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Apache Kafka vs RisingWave

Apache Kafka logo

Apache Kafka

Databases

Open-source distributed event streaming platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
RisingWave logo

RisingWave

Databases

Streaming database that maintains incremental materialised views in SQL instead of Flink jobs

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Apache Kafka operationally heavy to self-host: brokers, storage, rebalancing and upgrades are a standing job, which is why managed Kafka is a large market; RisingWave anything that does not fit SQL, such as custom windowing, complex event processing or heavy stateful logic, still needs Flink, so RisingWave often adds a system rather than removing one.
  • They diverge on capability: Apache Kafka covers Durable commit log, RisingWave covers SQL materialised views.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Apache Kafka and RisingWave actually diverge.

Attributes where Apache Kafka and RisingWave differ
AttributeApache KafkaRisingWave
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence fee; managed services billed separatelyPer RisingWave Unit hour
PlatformsLinux, Windows, macOS, Self-hosted, DockerLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Databases).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Apache Kafka

  • Durable commit log
  • Horizontal scale
  • Kafka Connect
  • Kafka Streams
  • Replication
  • Low latency

Only in RisingWave

  • SQL materialised views
  • Postgres wire compatibility
  • Object storage state
  • Source connectors
  • Sink connectors
  • Iceberg tables
  • Watermarks and windowing
  • User defined functions

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Apache Kafka

  • Moving events between services without point-to-point couplingnot RisingWave
  • Feeding analytics and warehouses from operational systems in near real timenot RisingWave
  • Replaying history to rebuild state after a consumer bugnot RisingWave
  • Buffering bursty producers ahead of slower downstream systemsnot RisingWave

RisingWave

  • A team with Kafka topics that needs continuously fresh aggregates for a dashboard without standing up a Flink clusternot Apache Kafka
  • A fraud or risk team maintaining rolling counters and joins across event streams expressed as SQL viewsnot Apache Kafka
  • A company doing Postgres CDC into a real-time denormalised view for search or servingnot Apache Kafka
  • An analytics group that wants streaming results landed directly into Apache Iceberg without a separate writer jobnot Apache Kafka

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Apache Kafka

  • Operationally heavy to self-host: brokers, storage, rebalancing and upgrades are a standing job, which is why managed Kafka is a large market
  • Overkill for straightforward job queues, where a simpler broker is easier to run and reason about
  • Ordering guarantees hold per partition, not per topic, and getting partitioning wrong is a common and expensive design mistake
  • The ecosystem is fragmented across the Apache project and vendor distributions, so documentation and tooling advice often assume a particular distribution

RisingWave

  • Anything that does not fit SQL, such as custom windowing, complex event processing or heavy stateful logic, still needs Flink, so RisingWave often adds a system rather than removing one.
  • The Apache 2.0 community edition excludes premium features behind a licence key, and which capabilities sit on which side of that line moves between releases, so a self-hosted plan can be invalidated by an upgrade.
  • Long-running materialised views accumulate state in object storage, and cost and recovery time grow with retention in ways that are hard to forecast before you are in production.
  • The Postgres compatibility is protocol level; it is not a transactional Postgres and using it as a general purpose database, with point updates or high write concurrency, goes badly.
  • It is a comparatively young venture-funded project competing with Flink, Materialize and warehouse-native streaming, and the ecosystem of connectors, operators and third-party expertise is much thinner.

Pricing, plan by plan

Apache Kafka

Free
  • Apache KafkaFree
    • Full platform
    • Kafka Connect
    • Kafka Streams

RisingWave

Free
  • Community EditionFree
    • Apache 2.0 licence, self-hosted
    • Core streaming engine and connectors
    • Premium features excluded and require a licence key
  • Cloud Basic$0.227/hour
    • Billed per RisingWave Unit hour
    • Hosted on AWS, GCP or Azure
    • Capped at 64 cores
  • Cloud Pro$undefined/year
    • No core limit
    • Bring your own cloud option
    • Premium features included
  • Self-managed Enterprise$undefined/year
    • On premises or Kubernetes
    • Premium features unlocked by licence
    • Annual contract with SLA

Which should you pick?

Choose Apache Kafka if

  • You need durable commit log.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, Self-hosted, Docker.
  • You also want horizontal scale.
Apache Kafka review

Choose RisingWave if

  • You need sql materialised views.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want postgres wire compatibility.
RisingWave review

Questions people ask

Is Apache Kafka or RisingWave better?
Neither clearly leads. Apache Kafka starts at Free and RisingWave at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Apache Kafka or RisingWave?
Apache Kafka starts at Free and RisingWave at Free.
Does Apache Kafka or RisingWave run on more platforms?
Apache Kafka runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, Self-hosted, Docker. RisingWave runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use Apache Kafka for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Apache Kafka best used for?
Apache Kafka is most often used for moving events between services without point-to-point coupling, feeding analytics and warehouses from operational systems in near real time, replaying history to rebuild state after a consumer bug, buffering bursty producers ahead of slower downstream systems. Of those, moving events between services without point-to-point coupling and feeding analytics and warehouses from operational systems in near real time are not what RisingWave is typically brought in for.
What can Apache Kafka do that RisingWave cannot?
Apache Kafka covers Durable commit log, Horizontal scale, Kafka Connect, Kafka Streams. RisingWave covers SQL materialised views, Postgres wire compatibility, Object storage state, Source connectors.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Apache Kafka: Is Apache Kafka free?

Yes. Kafka is open source under the Apache License v2 with no licence fee. Costs come from the infrastructure you run it on, or from a managed service such as Confluent Cloud.

RisingWave: Is RisingWave open source?

The community edition is Apache 2.0 and self-hostable, but a set of premium features requires a paid licence key.

Apache Kafka: How is Kafka different from a message queue?

A queue usually removes a message once it is consumed. Kafka keeps an ordered, durable log, so consumers track their own position and history can be replayed — which is what makes rebuilding state after a bug possible.

RisingWave: What does the cloud cost?

It starts at 0.227 US dollars per RisingWave Unit hour on the Basic tier, which is capped at 64 cores.

Apache Kafka: Who uses Kafka?

The project reports use by more than 80% of the Fortune 100, with over 5 million lifetime downloads.

RisingWave: Does it replace Flink?

For SQL-expressible transformations, often yes. For custom stateful processing and complex event handling, no.

Apache Kafka: Do I need to run Kafka myself?

No. Self-hosting is the operationally expensive option; managed services such as Confluent Cloud run the brokers for you and bill on throughput and storage instead.

RisingWave: Can I query it like Postgres?

Yes over the Postgres wire protocol, but it is an analytical streaming engine, not a transactional database.

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