InfluxDB
InfluxData created InfluxDB in 2012 as an open-source time series database, now used by over 1.3 million active instances and serving 2,600+ enterprise customers.
Profile
InfluxDB is an open-source and commercial time series database designed to ingest, store, and analyze high-velocity operational and sensor data in real time.
InfluxData created InfluxDB in 2012 as an open-source time series database, now used by over 1.3 million active instances and serving 2,600+ enterprise customers. The company is led by CEO Evan Kaplan, who joined in 2016, alongside founder Paul Dix as Chief Technology Officer. Headquartered in San Francisco with approximately 197–201 employees across a remote-first workforce, InfluxData has raised $200.1 million across multiple rounds, with its most recent Series E of $81 million in February 2023.
The company recently launched InfluxDB 3, a complete rewrite in Rust using Apache Arrow and DataFusion, marking a significant architectural shift released in general availability in April 2025. InfluxDB 3 Core is now offered as an open-source product with built-in Python processing engines, while InfluxDB 3 Enterprise adds high availability, multi-region durability, and read replicas for production workloads. In 2025, InfluxData expanded its strategic partnership with AWS, launching InfluxDB 3 on Amazon Timestream for InfluxDB in October.
The company positioned itself as the database for 'real-time systems powering physical AI,' targeting aerospace, energy, manufacturing, and industrial IoT applications with sub-10 millisecond query latencies. InfluxDB 3.5, released in November 2025, added Explorer Dashboards in beta, enhanced cache querying capabilities, and stronger cluster management tools. The company appointed Pat Walsh as Chief Marketing Officer in January 2025, signaling renewed go-to-market focus. However, InfluxDB's open-source strategy has drawn criticism from the developer community regarding severe data retention limitations in InfluxDB 3 Core—the new OSS version only supports querying three days of historical data, a significant reduction from earlier versions, with no clear migration path for existing users from InfluxDB 2.x.
Products by InfluxDB
Who buys this
- IoT and edge device monitoring, collecting metrics from sensors and connected infrastructure
- Aerospace and space technology operators requiring sub-millisecond query response and high precision timing
- Industrial and manufacturing facilities tracking equipment performance and predictive maintenance
- Energy utilities and grid operators managing distributed assets and real-time control systems
- Cloud infrastructure and observability platforms monitoring application and system performance
Publicly disclosed clients
- NASA (launch vehicle performance monitoring)
- Honeywell
- Capital One
- NVIDIA
- Intuit
- Siemens
- Salesforce
- tado° (smart thermostat infrastructure)
- First Solar
- Texas Instruments
Strengths and what to watch
Strengths
- Rewritten in Rust with modern architecture (Apache Arrow, DataFusion) enabling sub-10ms query latency on high-cardinality, high-velocity data
- Significant enterprise adoption (2,600+ customers) and deep market penetration in IoT and industrial applications with 1.3M+ active instances
- Strong AWS partnership with native support on Amazon Timestream for InfluxDB, reducing deployment friction in AWS-dominant environments
Watch for
- Open-source community friction: InfluxDB 3 Core limits historical data retention to three days, down from unlimited, with no migration path for existing users—signals a shift toward commercial model that may erode developer loyalty
- Limited revenue disclosure: $75M ARR (2024) and $52M valuation reported suggest flat or slow growth trajectory relative to $200M+ total funding, indicating unit economics or market saturation concerns
- Execution risk on AI narrative: Company is positioning around 'physical AI' and real-time telemetry, but this mirrors broader industry hype; success depends on demonstrating differentiation versus rising competitors like GreptimeDB and QuestDB
Recent moves
Key Information
- Industry
- Databases
- Founded
- 2012
- Headquarters
- San Francisco
Frequently Asked Questions
What is InfluxDB?
InfluxDB is an open-source time series database designed to ingest, store, and analyze high-velocity operational and sensor data in real time. Created by InfluxData in 2012, it's now deployed across over 1.3 million active instances, serving 2,600+ enterprise customers globally.
What is InfluxDB used for?
InfluxDB serves IoT and edge device monitoring, aerospace and space operations, industrial facilities tracking equipment performance, energy utilities managing distributed assets, and cloud observability platforms. Its sub-10 millisecond query latency supports real-time decision-making across latency-sensitive, high-velocity operational sensor data workloads.
What's new in InfluxDB 3?
InfluxDB 3 is a complete rewrite in Rust using Apache Arrow and DataFusion, released in April 2025. It delivers sub-10 millisecond query latency on high-cardinality data. InfluxDB 3 Core offers open-source capabilities with Python processing, while Enterprise adds high availability and multi-region durability for production workloads.
Is InfluxDB free and open source?
InfluxDB 3 Core is offered as an open-source product with built-in Python processing capabilities. However, the open-source version limits historical data retention to three days, a significant reduction from earlier versions, and provides no clear migration path for users upgrading from InfluxDB 2.x.
What are the main drawbacks of InfluxDB?
InfluxDB 3 Core's three-day data retention limit has drawn developer criticism, with no clear upgrade path for existing users. Additionally, flat revenue growth ($75M ARR in 2024) relative to $200M+ total funding raises unit economics questions, while competition from GreptimeDB and QuestDB intensifies.
Who uses InfluxDB?
Notable InfluxDB customers include NASA for launch vehicle monitoring, Honeywell, Capital One, NVIDIA, Intuit, Siemens, Salesforce, tado°, First Solar, and Texas Instruments. The platform serves 2,600+ enterprise customers across IoT monitoring, aerospace operations, industrial equipment tracking, energy utilities, and cloud observability platforms.
How InfluxDB compares
Direct head-to-head against 3 competitors. Picked by 7wData.
InfluxDB
- Positioning
- InfluxDB is an open-source and commercial time series database designed to ingest, store, and analyze high-velocity operational and sensor data in real time.
- Customer segments
- IoT and edge device monitoring, collecting metrics from sensors and connected infrastructure
- Strengths
- Rewritten in Rust with modern architecture (Apache Arrow, DataFusion) enabling sub-10ms query latency on high-cardinality, high-velocity data
- Watch for
- Open-source community friction: InfluxDB 3 Core limits historical data retention to three days, down from unlimited, with no migration path for existing users—signals a shift toward commercial model that may erode developer loyalty
- Recent moves
- InfluxDB 3.5 released with Explorer Dashboards, cache querying, and cluster management improvements
TigerData (formerly Timescale)
- Positioning
- PostgreSQL-native time series and analytical platform, pivoting to general developer database after June 2025 rebrand.
- Customer segments
- Developers and enterprises running time series, analytics, and AI workloads on PostgreSQL; 2,000-plus customers across 25 countries.
- Strengths
- Full PostgreSQL compatibility gives customers SQL portability, standard tooling, and no dependency on a proprietary query language.
- Watch for
- G2 reviewers cite support response delays and higher query costs at scale as recurring operational pain points.
- Recent moves
- Rebranded from Timescale to TigerData in June 2025, repositioning as a general-purpose PostgreSQL platform beyond time series.
TDengine
- Positioning
- Industrial time series database and data historian purpose-built for energy, manufacturing, and utility IoT operations at scale.
- Customer segments
- Energy, manufacturing, and utility operators managing industrial IoT sensor data; Chinese enterprise base with growing international distribution.
- Strengths
- Native MQTT and OPC-UA protocol connectors eliminate middleware layers for industrial sensor ingestion, reducing deployment complexity.
- Watch for
- Chinese corporate origin raises data sovereignty and supply chain concerns for US and EU regulated sectors, including energy and aerospace.
- Recent moves
- Launched TDgpt, an analytics add-on for time series anomaly detection and forecasting, in March 2025.
QuestDB
- Positioning
- Open-source SQL time series database targeting financial services and IoT operators requiring high-throughput, low-latency query performance.
- Customer segments
- Financial exchanges, trading platforms, and IoT operators needing millisecond SQL query response at high ingestion volumes.
- Strengths
- SIMD-vectorized columnar SQL engine delivers sub-millisecond query latency on financial tick and high-cardinality time series data.
- Watch for
- Total funding of $14.4M limits enterprise support staffing and roadmap pace relative to better-capitalized competitors.
- Recent moves
- Released QuestDB 9.0 in July 2025, adding multi-dimensional array support, materialized views, and a binary ingestion protocol.
Sources
- www.influxdata.com — Company mission, products, customer logos, and strategic direction
- www.influxdata.com — Founding year (2012), headquarters (San Francisco), mission, leadership, and employee count (~197–201)
- venturebeat.com — Series E funding of $81M in February 2023 and Evan Kaplan CEO background
- www.influxdata.com — Pat Walsh appointment as CMO in January 2025 and 2025 product announcements
- github.com — InfluxDB 3 technical architecture (Rust, Apache Arrow, DataFusion), open-source status, repository activity
- tdengine.com — Open-source community concerns regarding InfluxDB 3 Core data retention limitations (three-day limit) and lack of migration path
- www.influxdata.com — InfluxDB 3.5 release date (November 20, 2025) and feature details (Explorer Dashboards, cache querying, cluster management)
- intellyx.com — Strategic positioning on real-time systems, physical AI narrative, and competitive differentiation in latency-sensitive workloads
- getlatka.com — 2024 revenue of $75M ARR and company valuation