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Cockroach Labs: The cloud-native distributed SQL database
QuestDB
Fast open source time-series database for high throughput ingestion
As of 30 August 2026, QuestDB is free to use. QuestDB is an open source time-series database for high throughput ingestion and fast SQL queries. Softwr lists it under Databases. QuestDB is made by QuestDB Ltd., launched in 2014, available on Self-hosted, Web.
Overview
What QuestDB does
QuestDB is an open source time-series database for high throughput ingestion and fast SQL queries. It is designed from the ground up for performance, with a column-oriented storage model, SIMD vectorized execution, and a massively parallel architecture. QuestDB supports PostgreSQL wire protocol.
What people use it 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)
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about 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
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of QuestDB
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- QuestDBvsPostgreSQL
PostgreSQL: The world's most advanced open source relational database
- QuestDBvsAirtable
Airtable: Create apps that perfectly fit your team's needs
- QuestDBvsAmazon Aurora
Amazon Aurora: MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database built for the cloud
Capabilities
Features
High Throughput Ingestion
SQL Support
Time-series Optimization
SIMD Vectorization
Column-oriented Storage
Built-in Web Console
InfluxDB Line Protocol
PostgreSQL
Integration with PostgreSQL
Grafana
Integration with Grafana
Telegraf
Integration with Telegraf
Kafka
Integration with Kafka
Pandas
Integration with Pandas
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
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.
SourceDoes 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.
SourceWhat 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.
SourceBehind it
Who makes QuestDB
- Company
- QuestDB Ltd.
- Based in
- London, United Kingdom
Keep looking
Where to go from QuestDB
- QuestDB alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- QuestDB pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- QuestDB badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Databases softwareThe full category
- Best Databases softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Databases software for
Compare QuestDB with
- TimescaleDB
- PostgreSQL
- Cockroach Labs
- Amazon Aurora
- Airtable
- Firebolt
- Apache Flink
- DuckDB
- OpenSearch
- ClickHouse
- NATS
- Canary Labs
- Chroma
- Cloudinary
- Convex
- Dgraph
- Dragonfly
- Apache Druid
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for QuestDB, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on QuestDB
QuestDB alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
QuestDB pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare QuestDB
Put it head to head with anything we hold
QuestDB badge
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