Software · head to head
InfluxDB vs QuestDB
InfluxDB
Software
Purpose-built time series database for metrics and events
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
QuestDB
Software
Fast open source time-series database for high throughput ingestion
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: InfluxDB high-cardinality data causes memory pressure and performance degradation; QuestDB open-source edition lacks high-availability, distributed architecture, and enterprise security features
- They diverge on capability: InfluxDB covers Time-series Storage, QuestDB covers High Throughput Ingestion.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which InfluxDB and QuestDB actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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 InfluxDB
- Time-series Storage
- Flux Query Language
- High Write Throughput
- Data Compression
- Retention Policies
- Continuous Queries
- Built-in Dashboards
- Kapacitor
Only in QuestDB
- High Throughput Ingestion
- SQL Support
- Time-series Optimization
- SIMD Vectorization
- Column-oriented Storage
- Built-in Web Console
- InfluxDB Line Protocol
- PostgreSQL
Both cover
- Telegraf
- Grafana
- Linux support
- Windows support
- Mac support
- Docker support
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
InfluxDB
- Monitoringnot QuestDB
- IoT datanot QuestDB
- Financial datanot QuestDB
- Log analyticsnot QuestDB
- Observabilitynot QuestDB
QuestDB
- Time-series analytics ingesting up to 20M rows/second from IoT sensors or financial data feedsnot InfluxDB
- Real-time dashboarding with 32ms time-to-first-row latency for minute-level analyticsnot InfluxDB
- Applications requiring multi-tier storage (hot ingest, real-time SQL, cold Parquet archive)not InfluxDB
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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
QuestDB
- Open-source edition lacks high-availability, distributed architecture, and enterprise security features
- Enterprise edition pricing not published; requires contacting sales for custom quote
- Ingestion limit of 20M rows/sec platform-dependent; may not scale to extreme throughput requirements
Pricing, plan by plan
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
QuestDB
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the QuestDB review.
Which should you pick?
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.
Choose QuestDB if
- You need high throughput ingestion.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP).
- You also want sql support.
Questions people ask
- Is InfluxDB or QuestDB better?
- Neither clearly leads. InfluxDB starts at Free and QuestDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, InfluxDB or QuestDB?
- InfluxDB starts at Free and QuestDB at Free.
- Does InfluxDB or QuestDB run on more platforms?
- InfluxDB runs on Cloud, Docker, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud, Azure. QuestDB runs on Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP).
- Can I use InfluxDB for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is InfluxDB best used for?
- InfluxDB is most often used for monitoring, iot data, financial data, log analytics. Of those, monitoring and iot data are not what QuestDB is typically brought in for.
- What can InfluxDB do that QuestDB cannot?
- InfluxDB covers Time-series Storage, Flux Query Language, High Write Throughput, Data Compression. QuestDB covers High Throughput Ingestion, SQL Support, Time-series Optimization, SIMD Vectorization. Both handle Telegraf, Grafana, Linux support, Windows support.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
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.
SourceInfluxDB: 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.
SourceInfluxDB: 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.
SourceInfluxDB: 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.
SourceInfluxDB: 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