CHALLENGER
InfluxDB
Version-fragmented · TSM (v1/v2), Parquet (v3) · Flux deprecated in v3
GREPTIMEDB
GreptimeDB
Apache 2.0 · open Parquet storage · InfluxDB Line Protocol compatible
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Line protocol wrote it.
TSM compacted it.
InfluxDB is a time-series database developed by InfluxData for monitoring, IoT, and analytics. It evolved through multiple versions: v1/v2 use the TSM storage engine with InfluxQL and Flux query languages, while v3 adopts Apache Parquet and Arrow. v3 Core is released under MIT/Apache 2.0, but v2.x remains under BSL 1.1. The version fragmentation — different storage formats, query languages, and licensing across major versions — is a key consideration for adopters. Click here to read the full performance comparison report between GreptimeDB and InfluxDB.
Feature comparison
| Feature/Aspect | GreptimeDB | InfluxDB |
|---|---|---|
| Data Model | Metrics, Logs & Traces in one database | Time-Series Database |
| Value Model | Multi-Value (supports complex data structures) | Multi-Value (tags and fields) |
| Multi-model Support | Metrics, Logs & Traces in one database | Metrics only (requires separate systems for logs/traces) |
| Ingestion Protocols | SQL gRPC InfluxDB Line Protocol Prometheus Remote Storage OpenTelemetry Loki Push API Elasticsearch Bulk API HTTP API | InfluxDB Line Protocol HTTP API Telegraf plugins |
| Query Languages | SQL & PromQL (dual interface) | InfluxQL & Flux (v1/v2) SQL & InfluxQL (v3) |
| Data Retention | Flexible TTL policies with tiered storage | Retention policies with automatic deletion |
| Continuous Aggregation | Built-in SQL aggregation, Pipeline ETL engine & Flow streaming computation | Continuous queries (v1/v2) Tasks and checks (v3) |
| Use Cases | Unified observability, real-time analytics, IoT monitoring, edge computing | IoT monitoring, DevOps metrics, application monitoring |
| Architecture | Cloud-native distributed with compute-storage disaggregation | Single binary (v1/v2) Cloud-native microservices (v3) |
| Storage Format | Apache Parquet (columnar, compressed) | TSM engine (v1/v2) Apache Parquet (v3) |
| Storage Scalability | Object storage integration with unlimited capacity | Local storage (v1/v2) Object storage support (v3) |
| High Availability | Native clustering with automatic failover | Enterprise clustering (v1/v2) Native HA (v3) |
| License | Apache 2.0 | MIT/Apache 2.0 (v3 Core) BSL 1.1 (v2.x) Commercial (Enterprise/Cloud) |
| Deployment Options | Single-node, cluster, Kubernetes-native, edge-to-cloud with unified API | Single binary, containerized, cloud-managed |
| Version Compatibility | Consistent API from edge to cloud with unified control plane | Breaking changes between major versions |
| Written Language | Rust (memory safety, performance) | Go (v1/v2) Rust (v3) |
All Comparisons
Side-by-side feature breakdowns for additional alternatives.
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