Amazon Timestream vs Microsoft SQL Server
Amazon Timestream
aws.amazon.comMicrosoft SQL Server
microsoft.comSide by side
| Figure | Amazon Timestream | Microsoft SQL Server |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 20 |
| Spec score · Database Software | 9.1 (#6) | 8.5 (#24) |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Integrations | Official integrations include AWS IoT Core, Kinesis, MSK, Telegraf, QuickSight, Grafana, JDBC business-intelligence tools and SageMaker. | SQL Server 2025 integrates with LangChain, Semantic Kernel, Entity Framework Core, Microsoft Azure, and Microsoft Fabric. |
| Security | AWS says Timestream data is encrypted by default, and supports customer-managed AWS KMS keys for specified InfluxDB deployments. | Microsoft's SQL Server security guidance covers platform and network security, permissions, encryption, and secure connections. |
Plans
Amazon Timestream
- On-demandPrice not published
- Amazon Timestream on-demandFree
- Timestream for InfluxDB single-AZ example$737.88 a month
- Database Savings PlansPrice not published
- Timestream for LiveAnalytics on-demandPrice not published
Microsoft SQL Server
- Standard per corePriced on request
- Standard per corePrice not published
- Standard serverPriced on request
- Standard serverPrice not published
- Standard CALPriced on request
- Standard CALPrice not published
- Enterprise pay-as-you-go$274 a month
- Developer – Standard & EnterpriseFree
- ExpressFree
- Standard pay-as-you-go$73 a month
In their own words
Amazon Timestream
Amazon Timestream is a managed cloud service offering time-series database engines for low-latency queries and large-scale ingestion. Timestream for LiveAnalytics scales ingestion, storage and query capacity independently and can process millions of queries. Memory and magnetic tiers support retention rules that move data and delete older records. Timestream for InfluxDB 3 Enterprise supports clusters of up to 15 nodes assigned to ingestion, query or compaction work. Backups can run hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or on a custom cron schedule, with retention from one to 365 days; on-demand backups can remain for up to 3,650 days. AWS states that data is encrypted by default and documents IAM, KMS and AWS Backup integrations. Ingestion options include SDKs, CLI, WriteRecords API, Lambda, IoT Core, Kinesis, MSK, Managed Service for Apache Flink and Telegraf. SQL, Flux and InfluxQL are supported query languages.
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server is a database platform for storing, processing, and securing data, offered with both deployment models and a free plan. Its Database Engine includes replication, full-text search, relational, XML, and JSON data management, as well as Python and R machine-learning services. Integration Services provides graphical tools and programmable objects for moving and transforming data, while PolyBase can query Azure Storage, S3, and ODBC sources. SQL Server 2025 adds vector search, vector embedding generation, text chunking, and DiskANN vector indexing, and integrates with LangChain, Semantic Kernel, Entity Framework Core, Microsoft Azure, and Microsoft Fabric. Microsoft provides downloads for Windows and Linux and a SQL Server container image for Docker. Express is a free entry-level edition for learning and desktop or small server applications; its single Database Engine instance is limited to the lesser of one socket or four cores. Developer editions provide Enterprise or Standard functionality for development and testing, not production. SQL Server 2025 does not support SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.