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Automation Integration · head to head

Decodable vs RisingWave

Decodable logo

Decodable

Automation Integration

Managed Apache Flink and Debezium with credit-based pricing and a free tier

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: Decodable credit pricing rewards intermittent work and penalises always-on pipelines: a single small task running continuously costs roughly 86 US dollars a month before any parallelism.; 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: Decodable covers Managed Flink, RisingWave covers SQL materialised views.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Decodable and RisingWave actually diverge.

Attributes where Decodable and RisingWave differ
AttributeDecodableRisingWave
Pricing modelPer credit by task hourPer RisingWave Unit hour
PlatformsWeb, LinuxLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud
CategoryAutomation IntegrationDatabases

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

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 Decodable

  • Managed Flink
  • Change data capture
  • SQL pipelines
  • Custom Flink jobs
  • Credit-based metering
  • Managed connectors

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.

Decodable

  • Streaming Postgres change data capture into Snowflake or Iceberg without running Debezium and Kafka Connect yourselfnot RisingWave
  • Real-time enrichment and filtering of event streams before they reach an expensive warehousenot RisingWave
  • A team that already writes Flink jobs but does not want to operate the cluster, checkpoint store or upgradesnot RisingWave
  • Replacing a fragile set of cron jobs and Lambda functions that move data between operational systemsnot RisingWave

RisingWave

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

Where each one falls short

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

Decodable

  • Credit pricing rewards intermittent work and penalises always-on pipelines: a single small task running continuously costs roughly 86 US dollars a month before any parallelism.
  • Parallelism multiplies tasks, so scaling a pipeline to keep up with throughput multiplies the bill in a way that is easy to under-forecast at design time.
  • The free tier retains streams for only 24 hours, which is too short to debug an intermittent failure that surfaces days later.
  • Java and Python transformations are gated behind paid plans, so anything the SQL layer cannot express means moving off the free tier immediately.
  • The operational layer is proprietary even though Flink and Debezium are not, so migrating to self-managed Flink later means rebuilding connectors, schema handling and monitoring from scratch.

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

Decodable

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to four concurrent tasks
    • Small and medium task sizes
    • 24 hour or 10 GB stream retention
  • On Demand$undefined/month
    • 0.12 USD per credit, billed monthly
    • Unlimited concurrent tasks
    • Small, medium and large task sizes
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • 0.10 USD per credit on pre-purchased annual capacity
    • Custom task sizes
    • Extensible retention

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 Decodable if

  • You need managed flink.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want change data capture.
Decodable 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 Decodable or RisingWave better?
Neither clearly leads. Decodable 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, Decodable or RisingWave?
Decodable starts at Free and RisingWave at Free.
Does Decodable or RisingWave run on more platforms?
Decodable runs on Web, Linux. RisingWave runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use Decodable for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Decodable best used for?
Decodable is most often used for streaming postgres change data capture into snowflake or iceberg without running debezium and kafka connect yourself, real-time enrichment and filtering of event streams before they reach an expensive warehouse, a team that already writes flink jobs but does not want to operate the cluster, checkpoint store or upgrades, replacing a fragile set of cron jobs and lambda functions that move data between operational systems. Of those, streaming postgres change data capture into snowflake or iceberg without running debezium and kafka connect yourself and real-time enrichment and filtering of event streams before they reach an expensive warehouse are not what RisingWave is typically brought in for.
What can Decodable do that RisingWave cannot?
Decodable covers Managed Flink, Change data capture, SQL pipelines, Custom Flink jobs. RisingWave covers SQL materialised views, Postgres wire compatibility, Object storage state, Source connectors.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Decodable: What is a credit worth?

0.12 US dollars on On Demand and 0.10 on Enterprise. A small task consumes one credit per hour, medium two, large four.

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.

Decodable: Is there a free plan?

Yes, up to four concurrent tasks with 24 hour or 10 GB stream retention.

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.

Decodable: Is it really Apache Flink underneath?

Yes, Flink for processing and Debezium for change data capture, both managed by Decodable.

RisingWave: Does it replace Flink?

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

Decodable: Can I run my own Flink jobs?

Yes, Java and Python jobs on paid plans; the free plan is SQL only.

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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