Which InterBase Edition is right for me?
With InterBase powering enterprise, stand-alone, and deeply embedded IoT and mobile solutions, there are four full-featured editions to choose from to develop the right mix to enhance your software architecture.
Here, we offer guidance in determining which InterBase edition is best to help you build your solution. With InterBase, it doesn’t matter if you are unsure at first since it’s easy to move between editions. Often, the best choice is a combination of one or more editions. As you consider your options, you may need help or expert advice along the way. Please don’t hesitate to contact our customer success team.
The table below is a side-by-side comparison of the four distributable versions of InterBase and the Developer Edition.
| Features | Developer Edition |
Embedded IBLite |
Embedded IBToGo |
Desktop Edition |
Server Edition |
| Available for deployment | |||||
| Zero-install, embedded database as a library, just link to access database | |||||
| Concurrent applications/client access to the database | |||||
| New in InterBase 2020! Tablespace support | |||||
| New in InterBase 2020! Embedded InterBase available for Android 64-bit and macOS 64-bit | |||||
| Remote secure over the wire communication via SSL | |||||
| Database and column level encryption – AES (strong) and DES (weak) | DES | AES + DES | AES + DES | AES + DES | |
| Encryption of the database backup file | |||||
| Journaling with Write Ahead Logging (WAL) for better VLDB management and OLTP performance | |||||
| Journal Archiving for disaster recovery | |||||
| Point-in-time-recovery of data, with database restoration based on timestamp for greater recovery flexibility between physical backups | |||||
| SQL based connection monitoring support | |||||
| Maximum Simultaneous Users Available | 20 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Depends on License |
| Maximum number of CPU Cores | 8 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 32 |
| Maximum number of connections per user | 4 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 4 |
| Simultaneous transactions per connection | Unlimited | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Supported platforms for server/embedded editions | Windows, Linux | Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android | Window, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android 1 | Windows | Windows, Linux |
| Supported client platforms for server editions | Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, macOS | Windows, Linux, iOS, macOS, Android | |||
| Native Connectivity from RAD Studio | |||||
| 1st class connectivity for ODBC, JDBC, PHP2, Ruby2 | |||||
| 1st class connectivity for ADO.NET, PYTHON | |||||
| Command line tools for development, administration and validation | |||||
| GUI tool, IBConsole on Windows | |||||
| Free Download | Free Download | Buy Now | Buy Now | Contact sales |
1 IBToGo mobile deployment requires a VAR agreement
2 Drivers not included as part of the product
InterBase Server and InterBase Desktop
If you have multiple users and devices that need to connect to the same data, then InterBase Server is the best choice for the core of your architecture. InterBase Server runs on both Windows and Linux, giving you the flexibility of connecting many different types of devices to the same database.
Many software vendors choose InterBase because it easily scales up to hundreds of concurrent connections. Since it runs equally well on a low-end laptop as it does on a commercial-grade server, it’s a highly flexible solution to accommodate your varying customer demands and mix of resources.
InterBase Desktop has the same core as InterBase Server, except that the license permits only local database connections. As your demand grows, you can easily upgrade InterBase Desktop to a network-ready solution with InterBase Server.
InterBase ToGo and IBLite
InterBase ToGo is an option for those looking to add data storage to their applications - locally or by connecting to a remote InterBase Server.
InterBase ToGo is an excellent choice for iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS applications that need to move data storage offline to:
- enable offline capabilities for enterprise solutions
- reduce network traffic
- lower data movement costs
With InterBase ToGo, you can also benefit from:
- Running stand-alone, encrypted data storage
- Removing the need to install client drivers
InterBase ToGo and IBLite both contain the same libraries for the InterBase deeply embeddable database engine. So when you’re ready, it’s incredibly easy to upgrade from IBLite to InterBase ToGo by simply replacing the license file!
InterBase Deployment – Installed / Embedded / Deeply Embedded?
Installing InterBase takes only a few minutes. Both InterBase Server and Desktop are installable through a stand-alone installer. Or you can silently embed either version into your own installer.
InterBase ToGo and IBLite do not require an installer since the InterBase kernel is deeply embedded inside your application during development - simply by linking to the InterBase libraries.
Case Studies by Edition Mix
Still unsure about which InterBase edition is best for you? If so, read these selected customer stories or visit our Case Studies page to learn how others are benefiting from InterBase.
InterBase Server
More than 5,000 Bsoft customers use AJUR to provide financial reports to tax authorities and various other stakeholders. They also use AJUR to closely manage their supply chains.
Their customers include major enterprises such as Overgas Holding, Sinergon Holding, Armeets, Cargill, PwC and the Bulgarian Military.
Read more »We evaluated many database technologies, and InterBase had the right mix of ease of use, speed, high performance, security, and scalability for our needs.
Valentin Bonev Managing Partner, Project Manager and CIO
InterBase ToGo / IBLite
Spinali Design developed the connected bikini. They have embedded InterBase into their supporting mobile application to collect and safely store the data from the Bluetooth-connected towels, keeping their customers safe in the sun.
InterBase Server and InterBase ToGo
Management Plus delivers leading medical software with a mix of InterBase Server and InterBase ToGo, powering their mobile applications for opticians.
Read more »Delphi and InterBase have done a great job in helping us develop products that are affordable, stable, and easy to maintain. Every release gets faster and faster. It’s so feature rich, we can create the extensive database functions we need. Delphi and InterBase have allowed us to do pretty much everything we want with a small team.
Bryan Thorell CIO