IBM Db2 covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every databases tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Databases category, 24 tools beside IBM Db2. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.