Skip to content
SPECIFICTION
Get listed

FiloDB

github.com

Free plan macOSLinuxAPISelf-hosted
Visit github.com
Spec score 8.1 #12 of 36 in Time-Series Databases

What it is

FiloDB is a free, Apache-2.0 open-source database for distributed, real-time time-series, event, and operational data. It is designed to ingest and query many millions of time series, sharding data across processes with distributed querying. Columnar compression and off-heap memory management support substantial in-memory storage while reducing garbage collection. PromQL is available through an HTTP API and command-line interface; the README describes support as about 60%. Histograms are a first-class column type, with the project reporting possible compression and query-speed improvements of up to two orders of magnitude. Typical ingestion uses Apache Kafka, while the Gateway accepts Influx Line Protocol over TCP. Grafana can connect through the Prometheus-compatible API, and Cassandra is identified as the persistence store. Deployment uses clustered standalone processes and requires Java, Cassandra, Kafka, Rust, a C compiler, and SBT to build.

Spec sheet

Product
FiloDB is an open-source distributed, real-time, in-memory time-series, event, and operational database with Prometheus query support.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com
Deployment
FiloDB is deployed as standalone processes in a cluster and requires Java, Cassandra, Kafka, Rust, and a C compiler to build; SBT is also listed as a build prerequisite.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com
Integrations
The README describes using FiloDB as a Grafana data source through its Prometheus-compatible HTTP API and identifies Cassandra as its persistence store.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com
Support
The repository invites contributions; it does not state a paid support plan on the README page.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com
License
The repository identifies Apache-2.0 as its license.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com
Gateway
The Gateway accepts metrics over TCP and currently supports Influx Line Protocol; its only tested setup uses Telegraf with a Prometheus endpoint source.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com
Histograms
It stores histograms as a first-class column type and says this can improve compression and query speeds by up to two orders of magnitude.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com
Ingestion
Its usual real-time ingestion setup consumes directly from Apache Kafka, with cluster processes coordinated using Akka Cluster.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com
Maturity
The README labels FiloDB Standalone stable and tested at scale, Gateway experimental, Cassandra and Kafka stable, and Spark deprecated.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com
Not for
The project lists heavily transactional update-oriented workflows and OLAP or analytics as anti-use-cases.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com
Querying
FiloDB supports PromQL through an HTTP API and CLI, and the README says its PromQL support is about 60%.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com
Scale
It is designed to ingest and query many millions of time series, with data sharded across processes and distributed querying built in.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com
Storage
Columnar compression and off-heap memory management help it store substantial data in memory while reducing garbage collection.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com
Use cases
Documented uses include operational metrics, distributed tracing storage, ad-hoc application-metric debugging, and real-time event storage and querying.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com

Plans and prices

FiloDB Free Open-source database · Self-managed deployment Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com

Every FiloDB plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Free open-source Apache-2.0 database
  • Supports horizontal scaling across processes
  • Ingests from Kafka and Influx Line Protocol
  • Provides PromQL HTTP API and CLI
  • Stores histograms as a column type

Limits

  • PromQL support is described as about 60%
  • Requires several build dependencies
  • Gateway is experimental
  • Spark support is deprecated

Who it suits

It suits teams needing self-managed, horizontally scalable time-series infrastructure with PromQL, Kafka, or Influx Line Protocol inputs. It is not aimed at heavily transactional workflows or OLAP analytics.

Verdict

FiloDB targets clustered, in-memory operational and time-series workloads with PromQL access and multiple ingestion paths. Its substantial build stack and incomplete PromQL support matter for deployment planning.

Where Specifiction places it

Alternatives to FiloDBAll alternatives →