whichdb
vs

Axiom vs SigNoz

Axiom: Managed event and telemetry store with schema-on-read ingest and the piped APL query language. SigNoz: OpenTelemetry-native APM and observability platform storing logs, metrics and traces in ClickHouse.

key differences

  • Licensing: Axiom is proprietary (Proprietary SaaS); SigNoz is open source (permissive) (MIT (core) with separately licensed enterprise directory).
  • Axiom is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than SigNoz (≤ 1 PB).
  • Only Axiom has full-text search, encryption at rest.
  • Axiom has a serverless option; SigNoz does not.

choose axiom for

  • +Application and serverless logs
  • +OpenTelemetry traces for startups
  • +Product and security event analytics
  • +Edge and CDN logs

best at · Observability, Real-time analytics, Time-series

choose signoz for

  • +Self-hosted Datadog or New Relic replacement
  • +OpenTelemetry backend for microservices
  • +APM with trace-to-log correlation
  • +Kubernetes infrastructure monitoring

best at · Observability, Real-time analytics

AxiomManaged event and telemetry store with schema-on-read ingest and the piped APL query language.
SigNozOpenTelemetry-native APM and observability platform storing logs, metrics and traces in ClickHouse.
overview
Primary model
Columnar / OLAP
Columnar / OLAP
Also supports
Time-Series, Search Engine
Time-Series
Type
Managed service
Backend platform
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Axiom, Inc.
SigNoz Inc.
First release
2020
2021
Latest version
–
0.147.0 (Oct 22, 2026)
License
ProprietaryProprietary SaaS
Open source (permissive)MIT (core) with separately licensed enterprise directory
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
10.9
17.0
Rank
#290
#195
GitHub stars
–
32.5K
Stack Overflow questions
–
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
None
None
ACID
None
None
Consistency
Eventual
Eventual
Schema
Schemaless
Schemaless
Architecture
Serverless, Distributed, Shared storage
Distributed, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
—
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
✓
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS
AWS
capabilities
Transactions
—
—
Joins
✓
✓
Secondary indexes
—
—
Full-text search
✓
—
Vector search
—
—
Geospatial
—
—
JSON
✓
✓
Change data capture
—
—
Triggers
—
—
Stored procedures
—
—
Materialized views
—
—
TTL / expiry
✓
✓
Pub/Sub
—
—
Columnar storage
✓
✓
In-memory
—
—
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
✓
✓
Encryption at rest
✓
—
Role-based access
✓
✓
Time travel
—
—
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
—
—
Streaming ingest
✓
✓
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
APL, MPL
SQL (ClickHouse), PromQL, Query builder
Client languages
Go, JavaScript, Python, Rust
–
Best for
Observability, Real-time analytics, Time-series
Observability, Real-time analytics
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Axiom vs SigNoz: FAQ

What is the difference between Axiom and SigNoz?

Axiom: Managed event and telemetry store with schema-on-read ingest and the piped APL query language. SigNoz: OpenTelemetry-native APM and observability platform storing logs, metrics and traces in ClickHouse. Licensing: Axiom is proprietary (Proprietary SaaS); SigNoz is open source (permissive) (MIT (core) with separately licensed enterprise directory). Axiom is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than SigNoz (≤ 1 PB). Only Axiom has full-text search, encryption at rest.

When should I choose Axiom over SigNoz?

Choose Axiom for application and serverless logs; OpenTelemetry traces for startups; and product and security event analytics. Choose SigNoz for self-hosted Datadog or New Relic replacement, OpenTelemetry backend for microservices and APM with trace-to-log correlation.

Is Axiom or SigNoz more popular?

SigNoz ranks #195 on the WhichDB Score (17.0/100) and Axiom ranks #290 (10.9/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Axiom and SigNoz open source?

No. Axiom is proprietary, closed-source software. Yes. SigNoz is open source. License: MIT (core) with separately licensed enterprise directory.