TimescaleDB Apache 2 and TimescaleDB Community Edition

There are two versions of TimescaleDB available:

  • TimescaleDB with an Apache 2 licence
  • TimescaleDB Community Edition

The TimescaleDB Apache 2 Edition is the version of TimescaleDB that is available under the Apache 2.0 license. This is a classic open source license, meaning that it is completely unrestricted - anyone can take this code and offer it as a service.

TimescaleDB Apache 2 Edition

You can install TimescaleDB Apache 2 Edition on your own on-premises or cloud infrastructure and run it for free.

You can sell TimescaleDB Apache 2 Edition as a service, even if you’re not the main contributor.

You can modify the TimescaleDB Apache 2 Edition source code and run it for production use.

TimescaleDB Apache 2 Edition is available from these service providers:

TimescaleDB Community Edition

TimescaleDB Community Edition is the latest, most updated version of TimescaleDB, available under the Timescale License (TSL).

For more information about the Timescale licence, see this blog post.

Many of the most recent features of TimescaleDB are only available in TimescaleDB Community Edition.

You can install TimescaleDB Community Edition in your own on-premises or cloud infrastructure and run it for free. TimescaleDB Community Edition is completely free if you manage your own service.

You cannot sell TimescaleDB Community Edition as a service, even if you are the main contributor.

You can modify the TimescaleDB Community Edition source code and run it for production use. Developers using TimescaleDB Community Edition have the “right to repair” and make modifications to the source code and run it in their own on-premises or cloud infrastructure. However, you cannot make modifications to the TimescaleDB Community Edition source code and offer it as a service.

Timescale provides hosted versions of TimescaleDB Community Edition: Timescale Cloud and Managed Service for TimescaleDB. Timescale Cloud is a cloud-native platform for time-series, hosted in AWS. MST is a database-as-a-service offering for TimescaleDB. MST is offered in AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.

Feature comparison

FeaturesTimescaleDB Apache 2 EditionTimescaleDB Community Edition
Hypertables and chunks
create_hypertable
show_chunks
drop_chunks
reorder_chunk
move_chunk
add_reorder_policy
attach_tablespace
detach_tablespace()
detach_tablespaces()
show_tablespaces
set_chunk_time_interval
set_integer_now_func
add_dimension()
create_index (Transaction Per Chunk)
hypertable_size
hypertable_detailed_size
hypertable_index_size
chunks_detailed_size
Distributed hypertables
create_distributed_hypertable
add_data_node
attach_data_node
detach_data_node
delete_data_node
distributed_exec
set_number_partitions
set_replication_factor
copy_chunk
move_chunk
Compression
ALTER TABLE (Compression)
add_compression_policy
remove_compression_policy
compress_chunk
decompress_chunk
hypertable_compression_stats
chunk_compression_stats
Continuous aggregates
CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW (Continuous Aggregate)
ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW (Continuous Aggregate)
DROP MATERIALIZED VIEW (Continuous Aggregate)
add_continuous_aggregate_policy()
refresh_continuous_aggregate
remove_continuous_aggregate_policy()
Data retention
add_retention_policy
remove_retention_policy
Actions and automation
add_job
alter_job
delete_job
run_job
Hyperfunctions
approximate_row_count
first
last
histogram
time_bucket
time_bucket_ng (experimental feature)
time_bucket_gapfill
locf
interpolate
percentile_agg
approx_percentile
approx_percentile_rank
rollup
max_val
mean
error
min_val
num_vals
uddsketch
tdigest
time_weight
rollup
average
Informational Views
timescaledb_information.chunks
timescaledb_information.continuous_aggregates
timescaledb_information.compression_settings
timescaledb_information.data_nodes
timescaledb_information.dimension
timescaledb_information.hypertables
timescaledb_information.jobs
timescaledb_information.job_stats
Administration functions
timescaledb_pre_restore
timescaledb_post_restore
get_telemetry_report
dump_meta_data