---
id: firebird-driver
version: "2.0.3"
license: MIT License Copyright (c) 2020 The Firebird Project (www.firebirdsql.org) Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation… (full text in the JSON record)
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# firebird-driver — Firebird driver for Python

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 197.2K/mo

## What it is and what it does

firebird-driver is the official Python driver for Firebird, an open-source relational database. It implements the Python Database API 2.0 standard, meaning you can use it with any code expecting a standard DB API driver—but it also exposes Firebird 3's newer interface-based client API and additional extensions for more direct control when needed. The driver depends on firebird-base and python-dateutil for its core functionality.

You would use this package when you need to connect Python applications to a Firebird database server. It handles connection management, query execution, result fetching, and transaction control. The driver is maintained by the Firebird Project itself and supports modern Python versions (3.11, 3.12, 3.13) across Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Use it for:

- Connect a Python web application or service to an existing Firebird database for queries and updates.
- Migrate legacy Firebird applications from older languages to Python while preserving database compatibility.
- Build data analysis or reporting tools that pull from Firebird databases using standard DB API patterns.
- Develop Python scripts that leverage Firebird 3's advanced client API features for performance-critical operations.
- Test Firebird database schemas and stored procedures from Python test suites.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

A Python Database API 2.0-compliant driver for Firebird 3+ that provides both standard DB API access and Firebird's interface-based client API with additional extensions.

Yes. This is the official Firebird driver for Python, actively maintained, production-stable, and carries no known vulnerabilities. Install friction is low, licensing is permissive, and it supports current Python versions. Install it if you need to connect Python to Firebird 3+; it's the standard choice for that task.

## Install

pip install firebird-driver
uv add firebird-driver
poetry add firebird-driver

## Installing firebird-driver

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure-wheel distribution. Actively maintained as of 116 days ago with production-stable status. Requires Firebird 3+ server and Python 3.11 or later.

License in practice: MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and redistribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for proprietary and open-source projects alike.

Quickstart:

pip install firebird-driver

import firebird.driver
conn = firebird.driver.connect(
    host='localhost',
    database='/path/to/database.fdb',
    user='sysdba',
    password='password'
)
cursor = conn.cursor()
cursor.execute('SELECT * FROM table')
results = cursor.fetchall()

Requires Firebird 3+ server installed and accessible; Python 3.11 or later.

Verify before relying:

- Whether firebird-base and python-dateutil are bundled or require separate installation steps.
- Performance characteristics and connection pooling capabilities compared to other Firebird drivers.
- Extent of Firebird 3 interface-based API coverage and which extensions are most commonly used.

## Package facts

- License: MIT License Copyright (c) 2020 The Firebird Project (www.firebirdsql.org) Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation… (full text in the JSON record) (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 197.2K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

firebird database driver, python firebird connection, db api firebird, firebird rdbms client, firebird sql python, firebird 3 driver, open source database driver, firebird, rdbms-driver, db-api

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