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Developer Tools · head to head

Depot vs RisingWave

Depot logo

Depot

Developer Tools

Cloud-based builds and CI runs 55x faster with less cost

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit DepotFull 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

  • Depot is a cloud-based CI/CD platform.
  • Free plans on both; paid from $20/mo and $0.227/mo.
  • Only Depot lists Depot CI; only RisingWave lists SQL materialised views.
  • Where Depot falls short: developer plan minute limits may be insufficient for active development.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Depot and RisingWave actually diverge.

Attributes where Depot and RisingWave differ
AttributeDepotRisingWave
PlatformsWeb, GitHub, APILinux, Self-hosted, Web
CategoryDeveloper ToolsDatabases

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

Not yet recorded: pricing model for Depot, founded for RisingWave.

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 Depot

  • Depot CI
  • Container builds
  • GitHub Actions runners
  • Distributed caching
  • Build API
  • Depot Registry
  • Cross-platform builds
  • SSH debugging

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.

Depot

  • Accelerating Docker builds for container-based developmentnot RisingWave
  • Replacing GitHub Actions runners with faster infrastructurenot RisingWave
  • Distributing cache across Monorepo buildsnot RisingWave
  • Debugging failed CI builds interactively with SSHnot RisingWave

RisingWave

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

Where each one falls short

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

Depot

  • Developer plan minute limits may be insufficient for active development
  • Startup plan at $200/mo is expensive for smaller teams
  • Business plan requires custom pricing consultation
  • macOS M2 runners not available on Developer plan

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

Depot

Free
  • Developer$20/mo
    • 1 user
    • 500 Docker build minutes per month
    • 2,000 Depot CI minutes per month
  • Startup$200/mo
    • Unlimited users
    • 5,000 Docker build minutes per month
    • 20,000 Depot CI minutes per month
  • BusinessOn request
    • Custom pricing
    • Unlimited users
    • Custom monthly compute

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 Depot if

  • You need depot ci.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, GitHub, API.
  • You also want container builds.
Depot 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 Depot or RisingWave better?
Neither clearly leads. Depot 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, Depot or RisingWave?
Depot starts at Free and RisingWave at Free.
Does Depot or RisingWave run on more platforms?
Depot runs on Web, GitHub, API. RisingWave runs on Linux, Self-hosted, Web.
Can I use Depot for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Depot best used for?
Depot is most often used for accelerating docker builds for container-based development, replacing github actions runners with faster infrastructure, distributing cache across monorepo builds, debugging failed ci builds interactively with ssh. Of those, accelerating docker builds for container-based development and replacing github actions runners with faster infrastructure are not what RisingWave is typically brought in for.
What can Depot do that RisingWave cannot?
Depot covers Depot CI, Container builds, GitHub Actions runners, Distributed caching. RisingWave covers SQL materialised views, Postgres wire compatibility, Object storage state, Source connectors.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Depot: How much faster are Depot runners compared to GitHub Actions?

Depot runners offer 30% faster CPUs and 10x faster networking than standard GitHub-hosted runners, enabling builds to complete significantly faster.

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.

Depot: What is included in the Developer plan?

Developer plan ($20/month) includes 500 Docker build minutes, 2,000 Depot CI minutes, 2,000 GitHub Actions minutes, 25 GB storage, unlimited concurrency, and community support.

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.

Depot: Can I use Depot with my own AWS account?

Yes, Depot Managed allows deployment within customer AWS accounts. This is available to interested customers; contact sales for details.

Source
RisingWave: Does it replace Flink?

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

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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