SummaryThis work presents a comprehensive literature review on different topologies of time‐to‐digital converters (TDCs). A brief history, applications, classification, characterization, and working principle of each TDC are mentioned. A survey of both Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Application‐Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) architectures is covered. The trade‐off with respect to applications, pros, and cons of different architectures and future scope of TDC as an alternative data converter is also explored.