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Databases · head to head

QuestDB vs Timeplus

QuestDB logo

QuestDB

Databases

Fast open source time-series database for high throughput ingestion

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Timeplus logo

Timeplus

Databases

Streaming SQL engine built on ClickHouse internals, shipping as one small binary

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: QuestDB open-source edition lacks high-availability, distributed architecture, and enterprise security features; Timeplus proton, the free version, is single-node by design, so any requirement for high availability or horizontal scale forces the commercial licence; the open source edition is a trial in practical terms.
  • They diverge on capability: QuestDB covers High Throughput Ingestion, Timeplus covers Streaming SQL.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which QuestDB and Timeplus actually diverge.

Attributes where QuestDB and Timeplus differ
AttributeQuestDBTimeplus
Pricing modelopen-sourcePer month for cloud, quoted for self-hosted
PlatformsDocker, Kubernetes, Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP)Linux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes, Web
Founded2014Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Databases).

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 QuestDB

  • High Throughput Ingestion
  • SQL Support
  • Time-series Optimization
  • SIMD Vectorization
  • Column-oriented Storage
  • Built-in Web Console
  • InfluxDB Line Protocol
  • PostgreSQL

Only in Timeplus

  • Streaming SQL
  • Unified streaming and historical
  • ClickHouse-based engine
  • Single binary deployment
  • External streams
  • Materialised views

What people use each for

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

QuestDB

  • Time-series analytics ingesting up to 20M rows/second from IoT sensors or financial data feedsnot Timeplus
  • Real-time dashboarding with 32ms time-to-first-row latency for minute-level analyticsnot Timeplus
  • Applications requiring multi-tier storage (hot ingest, real-time SQL, cold Parquet archive)not Timeplus

Timeplus

  • Real-time alerting on Kafka topics where standing up a Flink cluster is more work than the use case justifiesnot QuestDB
  • Fraud or anomaly detection that must join a live event stream against recent history in one querynot QuestDB
  • Streaming ETL from Kafka or MySQL change data capture into ClickHouse without writing Javanot QuestDB
  • A small data team that needs continuous aggregation but has no platform engineers to operate JVM infrastructurenot QuestDB

Where each one falls short

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

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

Timeplus

  • Proton, the free version, is single-node by design, so any requirement for high availability or horizontal scale forces the commercial licence; the open source edition is a trial in practical terms.
  • It is a young project against Apache Flink’s decade of production history, so the hiring pool, the connector library and the body of known failure modes are all much smaller.
  • Inheriting ClickHouse internals also inherits ClickHouse constraints: memory-hungry queries, awkward updates and a SQL dialect that is not portable to other engines.
  • Exactly-once semantics and state recovery guarantees are less battle-tested than Flink checkpointing, which matters if the pipeline moves money.
  • Cloud pricing is by provisioned instance size rather than usage, so a bursty workload pays for peak capacity around the clock or has to be resized by hand.

Pricing, plan by plan

QuestDB

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the QuestDB review.

Timeplus

Free
  • Timeplus ProtonFree
    • Apache 2.0 licence
    • Single node only
    • Full streaming SQL engine
  • Timeplus Cloud$199/month
    • One to thirty-two CPUs
    • 4 GB to 128 GB memory
    • From 250 GB SSD storage
  • Self-hosted or BYOC$undefined/year
    • Multi-node clustering
    • Kubernetes or bare metal
    • Customisable compute and storage

Which should you pick?

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.
QuestDB review

Choose Timeplus if

  • You need streaming sql.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes, Web.
  • You also want unified streaming and historical.
Timeplus review

Questions people ask

Is QuestDB or Timeplus better?
Neither clearly leads. QuestDB starts at Free and Timeplus at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, QuestDB or Timeplus?
QuestDB starts at Free and Timeplus at Free.
Does QuestDB or Timeplus run on more platforms?
QuestDB runs on Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP). Timeplus runs on Linux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes, Web.
Can I use QuestDB for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is QuestDB best used for?
QuestDB is most often used for time-series analytics ingesting up to 20m rows/second from iot sensors or financial data feeds, real-time dashboarding with 32ms time-to-first-row latency for minute-level analytics, applications requiring multi-tier storage (hot ingest, real-time sql, cold parquet archive). Of those, time-series analytics ingesting up to 20m rows/second from iot sensors or financial data feeds and real-time dashboarding with 32ms time-to-first-row latency for minute-level analytics are not what Timeplus is typically brought in for.
What can QuestDB do that Timeplus cannot?
QuestDB covers High Throughput Ingestion, SQL Support, Time-series Optimization, SIMD Vectorization. Timeplus covers Streaming SQL, Unified streaming and historical, ClickHouse-based engine, Single binary deployment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

QuestDB: How much does QuestDB Enterprise cost?

QuestDB does not publish specific pricing for the Enterprise tier. Customers must contact QuestDB via their enterprise contact form to receive a custom quote.

Source
Timeplus: Is Timeplus open source?

The core engine, Timeplus Proton, is Apache 2.0. Timeplus Enterprise and Cloud are commercial.

QuestDB: Does QuestDB offer a free version?

Yes, QuestDB Open Source is completely free and recommended for evaluation, prototyping, and pilot projects. Enterprise features, high availability, security, and dedicated support require the paid Enterprise tier.

Source
Timeplus: What is the difference from Flink?

Timeplus is one binary with SQL as the only interface; Flink is a JVM cluster with a Java and SQL API and far more operational surface.

QuestDB: What deployment options does QuestDB offer?

QuestDB offers open source deployment, Enterprise deployment, and Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC) deployment. Pricing details for BYOC and Enterprise tiers are not published and require direct contact with sales.

Source
Timeplus: Can Proton run in production?

It can, but it is single-node only, so there is no high availability without the commercial edition.

Timeplus: How much is the cloud?

From 199 US dollars a month, sized by CPU and memory, with a fourteen day trial.

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