# EXASOL vs IBM Db2 Comparison

| | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Star Rating** | 4.7 out of 5 | 4.1 out of 5 | 
| **Total Reviews** | 28 | 682 | 
| **Largest Market Segment** | Enterprise (39.1% of reviews) | Enterprise (66.0% of reviews) | 
| **Entry Level Price** | No pricing available | Free Trial 1 License | 

---
## Top Pros & Cons

### EXASOL

Pros:
- Performance (2 reviews)
- Query Efficiency (2 reviews)

Cons:
- Complexity (1 reviews)
- Debugging Issues (1 reviews)

### IBM Db2

Pros:
- Performance (14 reviews)
- Reliability (13 reviews)

Cons:
- Complex Setup (4 reviews)
- Expensive (4 reviews)

---
## Ratings Comparison
| Rating | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
  | **Meets Requirements** | 9.6 (19 reviews) | 8.5 (488 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Use** | 9.0 (20 reviews) | 8.0 (497 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Setup** | 8.6 (13 reviews) | 7.7 (263 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Admin** | 9.4 (9 reviews) | 7.7 (242 reviews) | 
  | **Quality of Support** | 9.4 (18 reviews) | 8.1 (461 reviews) | 
  | **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?** | 9.7 (10 reviews) | 8.3 (234 reviews) | 
  | **Product Direction (% positive)** | 8.5 (16 reviews) | 6.8 (456 reviews) | 

---
## Pricing

### EXASOL

#### Entry-Level Pricing

No pricing available

#### Free Trial

Yes

### IBM Db2

#### Entry-Level Pricing

Plan: Db2 On Cloud - Lite 

Price: Free Trial 1 License

Description: A completely free edition of DB2 on Cloud.

Key Features:
- Enjoy high performance and elastic scaling with Db2’s fully managed database and warehouse solutions in the cloud. Try for free.

[Browse all 6 editions](https://www.g2.com/products/ibm-db2/pricing)

#### Free Trial

Yes

---
## Features Comparison By Category

### Data Warehouse

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **EXASOL** | 9.4/10 | 12 |
| **IBM Db2** | 8.2/10 | 63 |

#### Data Management

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Data Integration** | 9.8 (8 reviews) | 8.6 (52 reviews) ✓ Verified | 
| **Data Compression** | 9.3 (7 reviews) | 8.1 (48 reviews) ✓ Verified | 
| **Data Quality** | 8.3 (7 reviews) | 8.6 (49 reviews) ✓ Verified | 
| **Built-In Data Analytics** | 10.0 (5 reviews) | 8.2 (48 reviews) ✓ Verified | 
| **In-Database Machine Learning** | Not enough data | 7.5 (34 reviews) ✓ Verified | 
| **Data Lake Analytics** | Not enough data | 7.6 (34 reviews) ✓ Verified | 

#### Integration

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **AI/ ML Integration** | Not enough data | 7.8 (43 reviews) ✓ Verified | 
| **BI Tool Integration** | 9.7 (10 reviews) | 8.1 (45 reviews) ✓ Verified | 
| **Data lake Integration** | 9.0 (5 reviews) | 8.1 (42 reviews) ✓ Verified | 

#### Deployment

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **On-Premise** | 10.0 (6 reviews) | 8.4 (50 reviews) ✓ Verified | 
| **Cloud** | 9.0 (5 reviews) | 7.8 (41 reviews) ✓ Verified | 

#### Performance 

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Scalability** | 10.0 (7 reviews) | 8.6 (51 reviews) ✓ Verified | 

#### Security

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Data Governance** | 9.7 (5 reviews) | 8.7 (46 reviews) ✓ Verified | 
| **Data Security** | 8.6 (7 reviews) | 9.0 (35 reviews) ✓ Verified | 

#### Generative AI

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **AI Text Generation** | Not enough data | 8.3 (8 reviews) | 
| **AI Text Summarization** | Not enough data | 8.3 (8 reviews) | 

### Relational Databases

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **EXASOL** | N/A | N/A |
| **IBM Db2** | 8.5/10 | 370 |

#### Management 

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Data Schema** | Not enough data | 8.6 (60 reviews) | 
| **Query Language** | Not enough data | 8.4 (62 reviews) | 
| **ACID - Complaint** | Not enough data | 8.2 (52 reviews) | 
| **Data Replication** | Not enough data | 8.5 (55 reviews) | 

#### Support 

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Text Search** | Not enough data | 8.0 (57 reviews) | 
| **Data Types** | Not enough data | 8.4 (60 reviews) | 
| **Languages** | Not enough data | 7.9 (60 reviews) | 
| **Operating Systems** | Not enough data | 8.4 (61 reviews) | 

#### Security

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Database Locking** | Not enough data | 8.5 (60 reviews) | 
| **Access Control** | Not enough data | 8.8 (60 reviews) | 
| **Encryption** | Not enough data | 8.4 (58 reviews) | 
| **Authentication** | Not enough data | 8.4 (56 reviews) | 

#### Performance 

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Disaster Recovery** | Not enough data | 8.6 (62 reviews) | 
| **Data Concurrency** | Not enough data | 8.6 (58 reviews) | 
| **Workload Management** | Not enough data | 8.5 (56 reviews) | 
| **Advanced Indexing** | Not enough data | 8.4 (57 reviews) | 
| **Query Optimizer** | Not enough data | 8.4 (57 reviews) | 

#### Database Features

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Storage** | Not enough data | 8.7 (306 reviews) | 
| **Availability** | Not enough data | 8.8 (309 reviews) | 
| **Stability** | Not enough data | 8.8 (309 reviews) | 
| **Scalability** | Not enough data | 8.4 (304 reviews) | 
| **Security** | Not enough data | 8.8 (302 reviews) | 
| **Data Manipulation** | Not enough data | 8.4 (303 reviews) | 
| **Query Language** | Not enough data | 8.4 (308 reviews) | 

### Data Warehouse Automation

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **EXASOL** | N/A | N/A |
| **IBM Db2** | 8.0/10 | 11 |

#### Automation

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Workflow Automation** | Not enough data | 8.3 (9 reviews) | 
| **Multi-platform support** | Not enough data | 8.1 (9 reviews) | 
| **Data Management** | Not enough data | 8.3 (9 reviews) | 
| **Data Simplicity** | Not enough data | 8.5 (9 reviews) | 

#### Functionality

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Documentation management** | Not enough data | 7.4 (9 reviews) | 
| **Platform support** | Not enough data | 8.1 (9 reviews) | 
| **Template functionality** | Not enough data | 8.0 (9 reviews) | 

#### Administration

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Error Alerts** | Not enough data | 8.3 (8 reviews) | 
| **Service Automation** | Not enough data | 7.7 (8 reviews) | 
| **Workflow management** | Not enough data | 7.7 (8 reviews) | 

#### Agentic AI - Data Warehouse Automation

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Proactive Assistance** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 

### Database as a Service (DBaaS)

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **EXASOL** | N/A | N/A |
| **IBM Db2** | 8.7/10 | 78 |

#### Configuration

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Application Performance** | Not enough data | 8.5 (65 reviews) | 
| **Orchestration** | Not enough data | 8.1 (60 reviews) | 
| **Database Monitoring** | Not enough data | 8.5 (66 reviews) | 
| **Anomaly Detection** | Not enough data | 8.3 (61 reviews) | 
| **Network Security** | Not enough data | 8.6 (62 reviews) | 

#### Database Administration

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Provisioning** | Not enough data | 8.6 (60 reviews) | 
| **Governance** | Not enough data | 8.8 (60 reviews) | 
| **Auditing** | Not enough data | 8.8 (59 reviews) | 

#### Availability

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Scalability** | Not enough data | 8.9 (63 reviews) | 
| **Backup** | Not enough data | 9.1 (62 reviews) | 
| **Archiving** | Not enough data | 8.8 (63 reviews) | 
| **Indexing** | Not enough data | 8.9 (63 reviews) | 

#### Security

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Data Masking** | Not enough data | 8.4 (41 reviews) | 
| **Authentication And Single Sign-On** | Not enough data | 8.8 (42 reviews) | 
| **Data Anonymization** | Not enough data | 8.8 (41 reviews) | 

#### Data Management

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Data Replication** | Not enough data | 8.7 (45 reviews) | 
| **Advanced Data Analytics** | Not enough data | 8.6 (44 reviews) | 

### Big Data Analytics

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **EXASOL** | 8.8/10 | 14 |
| **IBM Db2** | N/A | N/A |

#### Data Transformation

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Real-Time Analytics** | 9.6 (8 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Data Querying** | 10.0 (7 reviews) | Not enough data | 

#### Connectivity

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Hadoop Integration** | 8.3 (6 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Spark Integration** | 7.9 (7 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Multi-Source Analysis** | 9.2 (10 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Data Lake** | 9.0 (7 reviews) | Not enough data | 

#### Operations

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Data Visualization** | 7.7 (8 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Data Workflow** | Feature Not Available | Not enough data | 
| **Governed Discovery** | Feature Not Available | Not enough data | 
| **Embedded Analytics** | 8.6 (7 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Notebooks** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 

### Big Data

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **EXASOL** | N/A | N/A |
| **IBM Db2** | N/A | N/A |

#### Building Reports

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Data Transformation** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **Data Modeling** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **WYSIWYG Report Design** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **Integration APIs** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 

#### Platform

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Mobile User Support** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **Customization ** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **User, Role, and Access Management** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **Internationalization** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **Sandbox / Test Environments** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **Performance and Reliability** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 
| **Breadth of Partner Applications** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 

### NoSQL Databases

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **EXASOL** | N/A | N/A |
| **IBM Db2** | 8.7/10 | 366 |

#### Database Features

| Feature | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Storage** | Not enough data | 8.7 (306 reviews) | 
| **Availability** | Not enough data | 8.8 (309 reviews) | 
| **Stability** | Not enough data | 8.8 (309 reviews) | 
| **Scalability** | Not enough data | 8.4 (304 reviews) | 
| **Security** | Not enough data | 8.8 (302 reviews) | 
| **Data Manipulation** | Not enough data | 8.4 (303 reviews) | 
| **Query Language** | Not enough data | 8.4 (308 reviews) | 

---
## Categories
**Shared Categories (1):** [Data Warehouse Solutions](https://www.g2.com/categories/data-warehouse)

**Unique to EXASOL (1):** [Big Data Analytics Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/big-data-analytics)

**Unique to IBM Db2 (5):** [Relational Databases](https://www.g2.com/categories/relational-databases), [Object-Oriented Databases](https://www.g2.com/categories/object-oriented-databases), [XML Databases](https://www.g2.com/categories/xml-databases), [Database as a Service (DBaaS) Providers](https://www.g2.com/categories/database-as-a-service-dbaas), [Data Warehouse Automation Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/data-warehouse-automation)


---
## Reviewer Demographics

### By Company Size

| Segment | EXASOL | IBM Db2 | 
|---|---|---|
| **Small-Business** | 26.1% | 13.6% | 
| **Mid-Market** | 34.8% | 20.4% | 
| **Enterprise** | 39.1% | 66.0% | 

### By Industry

#### EXASOL

- **Financial Services:** 13.6%
- **Retail:** 9.1%
- **Internet:** 9.1%
- **Information Technology and Services:** 9.1%
- **Hospital & Health Care:** 9.1%
- **Consumer Services:** 9.1%
- **Computer & Network Security:** 9.1%
- **Transportation/Trucking/Railroad:** 4.5%
- **Sporting Goods:** 4.5%
- **Non-Profit Organization Management:** 4.5%
- **Other:** 18.2%

#### IBM Db2

- **Information Technology and Services:** 21.6%
- **Banking:** 11.7%
- **Computer Software:** 10.1%
- **Financial Services:** 7.2%
- **Insurance:** 5.9%
- **Retail:** 4.7%
- **Hospital & Health Care:** 3.7%
- **Government Administration:** 3.5%
- **Automotive:** 2.2%
- **Transportation/Trucking/Railroad:** 1.8%
- **Other:** 27.6%

---
## Alternatives

### Alternatives to EXASOL

- [Snowflake](https://www.g2.com/products/snowflake/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (751 reviews)
- [Google Cloud BigQuery](https://www.g2.com/products/google-cloud-bigquery/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (1234 reviews)
- [Azure Databricks](https://www.g2.com/products/azure-databricks/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (235 reviews)
- [Amazon Redshift](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-redshift/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (402 reviews)
- [Teradata Vantage](https://www.g2.com/products/teradata-teradata-vantage/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (373 reviews)
- [Databricks](https://www.g2.com/products/databricks/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (773 reviews)
- [Alteryx](https://www.g2.com/products/alteryx/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (809 reviews)
- [MATLAB](https://www.g2.com/products/matlab/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (770 reviews)
- [Splunk Enterprise](https://www.g2.com/products/splunk-enterprise/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (432 reviews)
- [Kyvos Semantic Layer](https://www.g2.com/products/kyvos-semantic-layer/reviews) — 4.8/5 stars (273 reviews)

### Alternatives to IBM Db2

- [Oracle Database](https://www.g2.com/products/oracle-database/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (1010 reviews)
- [Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS)](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-relational-database-service-rds/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (907 reviews)
- [SAP HANA Cloud](https://www.g2.com/products/sap-hana-cloud-2025-10-01/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (621 reviews)
- [Teradata Vantage](https://www.g2.com/products/teradata-teradata-vantage/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (373 reviews)
- [Microsoft SQL Server](https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft-sql-server/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (2276 reviews)
- [MySQL](https://www.g2.com/products/mysql/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (1675 reviews)
- [Google Cloud BigQuery](https://www.g2.com/products/google-cloud-bigquery/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (1234 reviews)
- [Snowflake](https://www.g2.com/products/snowflake/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (751 reviews)
- [PostgreSQL](https://www.g2.com/products/postgresql/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (678 reviews)
- [Amazon Redshift](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-redshift/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (402 reviews)

---
## Top Discussions

### EXASOL

- Title: [How Exasol DB is different from Other Transactional Database.](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-exasol-db-is-different-from-other-transactional-database) — 1 comment, 1 upvote
  > **Top comment:** "Hi Mayank,

I have worked on all 3 databases (SQL server, Exasol & Databricks SQL) so I will try my best opinion to choose good database in terms of..."
- Title: [How do you use Exasol?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-do-you-use-exasol) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "We are using Exasol as a Database and we have created ETL pipeline using the Lua scripts in Exasol.
Exasol is pretty much similar than SQL server but..."
- Title: [Training](https://www.g2.com/discussions/training-198bfdc0-f5f4-4387-b41a-db3731af18b6) — 1 comment, 1 upvote *(includes official response)*
  > **Top comment:** "As part of our online-self learning platform, Exacademy, you can get more information about Exasol and how to run our database. 
Register here:..."
- Title: [Community Edition](https://www.g2.com/discussions/community-edition) — 1 comment, 1 upvote *(includes official response)*
  > **Top comment:** "It is a free-to-use, one-node image of the Exasol In-Memory Database that can be installed on common virtualization solutions, including VMware, VirtualBox..."

### IBM Db2

- Title: [Where can I find answers to other questions I may have?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/faqs-6eb88878-1fbd-4fb6-aea7-4134624eebc7) — 2 comments, 1 upvote *(includes official response)*
  > **Top comment:** "Please visit: https://developer.ibm.com/answers/questions/436870/common-questions-about-the-db2-on-cloud-free-plan/"
- Title: [What is IBM Db2 used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-ibm-db2-used-for) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "It is a name of the database which is used in IBM I system."
- Title: [What does Ibm Dashdb do?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-does-ibm-dashdb-do) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "IBM dashDB is a fully managed in-memory cloud data warehousing service for developers, database administrators, business analysts, data scientists and more."
- Title: [What is IBM doing to facilitate connections with Db2 and cloud platforms of their own?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-ibm-doing-to-facilitate-connections-with-db2-and-cloud-platforms-of-their-own) — 1 comment, 1 upvote
  > **Top comment:** "IBM is changing the SQL model internal to the DB2 platform, allowing all databases that utilize query tools like Python, SQL, etc. to utilize ALL commands..."
- Title: [Which tool do you use for deep monitoring of IBM DB2 databases (instances) ?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/which-tool-do-you-use-for-deep-monitoring-of-ibm-db2-databases-instances) — 1 comment, 1 upvote
  > **Top comment:** "Maxim, we have a dedicated management console that comes free with Db2. It was called Data Server Manager in the past, now we call it the Unified Management..."

---
**Source:** [G2.com](https://www.g2.com) | [Comparison Page](https://www.g2.com/compare/exasol-vs-ibm-db2)