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Documentation Index

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Welcome to QuestDB

QuestDB is an open-source time-series database offering blazingly fast ingestion and dynamic, low-latency SQL queries. Built for performance, QuestDB delivers a multi-tier storage engine and achieves high performance via column-oriented storage, parallelized vector execution, SIMD instructions, and low-latency techniques.

Why QuestDB?

QuestDB combines the familiarity of SQL with specialized time-series features, making it ideal for applications that demand both speed and flexibility.

Key Features

High-Performance Ingestion

Low-latency, high-throughput ingestion from single events to millions per second

Time-Series SQL Extensions

Advanced SQL features like ASOF JOIN, WINDOW JOIN, HORIZON JOIN, SAMPLE BY, and LATEST ON

SIMD-Accelerated Execution

Parallel execution with SIMD acceleration for maximum query performance

Multi-Tier Storage

Intelligent storage: WAL → native columnar → Parquet (time-partitioned and time-ordered)

Multiple Protocols

PostgreSQL wire protocol (PGwire), REST API, and InfluxDB Line Protocol (ILP)

Open Source

Apache 2.0 license with open formats—no vendor lock-in

Ideal Use Cases

QuestDB excels in demanding time-series workloads:
  • Financial market data - Tick data, trades, order books, OHLC
  • Sensor and telemetry data - High cardinality data streams from IoT devices
  • Real-time dashboards - Live monitoring and analytics with continuous streaming

Beyond Performance

With QuestDB, you don’t need to worry about:
  • Out-of-order data handling
  • Deduplication and exactly-once semantics
  • Continuous streaming ingest with concurrent queries
  • Low-latency streaming data
  • Volatile and “bursty” data patterns
  • Schema changes on the fly while streaming data

Architecture Highlights

QuestDB is implemented in zero-GC Java and C++, with QuestDB Enterprise including additional components in Rust. The core engine uses:
  • Column-oriented storage for optimal compression and vectorized operations
  • Native C/C++ libraries for performance-critical operations via JNI
  • Zero-allocation data structures on hot paths to avoid garbage collection overhead
  • Time-partitioned storage for efficient data lifecycle management

Getting Started

Quick Start

Get QuestDB running in under 5 minutes with Docker

Installation Guide

Install QuestDB using Docker, Homebrew, binaries, or build from source

Ingestion Methods

Learn about ingestion clients and connection methods

SQL Reference

Explore QuestDB’s SQL dialect and time-series extensions

Try QuestDB Now

Try our live public demo with real datasets including crypto trades, FX order books, and 10 years of NYC taxi trips with 1.6 billion rows.

Next Steps

Ready to dive in? Head over to the Quick Start guide to get QuestDB running in minutes, or explore the Installation guide for detailed setup options.