Sign in
T
Time-Series DBUnknownVERIFIED

Time-Series DB

A time-series database (TSDB) is a specialized database optimized for storing, querying, and analyzing time-stamped or time-ordered data such as metrics, events, and sensor readings. It matters because it can efficiently handle very high write rates, long retention periods, and time-based aggregations that are common in observability, IoT, and financial applications.

Key Features

  • •Optimized storage for time-stamped data with append-only or log-structured designs
  • •High-ingest throughput to handle large volumes of metrics and events per second
  • •Time-based querying and aggregations (downsampling, rollups, window functions)
  • •Retention policies and automatic data lifecycle management (compaction, tiered storage)
  • •Compression and encoding schemes tailored to time-series patterns
  • •Support for tags/labels and dimensional data for flexible querying
  • •Integration with monitoring, observability, and visualization tools

Use Cases

  • •Application and infrastructure monitoring (metrics, logs, traces)
  • •IoT telemetry and sensor data collection
  • •Industrial monitoring and predictive maintenance
  • •Financial market data storage and analytics
  • •Energy grid, smart meter, and utility monitoring
  • •Fleet tracking and geospatial time-series analytics

Adoption

Market Stage
Early Majority

Alternatives

InfluxDB

Time-Series DB

Popular open-source and commercial TSDB with its own query languages (InfluxQL, Flux) and a full observability platform.

Mature ecosystem and toolingHigh ingest performance

TimescaleDB

Time-Series DB

PostgreSQL extension that adds time-series capabilities while retaining full SQL and PostgreSQL ecosystem compatibility.

Standard SQL supportEasy integration with existing Postgres tools

Prometheus

Time-Series DB

Open-source monitoring system and TSDB focused on metrics collection and alerting for cloud-native environments.

Cloud-native and Kubernetes-friendlyStrong community and CNCF backing

Amazon Timestream

Time-Series DB

Fully managed time-series database service on AWS with built-in tiered storage and integrations with AWS analytics tools.

Serverless and managedTight AWS ecosystem integration

QuestDB

Time-Series DB

High-performance open-source TSDB with SQL interface optimized for low-latency analytics on time-series data.

Very fast ingestion and queriesSQL interface

Industries

Software & InternetTelecommunicationsManufacturingEnergy & UtilitiesFinancial ServicesTransportation & Logistics