Comparison

M3DB vs TimescaleDB

On the evidence we track, TimescaleDB leads this comparison with a composite score of 57/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

M3DB full profile →TimescaleDB full profile →

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.

M3DB51

★TimescaleDB57

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	M3DB	TimescaleDBLeader
vioscaleAI score	51 / 100medium · 51%	57 / 100medium · 62%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	open_source	freemium
Price levelpricing.price_level	free	mid
Starting pricepricing.starting_price	-	$30
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	✓
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	4	3
Security
Certificationssecurity.certifications	-	SOC 2 Type II
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	-	✓
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	-	✓
Hipaasecurity.hipaa	-	✓
Pcisecurity.pci	-	✓
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	3.4	4.6
Soc2security.soc2	-	✓
Trust centersecurity.trust_center	-	https://www.tigerdata.com/security
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fm3db%2Fm3&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=alpine&package_name=postgresql-timescaledb&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0
Reliability
Status pagereliability.status_page	-	✓
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	10	0
Github starsadoption.github_stars	4,905	23,634
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	50	100
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	12	12
Historyrelease.history	20 items	20 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	Apache-2.0	-
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	Go	C
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide	Available worldwide · Popular in US
Content
Faqcontent.faq	6 items	7 items

Score

vioscaleAI score

M3DB51 / 100medium · 51%

TimescaleDB57 / 100medium · 62%

Pricing

Free tier

M3DB✓

TimescaleDB✓

Model

M3DBopen_source

TimescaleDBfreemium

Price level

M3DBfree

TimescaleDBmid

Starting price

M3DB–

TimescaleDB$30

Transparent

M3DB✓

TimescaleDB✓

Integrations

Count

M3DB4

TimescaleDB3

Security

Certifications

M3DB–

TimescaleDBSOC 2 Type II

Disclosure policy

M3DB–

TimescaleDB✓

Gdpr

M3DB–

TimescaleDB✓

Hipaa

M3DB–

TimescaleDB✓

Pci

M3DB–

TimescaleDB✓

Scorecard

M3DB3.4

TimescaleDB4.6

Soc2

M3DB–

TimescaleDB✓

Trust center

M3DB–

TimescaleDBhttps://www.tigerdata.com/security

Vulnerabilities

M3DBCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fm3db%2Fm3&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

TimescaleDBCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=alpine&package_name=postgresql-timescaledb&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Reliability

Status page

M3DB–

TimescaleDB✓

Adoption

Dependent repos

M3DB10

TimescaleDB0

Github stars

M3DB4,905

TimescaleDB23,634

Activity

Commits last 30d

M3DB50

TimescaleDB100

Release

Cadence days

M3DB12

TimescaleDB12

History

M3DB20 items

TimescaleDB20 items

License

Spdx

M3DBApache-2.0

TimescaleDB–

Language

Primary

M3DBGo

TimescaleDBC

Market

Availability

M3DBAvailable worldwide

TimescaleDBAvailable worldwide · Popular in US

Content

Faq

M3DB6 items

TimescaleDB7 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for time-series databases. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for Time-Series Databases
Capability	M3DB	TimescaleDB
Query
Query language (SQL / PromQL / InfluxQL-Flux / Graphite)	PromQL, Graphite	SQL
SQL compatibility	Non-SQL	Full SQL
Ingest
Ingest model	Push	Both
Model
Data model	Metrics (labels/tags)	Metrics (labels/tags)
Lifecycle
Downsampling / rollups	Retention policies	Continuous aggregates
Retention / TTL	Automatic	Automatic
Storage
Compression (columnar / delta / Gorilla)	columnar	Row-columnar with compression
Performance
High-cardinality handling	Strong	Strong
Scale
Clustering / horizontal scale	Distributed / sharded	Distributed / sharded
Replication / HA	✓	✓
Deployment
Deployment	Self-hosted	Embedded
Interop
Prometheus remote-write compatible	✓	-
Licensing
Licence class	Permissive OSS	Permissive OSS

Query

Query language (SQL / PromQL / InfluxQL-Flux / Graphite)

M3DBPromQL, Graphite

TimescaleDBSQL

SQL compatibility

M3DBNon-SQL

TimescaleDBFull SQL

Ingest

Ingest model

M3DBPush

TimescaleDBBoth

Model

Data model

M3DBMetrics (labels/tags)

TimescaleDBMetrics (labels/tags)

Lifecycle

Downsampling / rollups

M3DBRetention policies

TimescaleDBContinuous aggregates

Retention / TTL

M3DBAutomatic

TimescaleDBAutomatic

Storage

Compression (columnar / delta / Gorilla)

M3DBcolumnar

TimescaleDBRow-columnar with compression

Performance

High-cardinality handling

M3DBStrong

TimescaleDBStrong

Scale

Clustering / horizontal scale

M3DBDistributed / sharded

TimescaleDBDistributed / sharded

Replication / HA

M3DB✓

TimescaleDB✓

Deployment

M3DBSelf-hosted

TimescaleDBEmbedded

Interop

Prometheus remote-write compatible

M3DB✓

TimescaleDB-

Licensing

Licence class

M3DBPermissive OSS

TimescaleDBPermissive OSS

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

M3DB

M3 is a distributed time series database built for storing and querying high-volume metrics with multiple query languages. It can be deployed as a single node or multi-node cluster using Docker, Kubernetes, or binaries.

Independently observed

TimescaleDB

Leader

A PostgreSQL-based time-series database optimized to efficiently ingest and store massive volumes of continuously-generated sensor and machine data, with automatic data partitioning, columnar storage compression, and tiered storage for cost-effective long-term retention.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

M3DB

Open sourceFree tier

as of 2026-08-14verify ↗

TimescaleDB

Leader

from $30/moUsage-basedFree tier30-day trial

From $30/month minimum compute. Storage from $0.177–$0.212/GB-month. 30-day free trial.

Performance$30/month minimum compute; $0.177/GB-month storage
- 4 database services
- Up to 16 TB disk storage per service
- Single-node high-availability replicas
- Performance Insights
- Basic support (business hours)
Scale$36/month minimum compute; $0.212/GB-month storage
- Unlimited tiered storage
- Multi-node high-availability replicas
- Integrations with observability tools
- SAML single-sign-on
- HIPAA compliance

as of 2026-10-02verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	M3DB	TimescaleDB
WebPlatforms	✗	✓
macOSPlatforms	✓	✗
WindowsPlatforms	✓	✗
LinuxPlatforms	✓	✗
CLIPlatforms	✓	✓
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✗	✓
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✓

Platforms

Web

M3DB✗

TimescaleDB✓

macOS

M3DB✓

TimescaleDB✗

Windows

M3DB✓

TimescaleDB✗

Linux

M3DB✓

TimescaleDB✗

CLI

M3DB✓

TimescaleDB✓

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

M3DB✗

TimescaleDB✓

Self-hosted

M3DB✓

TimescaleDB✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

M3DB

6 total

Prometheus
Graphite
Kubernetes
Docker
InfluxDB
etcd

Independently observed

TimescaleDB

Leader

9 total

Kafka
S3
Iceberg
AWS
Azure
Observability tools
Postgres ecosystem
Tableau
Power BI

Independently observed

Still deciding?

M3DB 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.