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Web Development · head to head

Rollup vs Timeplus

Rollup logo

Rollup

Web Development

JavaScript module bundler built for libraries

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: Rollup slower than the Go and Rust bundlers that followed it, since it is written in JavaScript; 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: Rollup covers Tree shaking, Timeplus covers Streaming SQL.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Rollup and Timeplus actually diverge.

Attributes where Rollup and Timeplus differ
AttributeRollupTimeplus
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer month for cloud, quoted for self-hosted
PlatformsLinux, macOS, WindowsLinux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes, Web
CategoryWeb DevelopmentDatabases

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 Rollup

  • Tree shaking
  • Clean output
  • Multiple output formats
  • Plugin 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.

Rollup

  • Publishing a JavaScript library in several module formatsnot Timeplus
  • Builds where output size and cleanliness matter more than build speednot Timeplus
  • Producing ES module output for consumers who will bundle it themselvesnot Timeplus

Timeplus

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

Where each one falls short

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

Rollup

  • Slower than the Go and Rust bundlers that followed it, since it is written in JavaScript
  • Application concerns like dev servers and hot reloading are not its job, so app builds need Vite on top
  • Configuration for non-trivial applications gets verbose compared with tools that assume more

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

Rollup

Free
  • RollupFree
    • Full functionality
    • Commercial use permitted
    • Community support

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 Rollup if

  • You need tree shaking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want clean output.
Rollup 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 Rollup or Timeplus better?
Neither clearly leads. Rollup 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, Rollup or Timeplus?
Rollup starts at Free and Timeplus at Free.
Does Rollup or Timeplus run on more platforms?
Rollup runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. Timeplus runs on Linux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes, Web.
Can I use Rollup for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Rollup best used for?
Rollup is most often used for publishing a javascript library in several module formats, builds where output size and cleanliness matter more than build speed, producing es module output for consumers who will bundle it themselves. Of those, publishing a javascript library in several module formats and builds where output size and cleanliness matter more than build speed are not what Timeplus is typically brought in for.
What can Rollup do that Timeplus cannot?
Rollup covers Tree shaking, Clean output, Multiple output formats, Plugin API. Timeplus covers Streaming SQL, Unified streaming and historical, ClickHouse-based engine, Single binary deployment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Rollup: Is Rollup free?

Yes, open source under the MIT licence.

Timeplus: Is Timeplus open source?

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

Rollup: Rollup or webpack?

Rollup is the usual choice for libraries thanks to cleaner output and better tree shaking. webpack remains stronger for complex applications with heavy asset handling.

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.

Rollup: Do I need Rollup if I use Vite?

Not directly. Vite uses Rollup for production builds, so you already benefit from it.

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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