shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use QuestDB?

Open-source time-series database: ultra-low latency, high throughput, tiered storage, fast SQL on open formats. - questdb.com

Depends. Buy if you run high-volume time-series workloads like market data or sensor streams and can self-host. Skip if you need a managed cloud, budget enterprise support, or a general-purpose relational database.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 20+ public sources; review volume is small (35 G2 reviews) and Enterprise pricing evidence is thin, so confidence is medium.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of useNo direct user evidence on setup difficulty
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo reliable evidence on support experience
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free (Apache 2.0)

Open Source

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
EnterpriseContact sales (not public)

Best for

  • High-ingest market data and trading
  • IoT and sensor pipelines
  • SQL-first analytics teams
  • Self-hosting infrastructure shops

Not for

  • General-purpose app data that isn't time-series
  • Teams wanting a fully managed cloud database
  • Non-technical teams with no ops capacity
  • Small projects — Postgres or a simple store suffices

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

QuestDB Cloud discontinued on AWS Marketplace; managed path unclear — expect self-hosting or Enterprise

medium

Enterprise pricing is contact-sales only; no public tiers or numbers

medium

RBAC and fine-grained security require Enterprise, not open source

low

CVE-2026-0824: XSS in web console (low severity). Patch; don't expose console publicly

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free, Apache 2.0 open-source core
  • Beats InfluxDB and MongoDB in ingestion benchmarks
  • Lightweight enough to run on a Raspberry Pi
  • Trusted by exchanges: OKX, Aquis, SIX Group
  • Fast SQL on open formats; clients in many languages

Cons

  • Small review base: only 35 G2 reviews
  • Managed QuestDB Cloud discontinued on AWS Marketplace
  • Fine-grained RBAC gated behind Enterprise tier
  • Modest funding raises smaller-vendor viability risk

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/22/2026 - 10 sources - One low-severity XSS vulnerability in the web console (CVE-2026-0824), publicly disclosed; no breach history found in sources.

official x4review x3security x2news x1
  • CVE-2026-0824 — XSS in QuestDB Web Console, Cross-site scripting flaw in the @questdb/web-console UI; rated low severity and not prioritized by NVD. Patch and restrict console access.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • Free (Apache 2.0)

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free Apache 2.0 core; pay only for Enterprise
  • Ease of use. No direct user evidence on setup difficulty
  • Feature depth: 4/5. SQL, ILP ingestion, tiered storage; RBAC enterprise-only
  • Support quality. No reliable evidence on support experience
  • Security posture: 4/5. One low-severity disclosed CVE; no breaches found
  • 4.8/5 G2 rating 35 reviews
  • Yes Free tier Apache 2.0 open-source core
  • $14M raised Funding incl. $12M Series A (2021)
  • 2012 Founded YC S20 batch

Pricing

Open Source

Free (Apache 2.0)

  • Full time-series core
  • Self-managed deployment
  • Community support

Enterprise

Not disclosed

  • Fine-grained RBAC
  • Scale-out/HA features
  • Vendor support

Security

One low-severity XSS vulnerability in the web console (CVE-2026-0824), publicly disclosed; no breach history found in sources.

  • CVE-2026-0824 — XSS in QuestDB Web ConsoleCross-site scripting flaw in the @questdb/web-console UI; rated low severity and not prioritized by NVD. Patch and restrict console access.⁷

What users say

A small but positive user base consistently praises raw ingestion speed and SQL simplicity over rivals like InfluxDB.

“Really really fast, can h…”
TimeStored review, 2023
“QuestDB executes in one thread roughly 1.5 faster”
Reddit, r/programming
“QuestDB is a fantastic time series database f…”
AWS Marketplace review

Companies that use it

  • OKX
  • Aquis Exchange
  • SIX Group
  • Energetech
  • One Trading
Full analysis

Based on 20+ public sources; review volume is small (35 G2 reviews) and Enterprise pricing evidence is thin, so confidence is medium.

Free, blazing-fast open-source time-series DB; great for trading and sensor data, but managed cloud is gone and ops is on you.

Methodology

Based on 20+ public sources; review volume is small (35 G2 reviews) and Enterprise pricing evidence is thin, so confidence is medium.

Sources

  1. QuestDB Reviews (G2)g2.com
    review
  2. QuestDB – Review 2023 (TimeStored)timestored.com
    review
  3. Reddit r/algotrading — TimescaleDB vs InfluxDB vs QuestDBreddit.com
    review
  4. QuestDB GitHub repositorygithub.com
    official
  5. QuestDB Enterprise pagequestdb.com
    official
  6. QuestDB Cloud AWS Marketplace (discontinued)aws.amazon.com
    official
  7. CVE-2026-0824 — NVDnvd.nist.gov
    security
  8. GHSA-xf94-h87h-g9wr — Web Console XSS advisorygithub.com
    security
  9. TechCrunch — QuestDB $12M Series Atechcrunch.com
    news
  10. QuestDB customers pagequestdb.com
    official

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