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Databases · head to head

NATS vs RisingWave

NATS logo

NATS

Databases

High-performance messaging system for cloud-native applications

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: NATS core NATS has no persistence at all, so messages are lost if no subscriber is listening; 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: NATS covers Very low latency, RisingWave covers SQL materialised views.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which NATS and RisingWave actually diverge.

Attributes where NATS and RisingWave differ
AttributeNATSRisingWave
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer RisingWave Unit hour
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, Docker, KubernetesLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud

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 NATS

  • Very low latency
  • JetStream
  • Single binary
  • Request-reply

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.

NATS

  • Service-to-service messaging where latency is the binding constraintnot RisingWave
  • Edge and IoT messaging where a lightweight broker mattersnot RisingWave
  • Replacing a heavier broker when the workload does not need its guaranteesnot RisingWave

RisingWave

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

Where each one falls short

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

NATS

  • Core NATS has no persistence at all, so messages are lost if no subscriber is listening
  • JetStream adds the durability but also the operational complexity NATS is chosen to avoid
  • A much smaller ecosystem than Kafka or RabbitMQ, with fewer connectors and integrations
  • Fewer people know it, so hiring and existing organisational knowledge favour the alternatives

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

NATS

Free
  • NATSFree
    • Full functionality
    • No usage limits
    • Community support

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 NATS if

  • You need very low latency.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes.
  • You also want jetstream.
NATS 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 NATS or RisingWave better?
Neither clearly leads. NATS 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, NATS or RisingWave?
NATS starts at Free and RisingWave at Free.
Does NATS or RisingWave run on more platforms?
NATS runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes. RisingWave runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use NATS for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is NATS best used for?
NATS is most often used for service-to-service messaging where latency is the binding constraint, edge and iot messaging where a lightweight broker matters, replacing a heavier broker when the workload does not need its guarantees. Of those, service-to-service messaging where latency is the binding constraint and edge and iot messaging where a lightweight broker matters are not what RisingWave is typically brought in for.
What can NATS do that RisingWave cannot?
NATS covers Very low latency, JetStream, Single binary, Request-reply. RisingWave covers SQL materialised views, Postgres wire compatibility, Object storage state, Source connectors.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

NATS: Is NATS free?

Yes, open source and CNCF-graduated. Synadia sells a managed service.

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.

NATS: Does NATS persist messages?

Core NATS does not — it is fire-and-forget. JetStream adds persistence, streaming and replay when you need them.

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.

NATS: NATS or Kafka?

NATS is far lighter and lower latency, and much simpler to run. Kafka is the answer when you need a durable replayable log and a large connector ecosystem.

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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