Head-to-head · Time-Series Databases
TDengine vs DolphinDB
TDengine leads on 0 checks, DolphinDB on 0, and 4 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 4 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.
Our verdict
- Highest scoreTDengine · 8.2/10
- Free planboth
TDengine scores higher on our rubric for time-series databases: 8.2 against 7.6 out of 10; our editors rank them #10 and #14.
TDengine is the better fit for industrial telemetry and high-volume ingestion. DolphinDB is the better fit for complex streaming and time-series analytics.
- TDengine fits best
Industrial telemetry and high-volume ingestion
- DolphinDB fits best
Complex streaming and time-series analytics
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Side by side
| Feature | TDengine 8.2/10 Visit ↗ | DolphinDB 7.6/10 Visit ↗ |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Editor score | 8.2 | 7.6 |
| Ranking | #10 in Time-Series Databases | #14 in Time-Series Databases |
| Best for | Industrial telemetry and high-volume ingestion | Complex streaming and time-series analytics |
| Pricing model | Free plan + paid | Free |
| Starting price | — | Free |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Deployment | Cloud, Self-hosted | Cloud, Self-hosted |
| Platforms | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux | Web, Windows, Linux |
| Support | Docs · 24/7 | Community, Docs |
| Integrations | 14 integrations | 20 integrations |
| Built for | Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise | Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Features TDengine 3/3 · DolphinDB 3/3 | ||
| SQL support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Retention policies | ✓ | ✓ |
| Horizontal scaling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Specs | ||
| Deployment | Both | Both |
| Query languages | SQL | DolphinDB SQL; ANSI SQL/SQL-92; DolphinDB scripting language |
| Ingestion methods | SQL, InfluxDB Line Protocol, OpenTSDB Telnet Protocol, OpenTSDB JSON Protocol, MQTT, OPC UA, OPC DA, Kafka, CSV, PI System, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MongoDB | Text, binary, JSON, HDF5, Parquet, Arrow, ODBC, APIs, Kafka, MQTT, ZeroMQ, MySQL, MongoDB, HBase, kdb+ |
| Our review | ||
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| Our verdict | 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 → |
DolphinDB is a distributed time-series database and real-time analytics platform for organizations handling large volumes of structured or streaming data. Its feature set is aimed at financial institutions and operational teams in energy,… Read the review → |
Strengths and trade-offs
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
DolphinDB — where it wins
- Distributed storage with horizontal scaling and data rebalancing
- Streaming engines, retention policies, and tiered storage
- Broad APIs, languages, and messaging integrations
Where it doesn't
- Community Edition is limited to 2 nodes
- Each Community Edition node allows up to 2 CPU cores and 8 GB RAM
- Paid pricing requires contacting sales
- TDengine8.2/10 · Free plan
A flexible industrial time-series database with broad ingestion and deployment options.
Visit TDengineFull verdict → - DolphinDB7.6/10 · Free plan
A distributed time-series platform for complex streaming, scaling, and analytics workloads.
Visit DolphinDBFull verdict →
All Time-Series databases comparisons → · Full ranking →
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Last updated · How we research and update