EMQX Tables

Note

EMQX Tables is currently a preview feature.

EMQX Tables is a fully managed, built-in time-series database service in EMQX Platform, powered by GreptimeDB. It provides a seamless way to store, query, and analyze MQTT messages without requiring the setup of an external database or integration pipeline.

With EMQX Tables, IoT data can flow directly from devices through EMQX into a scalable and efficient time-series storage engine, enabling real-time insights with standard SQL queries and native integration with popular visualization tools.

Powered by GreptimeDB

EMQX Tables leverages GreptimeDB, a cloud-native, high-performance time-series database optimized for fast ingestion, efficient compression, and scalable querying. This ensures your device data remains accessible, fast to query, and cost-effective at scale.

Why EMQX Tables?

Managing MQTT brokers and databases as separate systems often introduces integration complexity, delayed delivery, and higher costs. EMQX Tables solves this by offering:

• A unified data pipeline from the MQTT topic to the database to the dashboard.
• A zero-setup, fully managed backend.
• Real-time SQL-based querying and visualization.
• Single-vendor simplicity, no more jumping between tools, vendors, or security models.

Key Features

• Seamless MQTT Integration

  Ingest and store data directly from MQTT topics using the EMQX rule engine or direct sinks.

• Built-in Time-Series Database

  Powered by GreptimeDB, purpose-built for storing and querying time-series and telemetry data.

• High Performance

  Optimized for high-ingest scenarios typical in IoT systems, with support for real-time analytics.

• SQL and Protocol Compatibility

  Query using SQL or InfluxDB Line Protocol.

• Built for Visualization

  Easily connect to Grafana, Streamlit, and other tools to build dashboards for time-series data.

• Unified Experience

  No need to configure external storage systems. Manage both your MQTT broker and time-series database within the EMQX Console.

How It Works

1. Create an EMQX Tables deployment in the EMQX Platform Console.
2. Connect your EMQX Broker to EMQX Tables via built-in integration or rule engine.
3. Publish MQTT data to an MQTT topic (e.g. telemetry from devices).
4. EMQX automatically stores data in a GreptimeDB-backed table.
5. Use the SQL editor in the Console or connect via client tools to query the data.
6. Visualize device states and historical trends in Grafana or Metabase.

When to Use EMQX Tables

EMQX Tables is designed for IoT developers and data engineers who need a seamless way to store, query, and analyze MQTT data without managing external infrastructure.

You can use EMQX Tables if you:

• Want a fully managed, zero-maintenance storage solution for your MQTT data.
• Need to store and query telemetry or time-series data directly from the EMQX Platform.
• Want to build dashboards, analytics, or monitoring systems on top of device data.
• Prefer not to deploy and operate your own time-series database.

Common Use Cases

• IoT Telemetry Storage Capture and retain temperature, humidity, GPS, and sensor readings from connected devices over time.
• Operational Monitoring Track device metrics such as battery level, uptime, and status to power real-time alerting and monitoring systems.
• Real-Time Dashboards Visualize device states and historical trends using Grafana, Metabase, or other visualization tools.
• Data Analytics Run SQL queries on time-series data to generate insights, detect patterns, or power downstream workflows.

Pricing

EMQX Tables is billed as part of your EMQX Platform subscription with usage-based pricing on compute, storage, and egress traffic. Refer to Pricing and Billing for details.

Next Steps

• Create your first EMQX Tables deployment

• Integrate with EMQX Broker