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Databases · head to head

EMQX vs Timeplus

EMQX logo

EMQX

Databases

Erlang MQTT broker for large IoT fleets, relicensed to BSL with production free use limited to one node

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Timeplus logo

Timeplus

Databases

Streaming SQL engine built on ClickHouse internals, shipping as one small binary

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: EMQX the move to Business Source Licence 1.1 at version 5.9 in May 2025 limits free production use to a single node, so the clustering that justifies choosing EMQX now requires a paid subscription from the second node onward.; Timeplus proton, the free version, is single-node by design, so any requirement for high availability or horizontal scale forces the commercial licence; the open source edition is a trial in practical terms.
  • They diverge on capability: EMQX covers Erlang clustering, Timeplus covers Streaming SQL.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which EMQX and Timeplus actually diverge.

Attributes where EMQX and Timeplus differ
AttributeEMQXTimeplus
Pricing modelPer month by connection and session volumePer month for cloud, quoted for self-hosted
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud, macOSLinux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes, Web

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 EMQX

  • Erlang clustering
  • MQTT 5.0 and QUIC
  • Rule engine
  • Data integration sinks
  • Session persistence
  • Multi protocol gateways
  • Authentication and authorisation
  • Dashboard and REST API

Only in Timeplus

  • Streaming SQL
  • Unified streaming and historical
  • ClickHouse-based engine
  • Single binary deployment
  • External streams
  • Materialised views

What people use each for

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

EMQX

  • A connected vehicle platform needing millions of persistent MQTT sessions with QUIC for handover across mobile networksnot Timeplus
  • An industrial operator routing sensor telemetry straight into TimescaleDB or Kafka without writing a consumer servicenot Timeplus
  • An IoT product team that has outgrown a single Mosquitto instance and needs clustering and shared subscriptionsnot Timeplus
  • A smart building deployment mixing MQTT, CoAP and LwM2M devices on one brokernot Timeplus

Timeplus

  • Real-time alerting on Kafka topics where standing up a Flink cluster is more work than the use case justifiesnot EMQX
  • Fraud or anomaly detection that must join a live event stream against recent history in one querynot EMQX
  • Streaming ETL from Kafka or MySQL change data capture into ClickHouse without writing Javanot EMQX
  • A small data team that needs continuous aggregation but has no platform engineers to operate JVM infrastructurenot EMQX

Where each one falls short

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

EMQX

  • The move to Business Source Licence 1.1 at version 5.9 in May 2025 limits free production use to a single node, so the clustering that justifies choosing EMQX now requires a paid subscription from the second node onward.
  • The relicensing arrived in a minor release, which caught users who had pinned to 5.x expecting Apache 2.0 terms and forced legal review of existing deployments.
  • Running an Erlang/OTP cluster well requires operational knowledge most teams do not have, and diagnosing distribution, mnesia or memory issues means learning a runtime you use for nothing else.
  • Enterprise pricing is quoted rather than published for the self-managed edition, so the cost of the clustered configuration you actually need is invisible until you talk to sales.
  • The Serverless tier caps at around a thousand connections and shares infrastructure, which makes it a prototyping tier rather than a genuine small production option.

Timeplus

  • Proton, the free version, is single-node by design, so any requirement for high availability or horizontal scale forces the commercial licence; the open source edition is a trial in practical terms.
  • It is a young project against Apache Flink’s decade of production history, so the hiring pool, the connector library and the body of known failure modes are all much smaller.
  • Inheriting ClickHouse internals also inherits ClickHouse constraints: memory-hungry queries, awkward updates and a SQL dialect that is not portable to other engines.
  • Exactly-once semantics and state recovery guarantees are less battle-tested than Flink checkpointing, which matters if the pipeline moves money.
  • Cloud pricing is by provisioned instance size rather than usage, so a bursty workload pays for peak capacity around the clock or has to be resized by hand.

Pricing, plan by plan

EMQX

Free
  • Open Source single nodeFree
    • BSL 1.1 licence since version 5.9
    • Free production use of one node only
    • All former enterprise features visible
  • ServerlessFree
    • Free monthly quota then pay as you go
    • Up to 1,000 connections
    • 8 by 5 support
  • Dedicated Flex$234/month
    • Single tenant cluster
    • Traffic allowance included
    • 24/7 support
  • Enterprise self-managed$undefined/year
    • Deploy on premises, at the edge or in any cloud
    • Clustering licensed
    • 256 MB maximum message size

Timeplus

Free
  • Timeplus ProtonFree
    • Apache 2.0 licence
    • Single node only
    • Full streaming SQL engine
  • Timeplus Cloud$199/month
    • One to thirty-two CPUs
    • 4 GB to 128 GB memory
    • From 250 GB SSD storage
  • Self-hosted or BYOC$undefined/year
    • Multi-node clustering
    • Kubernetes or bare metal
    • Customisable compute and storage

Which should you pick?

Choose EMQX if

  • You need erlang clustering.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud, macOS.
  • You also want mqtt 5.0 and quic.
EMQX review

Choose Timeplus if

  • You need streaming sql.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes, Web.
  • You also want unified streaming and historical.
Timeplus review

Questions people ask

Is EMQX or Timeplus better?
Neither clearly leads. EMQX starts at Free and Timeplus at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, EMQX or Timeplus?
EMQX starts at Free and Timeplus at Free.
Does EMQX or Timeplus run on more platforms?
EMQX runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud, macOS. Timeplus runs on Linux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes, Web.
Can I use EMQX for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is EMQX best used for?
EMQX is most often used for a connected vehicle platform needing millions of persistent mqtt sessions with quic for handover across mobile networks, an industrial operator routing sensor telemetry straight into timescaledb or kafka without writing a consumer service, an iot product team that has outgrown a single mosquitto instance and needs clustering and shared subscriptions, a smart building deployment mixing mqtt, coap and lwm2m devices on one broker. Of those, a connected vehicle platform needing millions of persistent mqtt sessions with quic for handover across mobile networks and an industrial operator routing sensor telemetry straight into timescaledb or kafka without writing a consumer service are not what Timeplus is typically brought in for.
What can EMQX do that Timeplus cannot?
EMQX covers Erlang clustering, MQTT 5.0 and QUIC, Rule engine, Data integration sinks. Timeplus covers Streaming SQL, Unified streaming and historical, ClickHouse-based engine, Single binary deployment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

EMQX: Is EMQX still open source?

Not in the OSI sense since version 5.9. It is source-available under Business Source Licence 1.1, reverting to Apache 2.0 four years after each release.

Timeplus: Is Timeplus open source?

The core engine, Timeplus Proton, is Apache 2.0. Timeplus Enterprise and Cloud are commercial.

EMQX: Can I run a free cluster?

No. The additional use grant permits free production use of one node; clustering requires a commercial licence.

Timeplus: What is the difference from Flink?

Timeplus is one binary with SQL as the only interface; Flink is a JVM cluster with a Java and SQL API and far more operational surface.

EMQX: What changed for existing users?

Community and enterprise editions merged, so all features are now visible, but the licence terms tightened in the same minor release.

Timeplus: Can Proton run in production?

It can, but it is single-node only, so there is no high availability without the commercial edition.

EMQX: Which version is still Apache 2.0?

Releases before 5.9 remain under Apache 2.0, and each BSL release converts to Apache 2.0 four years after publication.

Timeplus: How much is the cloud?

From 199 US dollars a month, sized by CPU and memory, with a fourteen day trial.

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