vs

BASIS vs Progress OpenEdge

BASIS: Keyed-file ISAM database plus SQL engine bundled with BASIS International's BBj Business BASIC platform. Progress OpenEdge: Integrated RDBMS plus ABL 4GL application platform behind thousands of ERP and vertical business apps.

key differences

  • Progress OpenEdge is built for larger datasets (≤ 10 TB) than BASIS (≤ 100 GB).
  • Only Progress OpenEdge has change data capture, triggers, stored procedures, encryption at rest, role-based access.

choose basis for

  • +Back end for BBj/Business BASIC ERP and vertical business applications
  • +Exposing legacy keyed-file data to BI tools via ODBC/JDBC
  • +Modernising older BBx applications without a data migration

best at · OLTP

choose progress-openedge for

  • +Running ERP, distribution and manufacturing packages built on OpenEdge
  • +Modernising ABL apps behind REST APIs with PASOE
  • +ISV vertical applications sold to SMBs

best at · OLTP

overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
Key-Value
–
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
BASIS International Ltd.
Progress Software
First release
1985
1984
Latest version
BBj 26.02 (2026)
13.0 (Feb 10, 2026)
License
ProprietaryProprietary (BASIS licence)
ProprietaryProprietary commercial license
Free tier
—
—
popularity
WhichDB Score
0.0
20.4
Rank
#693
#157
GitHub stars
–
–
Stack Overflow questions
–
1.5K
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Small (≤ 100 GB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
None
None
Multi-region
None
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Client server, Single node
Client server, Primary replica
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
—
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
–
–
capabilities
Transactions
✓
✓
Joins
✓
✓
Secondary indexes
✓
✓
Full-text search
✓
✓
Vector search
—
—
Geospatial
—
—
JSON
—
—
Change data capture
—
✓
Triggers
—
✓
Stored procedures
—
✓
Materialized views
—
—
TTL / expiry
—
—
Pub/Sub
—
—
Columnar storage
—
—
In-memory
—
—
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
—
—
Encryption at rest
—
✓
Role-based access
—
✓
Time travel
—
—
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
—
✓
Streaming ingest
—
—
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
SQL, BBj / Business BASIC file verbs
ABL (Advanced Business Language), SQL-92
Client languages
BBj, Java, ODBC clients
ABL, Java, C#, C
Best for
OLTP
OLTP

BASIS vs Progress OpenEdge: FAQ

What is the difference between BASIS and Progress OpenEdge?

BASIS: Keyed-file ISAM database plus SQL engine bundled with BASIS International's BBj Business BASIC platform. Progress OpenEdge: Integrated RDBMS plus ABL 4GL application platform behind thousands of ERP and vertical business apps. Progress OpenEdge is built for larger datasets (≤ 10 TB) than BASIS (≤ 100 GB). Only Progress OpenEdge has change data capture, triggers, stored procedures, encryption at rest, role-based access.

When should I choose BASIS over Progress OpenEdge?

Choose BASIS for back end for BBj/Business BASIC ERP and vertical business applications; exposing legacy keyed-file data to BI tools via ODBC/JDBC; and modernising older BBx applications without a data migration. Choose Progress OpenEdge for running ERP, distribution and manufacturing packages built on OpenEdge; modernising ABL apps behind REST APIs with PASOE; and ISV vertical applications sold to SMBs.

Is BASIS or Progress OpenEdge more popular?

Progress OpenEdge ranks #157 on the WhichDB Score (20.4/100) and BASIS ranks #693 (0.0/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are BASIS and Progress OpenEdge open source?

No. BASIS is proprietary, closed-source software. No. Progress OpenEdge is proprietary, closed-source software.