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APIs · head to head

Janus Gateway vs StarRocks

Janus Gateway logo

Janus Gateway

APIs

WebRTC gateway and media server for real-time communication

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
StarRocks logo

StarRocks

Databases

Apache 2.0 MPP analytical database built for joins on open table formats

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Janus Gateway no commercial pricing published; open-source project without official commercial offerings; StarRocks self-hosting is a genuine operations job: frontend and backend node roles, tablet distribution, compaction and materialised view refresh all need an owner, and there is no small-team-friendly single-binary mode.
  • They diverge on capability: Janus Gateway covers WebRTC Gateway, StarRocks covers Cost-based optimiser.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Janus Gateway and StarRocks actually diverge.

Attributes where Janus Gateway and StarRocks differ
AttributeJanus GatewayStarRocks
Pricing modelopen-sourceOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsLinux, MacOS, BSDLinux, Docker, Kubernetes
CategoryAPIsDatabases
Founded2010Unknown

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 Janus Gateway

  • WebRTC Gateway
  • Media Routing
  • Video Conferencing
  • RTP
  • SRTP
  • REST API
  • Linux support
  • MacOS support

Only in StarRocks

  • Cost-based optimiser
  • Lakehouse query engine
  • Primary key tables
  • Materialised views
  • Shared-data mode
  • MySQL wire protocol

What people use each for

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

Janus Gateway

  • API Developmentnot StarRocks
  • API Gatewaynot StarRocks
  • API Testingnot StarRocks
  • API Documentationnot StarRocks
  • Microservicesnot StarRocks

StarRocks

  • Customer-facing analytics where queries join a fact table to several dimensions and must return in well under a secondnot Janus Gateway
  • Querying an Iceberg lakehouse directly without copying data into a proprietary warehouse formatnot Janus Gateway
  • Replacing a ClickHouse deployment that has become unmanageable because every new question needs another denormalised tablenot Janus Gateway
  • Real-time analytics fed by change data capture where rows must be updated in place rather than appendednot Janus Gateway

Where each one falls short

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

Janus Gateway

  • No commercial pricing published; open-source project without official commercial offerings
  • Community-supported only; no vendor commercial support or SLA available

StarRocks

  • Self-hosting is a genuine operations job: frontend and backend node roles, tablet distribution, compaction and materialised view refresh all need an owner, and there is no small-team-friendly single-binary mode.
  • CelerData is by far the dominant contributor despite Linux Foundation stewardship, so the practical roadmap risk is the same as any single-vendor open source project.
  • It inherits a MySQL-flavoured SQL dialect from its Doris ancestry, so queries written for PostgreSQL, Snowflake or Trino need rewriting rather than porting.
  • Ecosystem support is thinner than ClickHouse or Trino: fewer client libraries, fewer managed hosting options and a much smaller pool of engineers who have run it in production.
  • Memory pressure under concurrent large joins is a common production failure, and the tuning knobs for query memory limits are unforgiving compared with a cloud warehouse that just scales.

Pricing, plan by plan

Janus Gateway

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Core WebRTC gateway
    • Community support

StarRocks

Free
  • StarRocksFree
    • Apache 2.0 licence
    • Linux Foundation governance
    • No usage or node limits
  • CelerData Cloud$undefined/year
    • Managed StarRocks from the primary contributor
    • BYOC and serverless deployment options
    • Enterprise support and SLAs

Which should you pick?

Choose Janus Gateway if

  • You need webrtc gateway.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, MacOS, BSD.
  • You also want media routing.
Janus Gateway review

Choose StarRocks if

  • You need cost-based optimiser.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes.
  • You also want lakehouse query engine.
StarRocks review

Questions people ask

Is Janus Gateway or StarRocks better?
Neither clearly leads. Janus Gateway starts at Free and StarRocks at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Janus Gateway or StarRocks?
Janus Gateway starts at Free and StarRocks at Free.
Does Janus Gateway or StarRocks run on more platforms?
Janus Gateway runs on Linux, MacOS, BSD. StarRocks runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes.
Can I use Janus Gateway for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Janus Gateway best used for?
Janus Gateway is most often used for api development, api gateway, api testing, api documentation. Of those, api development and api gateway are not what StarRocks is typically brought in for.
What can Janus Gateway do that StarRocks cannot?
Janus Gateway covers WebRTC Gateway, Media Routing, Video Conferencing, RTP. StarRocks covers Cost-based optimiser, Lakehouse query engine, Primary key tables, Materialised views.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Janus Gateway: How much does Janus Gateway cost?

Janus Gateway has no pricing model; it is a free open-source WebRTC server developed by Meetecho. The general-purpose server is available for download at no cost. There are no subscription tiers or commercial licensing fees.

Source
StarRocks: Is StarRocks open source?

Yes, Apache 2.0, governed under the Linux Foundation since 2023.

Janus Gateway: Is Janus Gateway supported commercially?

Janus Gateway is community-supported open-source software with no official commercial support or SLA from the vendors. While Meetecho developed the project, users must rely on community documentation and forums for assistance.

Source
StarRocks: How does it differ from ClickHouse?

StarRocks is built for joins across a star schema with a cost-based optimiser; ClickHouse is fastest on denormalised single tables.

StarRocks: Who maintains it?

CelerData, formerly StarRocks Inc, is the dominant contributor and sells the managed service.

StarRocks: Can it query Iceberg tables directly?

Yes, along with Hudi, Delta Lake, Hive and Paimon, with a local cache for repeat queries.

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