Softwr

Technology · head to head

Amplitude vs InfluxDB

Amplitude logo

Amplitude

Technology

The digital analytics platform to understand your users

From
Free
Rated
-
InfluxDB logo

InfluxDB

Log Management

Purpose-built time series database for metrics and events

From
Free
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Amplitude metered on event volume, so instrumenting more of a product raises the bill even if the audience does not grow; InfluxDB high-cardinality data causes memory pressure and performance degradation
  • They diverge on capability: Amplitude covers Event tracking, InfluxDB covers Time-series Storage.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amplitude and InfluxDB actually diverge.

Attributes where Amplitude and InfluxDB differ
AttributeAmplitudeInfluxDB
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiCloud, Docker, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
CategoryTechnologyLog Management

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Unknown), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), founded (2012).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Amplitude

  • Event tracking
  • User segmentation
  • Funnel analysis
  • Retention analysis
  • Cohort analysis
  • A/B testing
  • Revenue analytics
  • Predictive analytics

Only in InfluxDB

  • Time-series Storage
  • Flux Query Language
  • High Write Throughput
  • Data Compression
  • Retention Policies
  • Continuous Queries
  • Built-in Dashboards
  • Telegraf

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Amplitude

  • User behavior analysisnot InfluxDB
  • Feature adoption trackingnot InfluxDB
  • Conversion rate optimizationnot InfluxDB
  • Customer journey mappingnot InfluxDB
  • Retention improvementnot InfluxDB

InfluxDB

  • Monitoringnot Amplitude
  • IoT datanot Amplitude
  • Financial datanot Amplitude
  • Log analyticsnot Amplitude
  • Observabilitynot Amplitude

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Amplitude

  • Metered on event volume, so instrumenting more of a product raises the bill even if the audience does not grow
  • The free plan covers 2M events a month
  • The Plus plan scales to 70M events, above which pricing is custom
  • Growth and Enterprise pricing is not published

InfluxDB

  • High-cardinality data causes memory pressure and performance degradation
  • No support for joins or transactions like relational databases
  • Queries limited to 72-hour window in InfluxDB 3 OSS Core
  • Clustering and authentication features absent from community version

Pricing, plan by plan

Amplitude

Free
  • StarterFree
    • 2 million events per month
  • Plus$49/month
    • $0.049 per MTU
    • Up to 300k MTUs
    • Advanced analytics
  • GrowthFree
    • Causal insights
    • Feature experimentation
    • Real-time streaming
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Cross-product analysis
    • Advanced permissions
    • Dedicated account manager

InfluxDB

Free
  • Cloud Serverless FreeFree
    • 5 MB writes per 5 minutes
    • 300 MB queries per 5 minutes
    • 30 day retention
  • Cloud Serverless Usage-Based$null/mo
    • 0.0025 USD per MB ingested
    • 0.012 USD per 100 queries
    • 0.002 USD per GB-hour storage

Which should you pick?

Choose Amplitude if

  • You need event tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want user segmentation.

Choose InfluxDB if

  • You need time-series storage.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, Docker, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud, Azure.
  • You also want flux query language.

Questions people ask

Is Amplitude or InfluxDB better?
Neither clearly leads. Amplitude starts at Free and InfluxDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amplitude or InfluxDB?
Amplitude starts at Free and InfluxDB at Free.
Does Amplitude or InfluxDB run on more platforms?
Amplitude runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. InfluxDB runs on Cloud, Docker, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud, Azure.
Can I use Amplitude for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Amplitude best used for?
Amplitude is most often used for user behavior analysis, feature adoption tracking, conversion rate optimization, customer journey mapping. Of those, user behavior analysis and feature adoption tracking are not what InfluxDB is typically brought in for.
What can Amplitude do that InfluxDB cannot?
Amplitude covers Event tracking, User segmentation, Funnel analysis, Retention analysis. InfluxDB covers Time-series Storage, Flux Query Language, High Write Throughput, Data Compression.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amplitude: Does Amplitude have a free plan?

Yes, Amplitude offers a free Starter plan with 2 million events per month and access to the entire platform including analytics, session replay, and experimentation features.

Source
InfluxDB: Is there a free tier and what are the limits?

InfluxDB 3 Core OSS is free forever for local development and prototyping. Cloud Serverless free tier includes 5 MB writes per 5 minutes, 300 MB queries per 5 minutes, 30 day retention, and 2 databases.

Source
Amplitude: What is Amplitude's pricing based on?

Amplitude's pricing is based on the number of monthly tracked users (MTUs), data volume, and advanced features selected. The Plus plan starts at $49 per month with a rate of $0.049 per MTU.

Source
InfluxDB: Can I self-host InfluxDB?

Yes, InfluxDB 3 Core is fully open source and can be self-hosted with no license required. InfluxDB 3 Enterprise is self-managed and includes a 30-day free trial.

Source
Amplitude: What analytics features does every Amplitude plan include?

Every plan includes access to the full platform: analytics, session replay, feature experimentation, web experimentation, guides and surveys, activation, and AI tools like AI Feedback and AI Assistant.

Source
InfluxDB: What are the series cardinality limitations?

InfluxDB is sensitive to high-cardinality data. High cardinality increases RAM usage and can trigger out-of-memory errors, making it unsuitable for some workloads with many unique tag combinations.

Source
InfluxDB: Does InfluxDB support SQL queries?

InfluxDB has limited SQL support. Full SQL is available in InfluxDB 3, but earlier versions support only specific SQL commands and use InfluxQL as the primary query language.

Source
InfluxDB: Can I export my data from InfluxDB?

Yes, data can be exported from InfluxDB using query results. However, the process and supported formats depend on the version and deployment type you are using.

Source

Related pages

Other head to heads