Grafana vs TimescaleDB
On the evidence we track, Grafana leads this comparison with a composite score of 64/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.
Features
The capabilities each product documents. These tools do not share a category taxonomy, so this aligns what each vendor states rather than a normalised feature set.
| Feature | Grafana | TimescaleDB |
|---|---|---|
| Alerting | ✓ | - |
| Apm | ✓ | - |
| Clustering | - | distributed |
| Compression | - | Row-columnar with compression |
| Dashboards | ✓ | - |
| Data model | - | metrics |
| Deployment | - | embedded |
| Downsampling | - | continuous_aggregates |
| Hosting | both | - |
| Ingest model | - | both |
| Licence class | - | permissive_oss |
| Logs | ✓ | - |
| Metrics | ✓ | - |
| On call | ✓ | - |
| Otel native | ✓ | - |
| Query language | - | SQL |
| Replication ha | - | ✓ |
| Rum | ✓ | - |
| Sql compatibility | - | full_sql |
| Tracing | ✓ | - |
What each one is
The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.
Grafana
LeaderA cloud-based observability platform that unifies metrics, logs, traces, and dashboards for monitoring applications, infrastructure, and AI systems. Built on open standards like OpenTelemetry, it includes cost optimization tools, alerting, and incident response features.
TimescaleDB
Built on PostgreSQL, this time-series database is optimized for ingesting high-volume sensor and operational data quickly, storing years of historical data cost-effectively, and querying both current and historical data together using standard SQL.
Pricing
List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.
Grafana
LeaderFree forever tier always available. Pro plans from $19/month + usage with volume discounts. Enterprise from $25,000/year with custom terms.
- FreeFree
- All Grafana Cloud services with limited usage
- Community support
- 14 days retention for metrics, logs, traces, profiles, and k6 performance tests
- ProFrom $19/month + usage with automatic volume discounts
- Everything in Free plan
- Pay as you go above free tier with volume discounts
- 8×5 email support
- 13 months retention for metrics; 30 days retention for logs, traces, profiles, k6 performance tests
- Adaptive Logs and Metrics cost optimization
- EnterpriseContact sales
- Premium support
- Custom retention policies
- Deployment flexibility (Public Cloud, Federal Cloud, or Bring Your Own Cloud)
- As low as $3 per 1k series for metrics at scale
- Custom pricing based on annual commit and volume
TimescaleDB
Open source core; Cloud managed and Enterprise self-hosted options available; contact sales for pricing details
- Cloud Basic SupportFree
- Email support
- General questions
- Best practices guidance
- Cloud Production SupportContact sales
- 24x7 support for Severity 1-2
- 1h response for critical issues
- Support portal access
- On-call assistance
Platform & deployment
Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.
Integrations
What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.
- AWS
Grafana
Leader- Prometheus
- Loki
- Elasticsearch
- InfluxDB
- Postgres
- Kubernetes
- Tempo
- OpenTelemetry
TimescaleDB
- Kafka
- S3
- Iceberg
- Azure
- Observability tools
- Postgres ecosystem
- Tableau
- Power BI
Grafana or TimescaleDB: which one depends on you
A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.
Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works
Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.