What are the best al­tern­at­ives to InfluxDB?

InfluxDB is a database spe­cific­ally designed for time series, boasting high per­form­ance, ho­ri­zont­al scalab­il­ity, and a powerful query language. We introduce you to the most popular InfluxDB al­tern­at­ives, which include re­la­tion­al systems, NoSQL solutions, and embedded instances.

What is InfluxDB and what al­tern­at­ives are there?

InfluxDB is an open-source database spe­cific­ally developed for time series. This refers to data with a timestamp, such as tem­per­at­ure re­cord­ings, weather data, or even server per­form­ance stats. InfluxDB enables efficient storage, querying, and pro­cessing of timestamped data. These often come from mon­it­or­ing systems, IoT sensors – IoT stands for the Internet of Things – or from the field of meas­ure­ment and control tech­no­logy and may include millions of incoming data records.

Compared to re­la­tion­al databases, InfluxDB shows sig­ni­fic­antly better per­form­ance for timestamped meas­ure­ment data. This is made possible by using a specially developed TSM format (Time Struc­tured Merge Tree), which bundles write op­er­a­tions and minimises read paths for con­tigu­ous data. The database man­age­ment system was developed by the American company In­fluxData and is available as a free open-source version. However, In­flux­Cloud and In­flux­En­ter­prise also offer a cloud service and a com­mer­cial en­ter­prise version.

Among the central features of InfluxDB is its own scripting and query language called Flux, which optimises the ETL process (Extract, Transform, Load) and can even be used in com­bin­a­tion with other databases. The database system also supports InfluxQL, a SQL-like language that makes it easier for users of re­la­tion­al databases to get started. Ad­di­tion­ally, InfluxDB scores with easy in­stall­a­tion and ho­ri­zont­al scaling.

MySQL, the powerful SQL database for struc­tured data

MySQL is among the most widely used re­la­tion­al database systems worldwide. The open-source database was acquired by the American company Oracle in 2010, which has con­tinu­ally developed the system since then. MySQL is available both as an open-source version and as an en­ter­prise version for various operating systems. The InfluxDB al­tern­at­ive is par­tic­u­larly suitable for the man­age­ment of struc­tured data in tables, shines with stability and per­form­ance, and offers a wealth of in­ter­faces – such as Java or Python. You also benefit from mature security features and high avail­ab­il­ity, which proves ad­vant­age­ous es­pe­cially in mission-critical ap­plic­a­tions.

MySQL uses the InnoDB-storage engine by default, offering full ACID com­pli­ance, trans­ac­tion safety, and foreign key support. Ad­di­tion­al storage engines like MyISAM, CSV, or Merge are also provided. With in­teg­rated features such as master-slave rep­lic­a­tion, multi-master clus­ter­ing, ho­ri­zont­al scaling, and sharding, the database handles demanding scenarios—par­tic­u­larly regarding high avail­ab­il­ity. Thanks to clear doc­u­ment­a­tion, numerous tutorials, and an engaged community, it’s also very ac­cess­ible for newcomers.

Ad­vant­ages of MySQL at a glance

• Open source with optional en­ter­prise upgrade
• User-friendly system with clear structure
• High re­li­ab­il­ity and speed
• Various scaling options
• Rep­lic­a­tion and clus­ter­ing for high avail­ab­il­ity
• Flexibly de­ploy­able storage engines
• Extensive doc­u­ment­a­tion and dedicated community
• LAMP stack standard (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP)
• Seamless in­teg­ra­tion into various en­vir­on­ments and frame­works

Post­gr­eSQL, the flexibly ex­tens­ible database thanks to its object-re­la­tion­al ar­chi­tec­ture

Post­gr­eSQL is an object-re­la­tion­al database system that has been con­tinu­ously developed since its first release in 1996. This open-source solution is im­press­ive for its high re­li­ab­il­ity and data integrity, offering excellent per­form­ance even under heavy loads thanks to its powerful trans­ac­tion pro­cessing (MVCC).

A par­tic­u­lar highlight is its modular ex­pand­ab­il­ity: With provided ex­ten­sions like PostGIS for geodata, the database man­age­ment system can be flexibly tailored to meet in­di­vidu­al re­quire­ments. Users have the option to create custom data types, operators, and pro­ced­ures. For those looking to reliably manage extensive table-based data, Post­gr­eSQL is a strong InfluxDB al­tern­at­ive.

Ad­vant­ages of Post­gr­eSQL at a glance

• Open source without licensing fees
• High ro­bust­ness and security
• Highly versatile
• Powerful per­form­ance
• Numerous options for scaling
• Many ex­ten­sions and in­ter­faces available
• Large and active community
• Versatile data types from JSONB (binary rep­res­ent­a­tion of JSON) to geodata

MariaDB, the scalable re­la­tion­al database with an enhanced engine ecosystem

The database system MariaDB is a community-driven MySQL fork that was launched in 2010 after Oracle acquired MySQL. At its core, MariaDB remains fully com­pat­ible with MySQL clients and queries, but it also offers in­nov­at­ive storage engines like Aria, Column­Store for ana­lyt­ic­al eval­u­ations, and MyRocks for SSD-optimised storage.

Ex­ten­sions like Galera Cluster enable syn­chron­ous multi-master rep­lic­a­tion, while features such as virtual columns and dynamic column storage (JSON documents) enhance flex­ib­il­ity for modern ap­plic­a­tion scenarios. The Dynamic Columns feature allows time-based data to be flexibly modelled within re­la­tion­al tables, making MariaDB in­ter­est­ing for time-series-like ap­plic­a­tions. As an InfluxDB al­tern­at­ive, MariaDB is par­tic­u­larly appealing to companies that value trans­par­ency, high per­form­ance, and open standards.

Overview of MariaDB ad­vant­ages

• Open source with a trans­par­ent license (GPLv2)
• Full com­pat­ib­il­ity with MySQL
• Versatile storage engines for different re­quire­ments
• High per­form­ance and scalab­il­ity
• Advanced SQL features like virtual columns and JSON documents
• Runs very stably on all common platforms

MongoDB, the document-oriented NoSQL for large datasets

While InfluxDB is mainly spe­cial­ised in time series data, a more flexible NoSQL al­tern­at­ive is better suited for het­ero­gen­eous workloads – and this is where MongoDB comes into play. The database system, released in 2009, stores struc­tured, semi-struc­tured, and un­struc­tured data in BSON documents – thus foregoing rigid schemas. This allows for quick ad­apt­a­tions and agile de­vel­op­ment cycles.

With automatic sharding, datasets are dis­trib­uted across multiple server nodes, in­creas­ing both avail­ab­il­ity and fault tolerance. Thanks to ho­ri­zont­al scaling, the database easily adapts to growing data volumes. Whether it’s a web ap­plic­a­tion, IoT platform, or content man­age­ment system, MongoDB is a top-notch InfluxDB al­tern­at­ive for in­creas­ing data volumes and is used by the New York Times, Disney, and the CERN particle ac­cel­er­at­or, among others.

Overview of MongoDB benefits

• In­fin­itely ho­ri­zont­al scaling and therefore optimal for in­creas­ing data volumes
• High avail­ab­il­ity and fault tolerance thanks to sharding
• Highly flexible usage
• Suitable for diverse data types
• Com­pat­ible with a variety of platforms, systems, and languages
• Extensive ecosystem with tools like Compass or Atlas Charts
• Simple rep­lic­a­tion

Redis, the in-memory database for ultra-fast per­form­ance

If you’re looking for a NoSQL option with low response times, Redis is a great InfluxDB al­tern­at­ive. This open-source database stores data entirely in memory, achieving latencies of less than one mil­li­second. With its stream­lined model based on so-called key values, Redis is ideal as a cache layer, message broker, or for real-time analytics.

The ar­chi­tec­ture of the database system allows for both vertical scaling (using larger servers) and ho­ri­zont­al scaling (via Redis clusters), but it is more geared towards speed rather than large data volumes. Therefore, Redis is less suitable for workloads involving complex data and extensive query options. For larger datasets, the high RAM re­quire­ment can also quickly drive up operating costs.

Ad­vant­ages of Redis at a glance

• Open source
• Out­stand­ing speed thanks to in-memory model
• Latencies of less than one mil­li­second
• Ideal for real-time analytics and event pro­cessing
• Ho­ri­zont­al and vertical scalab­il­ity
• High user-friend­li­ness
• Flexible data pro­cessing thanks to versatile data types
• Com­pat­ible with many systems, platforms, and languages

SQLite, the compact SQL solution with minimal ad­min­is­trat­ive effort

As an InfluxDB al­tern­at­ive for smaller ap­plic­a­tions or embedded devices, SQLite is excellent. With a minimal library size of just a few hundred kilobytes and broad language support via API, SQLite is ideal for desktop, mobile, and IoT ap­plic­a­tions where resources are limited. The server­less, file-based database stores all data and the complete schema in just one file and does not require a separate database service. As a result, most of the ad­min­is­trat­ive effort as well as in­stall­a­tion and server con­fig­ur­a­tion are elim­in­ated. Backups can be easily created by copying the file.

SQLite not only covers a large portion of the SQL standard, but also impresses with its com­pat­ib­il­ity with most common data storage formats. Because SQLite databases can be ef­fort­lessly trans­ferred between different systems, many de­velopers trust the light­weight engine as the found­a­tion of their ap­plic­a­tions. With uniform data access, low resource re­quire­ments, and server­less operation, SQLite offers a high level of re­li­ab­il­ity.

Overview of SQLite ad­vant­ages

• Server­less operation with minimal ad­min­is­trat­ive effort
• Compact library with a memory re­quire­ment of only a few hundred kilobytes
• Extensive SQL support
• Port­ab­il­ity
• High re­li­ab­il­ity and fault tolerance
• Un­com­plic­ated backups
• Optimal for embedded scenarios