Imply Cloud pricing guide details
Pricing Overview
Imply Cloud operates on a usage-based pricing model through its fully managed Polaris platform, with enterprise options available for self-managed and hybrid deployments. There is no single flat monthly fee — costs scale based on project size, project type, and the volume of data you need to query at low latency. Imply also offers a 30-day free trial for Polaris, letting teams evaluate the platform before committing.
Imply provides three deployment tiers: Imply Polaris (fully managed cloud database-as-a-service), Imply Enterprise Hybrid (managed within your AWS VPC), and Imply Enterprise (commercial software for on-premises or public cloud deployment). Polaris carries published pricing, while Enterprise Hybrid and Enterprise require contacting sales for a custom quote.
Plan Comparison
Polaris pricing is structured around project sizes, with two project types — A-Series (compute optimized) and D-Series (general purpose) — to match different workload demands. Polaris compresses data by more than 90% once ingested, so the effective storage capacity is significantly larger than the raw project size.
Scroll sideways to see all columns. With a keyboard, focus this table and use the arrow keys.
| Feature | Polaris Starter | Polaris Standard | Enterprise Hybrid | Enterprise (Self-Managed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $100/mo | $600/mo | Contact sales | Contact sales |
| Deployment | Fully managed cloud | Fully managed cloud | Managed in your AWS VPC | On-premises or any cloud |
| Cluster management | Automatic | Automatic | Imply-managed control plane | Self-managed with Imply Manager |
| Scaling | Project-size based | Project-size based | Custom | Custom |
| Data compression | 90%+ | 90%+ | 90%+ | 90%+ |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial | 30-day free trial | No | Download available |
| Support | Standard | Standard | 24/7 committer-driven | 24/7 committer-driven |
| Performance monitoring | Included | Included | Advanced monitoring | Advanced monitoring |
Starter is a proof-of-concept environment limited to 25 GB. Standard offers A-Series (compute optimized) and D-Series (general purpose). Rates vary by region: the first published regional table lists A.01 at $1.30/hour and D.04 at $0.80/hour; larger projects cost more. Check the selected region and project size in Imply's official pricing tables.
Hidden Costs
While Imply publishes Polaris project pricing, several cost factors sit outside the headline numbers:
- Data ingestion and storage: Ingestion is billed separately per GB processed, and file storage has its own charge. Streaming and batch ingestion are measured independently. These charges sit alongside hourly project usage.
- Enterprise licensing: Both Enterprise Hybrid and Enterprise tiers require custom quotes. These typically include licensing fees, support contracts, and potentially professional services for initial setup — none of which are publicly disclosed.
- Overage and scaling charges: Usage-based models mean costs can spike during traffic peaks or data bursts. Without clear overage documentation, we recommend establishing cost alerts early.
- Integration and migration effort: While Imply emphasizes zero workflow changes, migrating from an existing data warehouse or observability stack will still involve engineering time for connector setup, query rewriting, and data validation.
- Support tier upgrades: The base Polaris plans include standard support. If you need 24/7 committer-driven support (the level included with Enterprise), expect additional costs or a required upgrade path.
Cost Model and Worked Example
Budget for project hours × the selected regional hourly rate, plus ingestion and file storage. The published Starter and Standard starting prices are plan entry points, not bills for every workload.
For example, 720 hours × $1.30/hour = $936 for A.01 project usage only, using the first regional table on Imply's pricing page. This assumes a 30-day month running continuously. It excludes ingestion, file storage and any other applicable charges; it is not a total monthly quote or a recommendation for a particular team size.
Choose A-Series or D-Series by testing latency, concurrency and capacity against your workload. A lower hourly rate alone does not establish a lower total cost.
How Imply Cloud Pricing Compares
Imply Cloud competes in the real-time analytics and data warehouse space, where pricing models vary widely from open-source self-hosted options to fully managed cloud services.
Scroll sideways to see all columns. With a keyboard, focus this table and use the arrow keys.
| Platform | What to compare |
|---|---|
| Imply Cloud (Polaris) | Project hours, ingestion and file storage for the required query workload |
| Neo4j | Whether graph queries meet the use case, then price the required database resources |
| InfluxDB | Time-series ingestion, retention and query requirements |
| TimescaleDB | PostgreSQL compatibility, time-series retention and required compute |
Compare equivalent workloads rather than entry prices: Neo4j is a graph database, InfluxDB focuses on time-series metrics, and TimescaleDB extends PostgreSQL for time-series workloads. Their billing units and included resources differ from Polaris.
If you are evaluating Imply alongside Splunk or Datadog, price the same ingestion, retention and query workload, including any separate collection or visualization tools. Published Polaris rates do not establish a savings percentage against your current contract. Enterprise deployments require a quote.