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APIs · head to head

Gravitee vs Timeplus

Gravitee logo

Gravitee

APIs

Open source API management platform for event-native APIs

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: Gravitee the entry paid API management tier is $2,500 a month and includes a single production gateway; 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: Gravitee covers API Gateway, Timeplus covers Streaming SQL.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Gravitee and Timeplus actually diverge.

Attributes where Gravitee and Timeplus differ
AttributeGraviteeTimeplus
Pricing modelfreemiumPer month for cloud, quoted for self-hosted
PlatformsCloud, On-premise, KubernetesLinux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes, Web
CategoryAPIsDatabases
Founded2015Unknown

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 Gravitee

  • API Gateway
  • Developer Portal
  • Analytics Dashboard
  • Kubernetes
  • Docker
  • Kafka
  • LDAP
  • Cloud support

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.

Gravitee

  • API gateway and lifecycle managementnot Timeplus
  • Exposing Kafka event streams as managed APIsnot Timeplus
  • Protocol mediation between event brokers and clientsnot Timeplus
  • Self-hosting an open source API gatewaynot Timeplus
  • Access control and authentication in front of internal APIsnot Timeplus

Timeplus

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

Where each one falls short

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

Gravitee

  • The entry paid API management tier is $2,500 a month and includes a single production gateway
  • Event management is priced separately, starting at $1,250 a month for the Comet tier
  • Tiers are gated on gateway and broker counts, so scaling horizontally means moving tier rather than paying incrementally
  • Data logging masking and other enterprise features are withheld from the lowest paid tier
  • 24/7 support requires the top Universe tier

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

Gravitee

Free
  • CommunityFree
    • API Gateway
    • Basic analytics
    • Community support
  • Enterprise$1500/monthly
    • Advanced features
    • SLA support
    • SSO integration
  • Custom$undefined/monthly
    • Custom deployment
    • Dedicated support
    • Premium SLA

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 Gravitee if

  • You need api gateway.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, On-premise, Kubernetes.
  • You also want developer portal.
Gravitee 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 Gravitee or Timeplus better?
Neither clearly leads. Gravitee 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, Gravitee or Timeplus?
Gravitee starts at Free and Timeplus at Free.
Does Gravitee or Timeplus run on more platforms?
Gravitee runs on Cloud, On-premise, Kubernetes. Timeplus runs on Linux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes, Web.
Can I use Gravitee for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Gravitee best used for?
Gravitee is most often used for api gateway and lifecycle management, exposing kafka event streams as managed apis, protocol mediation between event brokers and clients, self-hosting an open source api gateway. Of those, api gateway and lifecycle management and exposing kafka event streams as managed apis are not what Timeplus is typically brought in for.
What can Gravitee do that Timeplus cannot?
Gravitee covers API Gateway, Developer Portal, Analytics Dashboard, Kubernetes. Timeplus covers Streaming SQL, Unified streaming and historical, ClickHouse-based engine, Single binary deployment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Gravitee: What is Gravitee's pricing model?

Gravitee uses a tiered subscription model with monthly flat pricing. The Planet tier for API Management starts at $2,500/month with one production gateway, while the Comet tier for Event Management starts at $1,250/month.

Source
Timeplus: Is Timeplus open source?

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

Gravitee: Are there hidden fees with Gravitee?

No. Gravitee explicitly states there are no hidden fees, and all tiers include unlimited users and unlimited APIs under management.

Source
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.

Gravitee: What does higher tier pricing include in Gravitee?

Higher tiers add more production gateways, enterprise plugins, and enhanced support levels ranging from Gold to Platinum/Diamond support.

Source
Timeplus: Can Proton run in production?

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

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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