kdb+ vs TDengine

kdb+8.9Visit TDengine8.2Visit

Higher score kdb+ #4 in Time-Series Databases 8.9/10 Pricing on request ✓ 3 of 3 features Visit kdb+

vs

TDengine #10 in Time-Series Databases 8.2/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 3 features Visit TDengine

• kdb+ fits best

  High-performance financial time-series processing

• TDengine fits best

  Industrial telemetry and high-volume ingestion

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Side by side

Feature	kdb+ 8.9/10 Visit ↗	TDengine 8.2/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.9	8.2
Ranking	#4 in Time-Series Databases	#10 in Time-Series Databases
Best for	High-performance financial time-series processing	Industrial telemetry and high-volume ingestion
Pricing model	Paid	Free plan + paid
Starting price	Pricing on request	—
Free plan	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux	Web, Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Community, Docs	Docs · 24/7
Integrations	17 integrations	14 integrations
Built for	Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features kdb+ 3/3 · TDengine 3/3
SQL support	✓	✓
Retention policies	✓	✓
Horizontal scaling	✓	✓
Specs
Deployment	Both	Both
Query languages	q, q-SQL	SQL
Ingestion methods	tickerplant, feed handlers, batch mode, TCP/IP, Apache Kafka, Python, Java, C	SQL, InfluxDB Line Protocol, OpenTSDB Telnet Protocol, OpenTSDB JSON Protocol, MQTT, OPC UA, OPC DA, Kafka, CSV, PI System, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MongoDB
Our review
Pros	Columnar storage with in-memory real-time processing Tickerplant, feedhandler, and partitioned historical database architecture Integrations across ODBC, Kafka, Java, Python, C, and R	Supports MQTT, Kafka, OPC UA, relational databases, and line protocols Combines retention, clustering, stream processing, and edge-to-cloud synchronization Offers self-hosted, managed cloud, and a free tier for up to 5,000 tags
Cons	Self-hosted deployment requires infrastructure ownership Closed-source licensing limits source-level customization Pricing requires contacting sales	Paid cloud pricing starts at $970 per month Free Tier is limited to self-hosted usage up to 5,000 tags Paid self-hosted licenses support 7,500 tags
Our verdict	kdb+ is a time-series database and analytics engine for organizations processing real-time and historical data. Its design combines columnar storage, in-memory execution, persistent databases, temporal data types, and the q programming and… Read the review →	TDengine is a distributed time-series database for industrial and IoT data. It stores and queries timestamped data through TDengine SQL, with features for configurable retention, distributed clustering, stream processing, data… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• kdb+ — where it wins

  • Columnar storage with in-memory real-time processing
  • Tickerplant, feedhandler, and partitioned historical database architecture
  • Integrations across ODBC, Kafka, Java, Python, C, and R

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment requires infrastructure ownership
  • Closed-source licensing limits source-level customization
  • Pricing requires contacting sales

• TDengine — where it wins

  • Supports MQTT, Kafka, OPC UA, relational databases, and line protocols
  • Combines retention, clustering, stream processing, and edge-to-cloud synchronization
  • Offers self-hosted, managed cloud, and a free tier for up to 5,000 tags

  Where it doesn't

  • Paid cloud pricing starts at $970 per month
  • Free Tier is limited to self-hosted usage up to 5,000 tags
  • Paid self-hosted licenses support 7,500 tags

• kdb+8.9/10 · Pricing on request

  A specialized, self-hosted engine for real-time and historical financial analytics.

  Visit kdb+Full verdict →
• TDengine8.2/10 · Free plan

  A flexible industrial time-series database with broad ingestion and deployment options.

  Visit TDengineFull verdict →