DolphinDB
DolphinDB is a real-time analytics and stream-processing platform built around a high-performance time-series database.
What DolphinDB is
DolphinDB is a real-time analytics and stream-processing platform built around a high-performance time-series database. It includes storage engines for time-series databases, OLAP, and in-memory OLTP workloads, alongside more than 1,500 built-in analytical functions and more than 10 streaming engines. Batch and stream processing can share the same metric expression. Programming options include imperative, vectorized, functional, and SQL paradigms. Its distributed system supports horizontal scaling, load balancing, fault tolerance, distributed transactions, and high availability across data nodes, controllers, streaming, and API clients. The maker describes cloud, on-premise, and hybrid deployment. Listed applications span finance, energy, power, transportation, industrial manufacturing, and scientific research. The Community Edition is free under a perpetual license, limited to two nodes with two CPU cores and 8 GB RAM per node. An Enterprise Trial is also free and includes high-availability clusters and expert technical support. Related components include an embedded version, a GPU version, quantitative research support, and a complex event processing engine.
Good
- More than 1,500 built-in analytical functions.
- More than 10 streaming engines.
- Supports cloud, on-premise, and hybrid deployment.
- Free Community Edition under a perpetual license.
- Enterprise Trial includes expert technical support.
Watch out
- Community Edition is limited to two nodes.
- Each Community Edition node is limited to two CPU cores and 8 GB RAM.
Who it suits
DolphinDB may suit teams building real-time analytics or stream-processing systems, including organizations in the listed industries. The free editions may be relevant to users who can work within the Community Edition’s node and resource limits or want to evaluate the Enterprise Trial.
Verdict
DolphinDB combines time-series storage, analytics, and streaming capabilities with several deployment options. The Community Edition has clear capacity limits; the Enterprise Trial is listed at no cost and includes technical support.
Plans and prices
From DolphinDB's own pricing page, checked 3 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| DolphinDB Community Edition | Free | Up to 2 nodes · 2 CPU cores and 8 GB RAM per node · Perpetual license |
| DolphinDB Enterprise Trial | Free | Supports high-availability clusters · Expert technical support |
The facts
Each one read from DolphinDB's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Analytics
- The product page says DolphinDB offers more than 1,500 built-in functions for analytical tasks.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Database engines
- It provides storage engines for time-series databases, OLAP, and in-memory OLTP use cases.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- The maker describes cloud, on-premise, and hybrid deployment options with horizontal cluster scaling.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Editor integration
- The DolphinDB VS Code extension lets users write and execute DolphinDB scripts and supports code completion, multi-user connections, version control, and debugging.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Enterprise components
- Swordfish is an embedded version of DolphinDB, Shark is its GPU version, Starfish supports quantitative research workflows, and Octopus is a complex event processing engine.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Kafka integration
- The Kafka plugin can publish or subscribe to Kafka streams using JSON, DolphinDB, or string formats; on ARM Linux it lacks SASL authentication support and zstd compatibility.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Product
- DolphinDB is a real-time analytics and stream-processing platform powered by a high-performance time-series database.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Programming
- DolphinDB supports imperative, vectorized, functional, and SQL programming paradigms.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Python API
- The DolphinDB Python API supports Windows amd64, Linux x86_64 and aarch64, and Mac x86_64 and arm64 in the documented environments.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Scaling and availability
- Its distributed system supports horizontal scaling, load balancing, fault tolerance, distributed transactions, and high availability across data nodes, controllers, streaming, and API clients.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Security
- The maker documents user and group access controls, multiple privilege types, function views, RSA encryption, and HTTPS support.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Streaming
- DolphinDB provides more than 10 streaming engines and lets batch and stream processing use the same metric expression.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Support
- The Enterprise Trial listing includes expert technical support.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Use cases
- The maker describes use in finance, energy, power, transportation, industrial manufacturing, and scientific research.checked 3 Oct 2026
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