Softwr

Developer Tools · head to head

Deno vs RisingWave

Deno logo

Deno

Developer Tools

A fast, open-source, fully Node-compatible JS runtime with TypeScript baked right in

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit DenoFull review
RisingWave logo

RisingWave

Databases

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit RisingWaveFull review

The short version

  • Free plans on both; paid from $20/mo and $0.227/mo.
  • Where Deno falls short: egress bandwidth overage costs $0.20/GB which can become expensive for high-traffic applications.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Deno and RisingWave actually diverge.

Attributes where Deno and RisingWave differ
AttributeDenoRisingWave
Pricing modelFreemiumPer RisingWave Unit hour
PlatformsWebLinux, Self-hosted, Web
CategoryDeveloper ToolsDatabases

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes).

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 Deno

Nothing recorded that RisingWave does not also cover.

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.

Deno

  • Running TypeScript natively without transpilation overheadnot RisingWave
  • Migrating Node.js applications to secure-by-default runtimenot RisingWave
  • Deploying edge functions and serverless containers seamlesslynot RisingWave
  • Consolidating developer tools into single binarynot RisingWave

RisingWave

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

Where each one falls short

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

Deno

  • Egress bandwidth overage costs $0.20/GB which can become expensive for high-traffic applications
  • CPU time overage is $0.10/hour on Pro and Builder tiers, adding to costs for compute-intensive workloads
  • Enterprise pricing is not disclosed; requires sales contact

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

Deno

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1 million requests/month
    • 20GB egress bandwidth
    • 10 apps
  • Pro$20/mo
    • 5 million requests/month
    • 200GB egress
    • 50 apps
  • Builder$200/mo
    • 25 million requests/month
    • 2,000GB egress
    • 10,000 apps
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Custom limits on all metrics
    • 99.95% reliability SLA
    • Email support with SLA

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 ProOn request
    • No core limit
    • Bring your own cloud option
    • Premium features included
  • Self-managed EnterpriseOn request
    • On premises or Kubernetes
    • Premium features unlocked by licence
    • Annual contract with SLA

Which should you pick?

Choose Deno if

  • You want to start without paying.
Deno review

Choose RisingWave if

  • You need sql materialised views.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Self-hosted, Web.
  • You also want postgres wire compatibility.
RisingWave review

Questions people ask

Is Deno or RisingWave better?
Neither clearly leads. Deno 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, Deno or RisingWave?
Deno starts at Free and RisingWave at Free.
Does Deno or RisingWave run on more platforms?
Deno runs on Web. RisingWave runs on Linux, Self-hosted, Web.
Can I use Deno for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Deno best used for?
Deno is most often used for running typescript natively without transpilation overhead, migrating node.js applications to secure-by-default runtime, deploying edge functions and serverless containers seamlessly, consolidating developer tools into single binary. Of those, running typescript natively without transpilation overhead and migrating node.js applications to secure-by-default runtime are not what RisingWave is typically brought in for.
What can Deno do that RisingWave cannot?
RisingWave covers SQL materialised views, Postgres wire compatibility, Object storage state, Source connectors.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Deno: How much does Deno Deploy cost?

Deno Deploy offers a free tier at $0/month, Pro at $20/month, and Builder at $200/month. Enterprise has custom pricing. All plans include base request and bandwidth limits, with overage charges for additional usage.

Source
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.

Deno: What are Deno Deploy's overage charges?

Egress bandwidth overages cost $0.20 per GB. CPU time overages are $0.10 per hour on Pro and Builder tiers. Memory time and KV database operations also incur charges beyond included limits.

Source
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.

Deno: How many apps can I deploy on Deno's free plan?

The free tier includes 10 apps with up to 1 concurrent build. Pro tier supports 50 apps with 3 concurrent builds, and Builder supports 10,000 apps with 20 concurrent builds.

Source
RisingWave: Does it replace Flink?

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

Deno: How many team members can access Deno Deploy?

The free tier supports up to 3 team members. Pro supports 10 team members. Builder supports 25 team members. Enterprise has custom seat limits.

Source
RisingWave: Can I query it like Postgres?

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

Share

Related pages

More on Deno

More on RisingWave

Keep looking

Other head to heads