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Amazon Timestream

What Amazon Timestream is
Amazon Timestream is a cloud time-series database service with managed engines for workloads from low-latency queries to large-scale data ingestion. It offers Timestream for LiveAnalytics and Timestream for InfluxDB. LiveAnalytics can scale query, storage, and ingestion capacity independently, and includes memory and magnetic storage tiers with policies for moving and deleting aging data. InfluxDB 3 Enterprise supports clusters of up to 15 nodes for ingestion, query, and compaction work. Backups for InfluxDB can be scheduled hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or by custom cron schedule; scheduled backup retention is 1 to 365 days, and on-demand backups can be kept up to 3,650 days. Timestream data is encrypted by default; LiveAnalytics integrates with AWS IAM, AWS KMS, and AWS Backup. Ingestion options include AWS SDKs, the CLI, WriteRecords API, Lambda, IoT Core, Kinesis, MSK, and Telegraf. It supports SQL, Flux, and InfluxQL, with web access and cloud deployment. The service is paid and has no free plan. Listed on-demand pricing is free, with charges depending on engine and usage; LiveAnalytics charges separately for writes, memory store, magnetic store, and queries.
Who it suits
Timestream suits teams managing time-series data for monitoring, IoT telemetry, real-time analytics, predictive maintenance, or long-term retention. Its query and ingestion options serve users working with SQL, Flux, InfluxQL, and AWS data tools.
What it does well
- LiveAnalytics scales ingestion, storage, and query capacity independently.
- Memory and magnetic tiers support retention policies.
- InfluxDB 3 Enterprise clusters support up to 15 nodes.
- Scheduled and on-demand backup options are available.
- Supports SQL, Flux, and InfluxQL.
What to know first
- There is no free plan.
- Magnetic-store pricing has a 100 GB per-account regional minimum.
- On-demand TCU usage has a 30-second minimum.
- Provisioned TCUs have a 1-hour minimum.
Limits
There is no free plan. LiveAnalytics magnetic-store pricing has a 100 GB per-account minimum in a Region; on-demand TCU usage has a 30-second minimum, and provisioned TCUs have a 1-hour minimum.
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| On-demand | Pay for writes, storage, queries, or database instance usage depending on the en · No minimum fees or upfront commitments for on-demand pricing | On request |
| Amazon Timestream on-demand | Pay only for usage; charges depend on database engine and usage. · No minimum fees or upfront commitment; LiveAnalytics charges separately for writes, memory store, magnetic store, and queries. | Free |
| Timestream for InfluxDB single-AZ example | 730 hours plus 400-GiB storage · db.influx.2xlarge · $697.88 compute · $40 storage · 3,000 IOPS | $737.88 a month |
| Database Savings Plans | Commit to a specific amount of usage measured in $/hour over a 1-year term. · Eligible usage; savings in exchange for a usage commitment. | On request |
| Timestream for LiveAnalytics on-demand | usage-based · writes $0.50 per million 1-KiB writes · memory store $0.036/GB-hour · magnetic store $0.03/GB-month · queries by TCU-hour at $0.518 in the example · 100-GB magnetic-store minimum per account/Region | On request |
As aws.amazon.com lists them, read 22 Sept 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Getting started
- Open the Amazon Timestream website.
- Access the service through its web or API platform.
- Choose on-demand pricing or a Database Savings Plan.
- Select LiveAnalytics or Timestream for InfluxDB for the workload.
- Connect an ingestion method such as an AWS SDK, AWS CLI, or Telegraf.
Verdict
Amazon Timestream combines managed time-series engines with flexible scaling, storage tiers, and backup options. Review the listed usage minimums and separate LiveAnalytics charges when assessing fit.
Questions
Does Amazon Timestream have a free plan?
No. The listed pricing model is paid, and the product has no free plan.
How is Timestream priced?
On-demand usage is charged based on writes, storage, queries, or database instance usage depending on the engine, with no minimum fees or upfront commitment for on-demand pricing. Database Savings Plans require a one-year commitment to an amount of usage measured in dollars per hour.
Which query languages are supported?
The listed query languages are SQL, Flux, and InfluxQL.
What ingestion methods are supported?
Options include AWS SDKs, AWS CLI, WriteRecords API, AWS Lambda, AWS IoT Core, Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink, Amazon Kinesis, Amazon MSK, and Telegraf.
What integrations and developer tools are listed?
LiveAnalytics supports ingestion through AWS IoT Core, Amazon Kinesis, Amazon MSK, and Telegraf, plus SageMaker, QuickSight, Grafana, and JDBC use cases. AWS provides a command line interface, SDK code samples, a Grafana plugin, a JDBC driver, and a Telegraf connector.
How long can InfluxDB backups be retained?
Scheduled backups can be retained from 1 to 365 days. On-demand backups can be kept for up to 3,650 days.
Facts from Amazon Timestream's own pages
- Adaptive queries
- Its query engine can combine memory and magnetic data with one SQL statement without the user selecting a tier. · aws.amazon.com, 15 Oct 2026
- API
- LiveAnalytics exposes separate Write and Query APIs and also supports REST endpoint discovery for VPC endpoints or languages without an SDK. · docs.aws.amazon.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Availability limit
- AWS stopped accepting new LiveAnalytics customers on June 20, 2025; existing customers may continue using it. · aws.amazon.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Backups
- AWS Backup integration supports immutable backups, lifecycle policies, cross-account or cross-Region copies and incremental follow-up backups. · aws.amazon.com, 15 Oct 2026
- CLI support
- The AWS CLI provides timestream-write and timestream-query commands and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. · docs.aws.amazon.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Company founded
- AWS says it launched in 2006. · aws.amazon.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Company headquarters and size
- Gartner lists AWS headquarters in Seattle, United States, and more than 10,001 employees. · gartner.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Company legal name
- The product announcement identifies the maker as Amazon Web Services, Inc., an Amazon.com company. · press.aboutamazon.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Data lifecycle
- LiveAnalytics has memory and magnetic storage tiers, with retention policies to move data between tiers and delete aged data. · aws.amazon.com, 7 Oct 2026
- Developer tools
- AWS provides a command line interface, SDK code samples, a Grafana plugin, a JDBC driver, and a Telegraf connector for Timestream. · aws.amazon.com, 7 Oct 2026
- Documentation depth
- AWS provides getting-started tutorials, sample applications, API references, SDK examples, CLI references, quotas and security guidance. · docs.aws.amazon.com, 15 Oct 2026
- End of support
- AWS directs customers seeking similar capabilities to Timestream for LiveAnalytics to consider Timestream for InfluxDB. · aws.amazon.com, 7 Oct 2026
- Free plan
- No · aws.amazon.com, 22 Sept 2026
- Free tier
- AWS's product comparison lists no free tier for either Amazon Timestream or Timestream for InfluxDB. · aws.amazon.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Grafana plugin
- Grafana Labs provides a Timestream data-source plugin installable by CLI or ZIP on local Grafana, with Grafana 10.4 or newer required. · grafana.com, 15 Oct 2026
- InfluxDB clusters
- InfluxDB 3 Enterprise supports clusters of up to 15 nodes, which can be assigned ingestion, query, and compaction work. · aws.amazon.com, 7 Oct 2026
- Infrastructure as code
- AWS says databases can be created through the console, CLI, SDKs, CloudFormation or Terraform. · aws.amazon.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- Official integrations include AWS IoT Core, Kinesis, MSK, Telegraf, QuickSight, Grafana, JDBC business-intelligence tools and SageMaker. · aws.amazon.com, 15 Oct 2026
- IoT ingestion
- AWS IoT Core rules can parse incoming MQTT messages and write their measures directly into Timestream tables. · docs.aws.amazon.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Lambda extensibility
- Lambda functions can query Timestream on a schedule and send SNS notifications; examples are provided for Python, JavaScript, Go and C#. · docs.aws.amazon.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: cost predictability
- G2 reviewers complain that ingestion, tiered storage and query charges can become expensive or difficult to monitor at high telemetry volumes. · g2.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: Gartner complaint
- The Gartner review page records a dislike that there are no public industrial-operations use cases. · gartner.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: learning curve
- G2 reviewers mention a learning curve for time-series modeling and built-in analytical functions, with some reporting slow initial loading or bulk setup. · g2.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: SQL scope
- G2 reviewers say advanced relational features found in PostgreSQL or MySQL are missing because the product is specialized for time-series workloads. · g2.com, 15 Oct 2026
Where Amazon Timestream stands on Freedom251
- Columnar Databases#20 of 27
- Time-Series Databases#29 of 36
- Database Software#70 of 74
