Comparison

QuestDB 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.

QuestDB full profile →TimescaleDB full profile →

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

QuestDB50

★TimescaleDB57

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	QuestDB	TimescaleDBLeader
vioscaleAI score	50 / 100medium · 70%	57 / 100medium · 62%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	freemium	freemium
Price levelpricing.price_level	low	mid
Starting pricepricing.starting_price	-	$30
Transparentpricing.transparent	✗	✓
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	7	3
Security
Certificationssecurity.certifications	-	SOC 2 Type II
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	-	✓
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	✓	✓
Hipaasecurity.hipaa	-	✓
Pcisecurity.pci	-	✓
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	4.4	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=maven&package_name=org.questdb%3Aquestdb&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
Sla pctreliability.sla_pct	99.9	-
Status pagereliability.status_page	-	✓
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	106	0
Github starsadoption.github_stars	17,444	23,634
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	38	100
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	16	12
Historyrelease.history	20 items	20 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	Apache-2.0	-
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	Java	C
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide · Popular in GB, US · HQ GB	Available worldwide · Popular in US
Content
Faqcontent.faq	8 items	7 items

Score

vioscaleAI score

QuestDB50 / 100medium · 70%

TimescaleDB57 / 100medium · 62%

Pricing

Free tier

QuestDB✓

TimescaleDB✓

Model

QuestDBfreemium

TimescaleDBfreemium

Price level

QuestDBlow

TimescaleDBmid

Starting price

QuestDB–

TimescaleDB$30

Transparent

QuestDB✗

TimescaleDB✓

Integrations

Count

QuestDB7

TimescaleDB3

Security

Certifications

QuestDB–

TimescaleDBSOC 2 Type II

Disclosure policy

QuestDB–

TimescaleDB✓

Gdpr

QuestDB✓

TimescaleDB✓

Hipaa

QuestDB–

TimescaleDB✓

Pci

QuestDB–

TimescaleDB✓

Scorecard

QuestDB4.4

TimescaleDB4.6

Soc2

QuestDB✓

TimescaleDB✓

Trust center

QuestDB–

TimescaleDBhttps://www.tigerdata.com/security

Vulnerabilities

QuestDBCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=org.questdb%3Aquestdb&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

Sla pct

QuestDB99.9

TimescaleDB–

Status page

QuestDB–

TimescaleDB✓

Adoption

Dependent repos

QuestDB106

TimescaleDB0

Github stars

QuestDB17,444

TimescaleDB23,634

Activity

Commits last 30d

QuestDB38

TimescaleDB100

Release

Cadence days

QuestDB16

TimescaleDB12

History

QuestDB20 items

TimescaleDB20 items

License

Spdx

QuestDBApache-2.0

TimescaleDB–

Language

Primary

QuestDBJava

TimescaleDBC

Market

Availability

QuestDBAvailable worldwide · Popular in GB, US · HQ GB

TimescaleDBAvailable worldwide · Popular in US

Content

Faq

QuestDB8 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	QuestDB	TimescaleDB
Query
Query language (SQL / PromQL / InfluxQL-Flux / Graphite)	SQL with time-series extensions (SAMPLE BY, ASOF, HORIZON JOIN, N-dimensional ar	SQL
SQL compatibility	Full SQL	Full SQL
Ingest
Ingest model	Push	Both
Model
Data model	Wide events	Metrics (labels/tags)
Lifecycle
Downsampling / rollups	Continuous aggregates	Continuous aggregates
Retention / TTL	Automatic	Automatic
Storage
Compression (columnar / delta / Gorilla)	columnar with frame compression	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)

QuestDBSQL with time-series extensions (SAMPLE BY, ASOF, HORIZON JOIN, N-dimensional ar

TimescaleDBSQL

SQL compatibility

QuestDBFull SQL

TimescaleDBFull SQL

Ingest

Ingest model

QuestDBPush

TimescaleDBBoth

Model

Data model

QuestDBWide events

TimescaleDBMetrics (labels/tags)

Lifecycle

Downsampling / rollups

QuestDBContinuous aggregates

TimescaleDBContinuous aggregates

Retention / TTL

QuestDBAutomatic

TimescaleDBAutomatic

Storage

Compression (columnar / delta / Gorilla)

QuestDBcolumnar with frame compression

TimescaleDBRow-columnar with compression

Performance

High-cardinality handling

QuestDBStrong

TimescaleDBStrong

Scale

Clustering / horizontal scale

QuestDBDistributed / sharded

TimescaleDBDistributed / sharded

Replication / HA

QuestDB✓

TimescaleDB✓

Deployment

QuestDBSelf-hosted

TimescaleDBEmbedded

Interop

Prometheus remote-write compatible

QuestDB-

TimescaleDB-

Licensing

Licence class

QuestDBPermissive OSS

TimescaleDBPermissive OSS

What each one is

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

QuestDB

A specialized database engineered to ingest high-volume time-series data at speed, execute queries with minimal latency, and maintain queryable history across tiered storage layers—combining standard SQL with open file formats for portability.

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.

QuestDB

HybridFree tier

Open-source Apache 2.0 free tier; QuestDB Cloud and Enterprise plans available via contact/quote

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	QuestDB	TimescaleDB
WebPlatforms	✓	✓
macOSPlatforms	✓	✗
WindowsPlatforms	✓	✗
LinuxPlatforms	✓	✗
CLIPlatforms	✓	✓
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✓
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✓
HybridDeployment	✓	✗

Platforms

Web

QuestDB✓

TimescaleDB✓

macOS

QuestDB✓

TimescaleDB✗

Windows

QuestDB✓

TimescaleDB✗

Linux

QuestDB✓

TimescaleDB✗

CLI

QuestDB✓

TimescaleDB✓

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

QuestDB✓

TimescaleDB✓

Self-hosted

QuestDB✓

TimescaleDB✓

Hybrid

QuestDB✓

TimescaleDB✗

Integrations

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

In common (4)

Iceberg
Kafka
AWS
Azure

QuestDB

19 total - 15 not shared

PostgreSQL
Parquet
Arrow
Polars
Pandas
Debezium
MySQL
MongoDB
Cassandra
Apache Parquet
Apache Arrow
Claude Code
REST API
Apache Iceberg
Databricks

Independently observed

TimescaleDB

Leader

9 total - 5 not shared

S3
Observability tools
Postgres ecosystem
Tableau
Power BI

Independently observed

Still deciding?

QuestDB 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.