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✅✅