Overview

InfluxDB 3 is a time-series database for high-frequency data organized by timestamp. It suits teams handling live operational, observability, or AI data, especially those that want a choice of managed and self-managed deployments. Its breadth is a strength, but availability, security, support, and cost depend on the edition.

InfluxDB offers SQL and InfluxQL, retention policies, and horizontal scaling. Browse related options in Time-Series Databases, IoT Analytics Software, OLAP Software, Columnar Databases, Metrics Monitoring Tools, and Database Software.

Key features

Ingestion, queries, and storage

Data can enter through line protocol, HTTP API, client libraries, Telegraf, or the influxdb3 CLI. More than 400 pre-built Telegraf plugins and official Python, JavaScript, Go, Java, and C# libraries give teams several integration routes. Native SQL complements InfluxQL, and a built-in Python processing engine adds a processing option within the platform.

InfluxDB stores data in compressed Parquet files in object storage with S3 API compatibility. InfluxData states that InfluxDB 3 supports millions of writes per second, billions of series without cardinality limits, and queries under 10 milliseconds. These capabilities make it a candidate for high-volume time-series workloads, though actual performance will depend on the deployment and workload.

Security and support

InfluxData says its products are ISO 27001, ISO 27018, and SOC 2 certified, with end-to-end encryption and granular access controls across managed and self-managed InfluxDB 3 products. Enterprise adds SAML/SSO and OAuth. Cloud Dedicated offers SAML/SSO and private networking as paid add-ons, so buyers needing those controls should account for the extra cost.

Core has community support. Enterprise and Cloud Dedicated include a technical support SLA, making them the clearer fit for teams that need contracted technical support.

Pricing

Free and usage-based choices

InfluxDB uses a freemium model, with a free plan, paid usage, and a 30-day trial. InfluxDB 3 Core is a single-node option with no published price. It is intended for local development, prototyping, and edge deployments, but lacks high availability and enterprise security.

Cloud Serverless starts free, then charges by usage. The free plan includes $250 in free credit and has service quotas; it is multi-tenant and has no high availability. The usage-based rates are $0.0025 per MB written, $0.012 per 100 query executions, $0.002 per GB-hour, and $0.09 per GB transferred out, with no minimum commitment. The listed Cloud Serverless line items are Data In at 0.00 USD per month, Query Count at 0.01 USD per month, Storage at 0.00 USD per month, and Data Out at 0.09 USD per month, each billed pay for what you use. Because the service is metered and quotas apply, the free entry point is best for bounded workloads, not a guarantee of a fixed monthly bill.

Managed and self-managed paid deployments

Cloud Dedicated is a single-tenant managed service with custom pricing. It suits teams seeking managed hosting and isolation, but its price is not a fixed public rate; SAML/SSO and private networking are add-ons.

InfluxDB 3 Enterprise is self-managed with custom pricing based on CPU configuration. It offers unlimited scale, no service quotas, high availability, and read replicas, alongside a 30-day free trial by default; InfluxData says it can help extend the trial. This is the more capable self-managed choice for teams that need HA or replicas, but entails a custom-priced Enterprise deployment.

Amazon Timestream for InfluxDB is fully managed on AWS, integrates with native IAM and VPC, and includes high availability. It is billed at AWS consumption pricing to the AWS account, so it fits teams already choosing AWS-managed operation rather than buyers seeking a separately stated fixed subscription price.

Platforms

InfluxDB supports API, Linux, macOS, Windows, web, and self-hosted deployment. That coverage spans client integration, common desktop and server environments, and hosted use, while the deployment model still determines whether the service is single-node, managed, or self-managed.

Who it's for

InfluxDB is aimed at teams collecting timestamped data for industrial operations, observability platforms, or AI applications that need real-time data. Core is appropriate for development, prototyping, or edge use where a single node and community support are acceptable. Teams requiring high availability should consider Enterprise or Amazon Timestream; teams wanting managed single-tenant hosting can consider Cloud Dedicated. Cloud Serverless suits usage-based managed adoption where its quotas and lack of HA are acceptable.

Pros and cons

Multiple ingestion paths: Telegraf plugins, client libraries, APIs, line protocol, and a CLI support varied collection setups.
Flexible querying: SQL, InfluxQL, and built-in Python processing serve different query and processing needs.
Several deployment models: Users can choose open-source single-node Core, self-managed Enterprise, managed InfluxDB, or AWS-managed Timestream.
Availability varies sharply: Core and Cloud Serverless do not provide high availability, so they are poor fits where failover is required.
Costs can be hard to forecast: Serverless charges depend on writes, queries, storage, and data transfer, while Dedicated and Enterprise use custom pricing.
Core is deliberately limited: Its single node, lack of enterprise security, and community-only support constrain production use requiring those capabilities.

Alternatives

Choose LinDB if you want a free, Apache 2.0 option. Prometheus is a free, Apache 2.0 open-source monitoring and alerting toolkit, making it the alternative to consider when that toolkit focus fits better.

QuestDB offers a free Apache 2.0 self-managed single-instance edition with community support; consider it if that deployment and support model suits your needs. TDengine is worth comparing if an open-source TSDB with clustering capabilities under the AGPL license is a better fit.

VictoriaMetrics offers open-source single-node and cluster versions, a useful comparison if you prefer those choices. DolphinDB has a free Community Edition capped at two nodes, two CPU cores and 8 GB RAM per node; consider it if those bounds work for your deployment.

Grafana k6 is a performance-testing alternative with a free tier limited to 500 virtual user hours per month, rather than a like-for-like database choice. GreptimeDB offers a managed Enterprise plan from 290.00 USD per month, which may suit readers comparing managed options with a published starting price.

Verdict

Choose InfluxDB 3 if you need a time-series platform with multiple ingestion and query routes and want to select among open-source, self-managed, and managed deployments. Its broad deployment range is the main reason to choose it; the main reason to look elsewhere is that the least-cost entry choices, Core and Cloud Serverless, lack high availability, while stronger enterprise options carry custom pricing or AWS consumption charges.

	CrateDB	InfluxDB
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Free trial	No	Yes
Paid from	—	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	api, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, Web, Windows	api, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, Web, Windows
Free plan	Yes	Yes
SQL support	—	Yes

CrateDB vs InfluxDB

CrateDB

InfluxDB