Why Use TimescaleDB over NoSQL?

Compared to general NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra) or even more specialized time-oriented ones (e.g., InfluxDB, KairosDB), TimescaleDB provides both qualitative and quantitative differences:

  • Normal SQL: TimescaleDB gives you the power of standard SQL queries on time-series data, even at scale. Most (all?) NoSQL databases require learning either a new query language or using something that’s at best “SQL-ish” (which still breaks compatibility with existing tools).
  • Operational simplicity: With TimescaleDB, you only need to manage one database for your relational and time-series data. Otherwise, users often need to silo data into two databases: a “normal” relational one, and a second time-series one.
  • JOINs can be performed across relational and time-series data.
  • Query performance is faster for a varied set of queries. More complex queries are often slow or full table scans on NoSQL databases, while some databases can’t even support many natural queries.
  • Manage like PostgreSQL and inherit its support for varied datatypes and indexes (B-tree, hash, range, BRIN, GiST, GIN).
  • Native support for geospatial data: Data stored in TimescaleDB can leverage PostGIS’s geometric datatypes, indexes, and queries.
  • Third-party tools: TimescaleDB supports anything that speaks SQL, including BI tools like Tableau.