Softwr

Databases · head to head

PostgreSQL vs RisingWave

PostgreSQL logo

PostgreSQL

Databases

The world's most advanced open source relational database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
RisingWave logo

RisingWave

Databases

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: PostgreSQL requires manual scaling across multiple machines for very large deployments; 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.
  • They diverge on capability: PostgreSQL covers ACID Compliance, RisingWave covers SQL materialised views.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which PostgreSQL and RisingWave actually diverge.

Attributes where PostgreSQL and RisingWave differ
AttributePostgreSQLRisingWave
Pricing modelUnknownPer RisingWave Unit hour
PlatformsLinux, Windows, macOS, BSD, UnixLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud
Founded1996Unknown

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 PostgreSQL

  • ACID Compliance
  • JSON/JSONB Support
  • Full-text Search
  • Extensibility
  • Advanced Indexing
  • Partitioning
  • Replication
  • pgAdmin

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.

PostgreSQL

  • Transaction processingnot RisingWave
  • Data storagenot RisingWave
  • Application backendnot RisingWave
  • Reportingnot RisingWave
  • Data analyticsnot RisingWave

RisingWave

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

Where each one falls short

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

PostgreSQL

  • Requires manual scaling across multiple machines for very large deployments
  • Performance tuning requires deep knowledge of database internals
  • No built-in graphical admin interface; command-line tools are primary method

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

PostgreSQL

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the PostgreSQL review.

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$0.227/hour
    • Billed per RisingWave Unit hour
    • Hosted on AWS, GCP or Azure
    • Capped at 64 cores
  • Cloud Pro$undefined/year
    • No core limit
    • Bring your own cloud option
    • Premium features included
  • Self-managed Enterprise$undefined/year
    • On premises or Kubernetes
    • Premium features unlocked by licence
    • Annual contract with SLA

Which should you pick?

Choose PostgreSQL if

  • You need acid compliance.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Unix.
  • You also want json/jsonb support.
PostgreSQL review

Choose RisingWave if

  • You need sql materialised views.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want postgres wire compatibility.
RisingWave review

Questions people ask

Is PostgreSQL or RisingWave better?
Neither clearly leads. PostgreSQL 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, PostgreSQL or RisingWave?
PostgreSQL starts at Free and RisingWave at Free.
Does PostgreSQL or RisingWave run on more platforms?
PostgreSQL runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Unix. RisingWave runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use PostgreSQL for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is PostgreSQL best used for?
PostgreSQL is most often used for transaction processing, data storage, application backend, reporting. Of those, transaction processing and data storage are not what RisingWave is typically brought in for.
What can PostgreSQL do that RisingWave cannot?
PostgreSQL covers ACID Compliance, JSON/JSONB Support, Full-text Search, Extensibility. RisingWave covers SQL materialised views, Postgres wire compatibility, Object storage state, Source connectors.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

PostgreSQL: Is PostgreSQL completely free?

Yes. PostgreSQL is completely free and open source with no licensing fees or restrictions on use.

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.

PostgreSQL: What platforms does PostgreSQL run on?

PostgreSQL runs on all major operating systems including Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, and commercial Unix variants, and has been proven highly scalable managing terabytes to petabytes of data.

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.

PostgreSQL: What procedural languages are supported?

PostgreSQL supports stored functions and procedures in multiple languages including PL/pgSQL, Perl, Python, Tcl, Java, JavaScript, R, and Rust.

Source
RisingWave: Does it replace Flink?

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

PostgreSQL: What is ACID compliance in PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL has been ACID-compliant since 2001, ensuring data integrity through atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability guarantees for all transactions.

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.

PostgreSQL: Does PostgreSQL support JSON data?

Yes. PostgreSQL supports JSON and JSONB data types for storing and querying JSON documents, along with XML and other document formats.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on PostgreSQL

More on RisingWave

Keep looking

Other head to heads