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Arroyo vs Timeplus Proton

Arroyo: A Rust stream processor with SQL pipelines, now owned by Cloudflare and powering Cloudflare Pipelines. Timeplus Proton: A single C++ binary for streaming SQL, built on ClickHouse's engine with streams and windows.

key differences

  • Arroyo is primarily a relational database; Timeplus Proton is columnar / OLAP.
  • Arroyo is built for larger datasets (≤ 10 TB) than Timeplus Proton (≤ 100 GB).
  • Horizontal scaling is native in Arroyo and none in Timeplus Proton.
  • Only Timeplus Proton has ttl / expiry, columnar storage, compression.
  • Arroyo has a serverless option; Timeplus Proton does not.

choose arroyo for

  • +Streaming ingestion into Iceberg/R2
  • +Real-time aggregation of Kafka events
  • +Lightweight Flink replacement for SQL pipelines

best at · Streaming, Real-time analytics, Lakehouse

choose timeplus-proton for

  • +Streaming ETL from Kafka into ClickHouse
  • +Real-time observability and security analytics
  • +Edge or single-box streaming pipelines

best at · Streaming, Real-time analytics, Observability

ArroyoA Rust stream processor with SQL pipelines, now owned by Cloudflare and powering Cloudflare Pipelines.
Timeplus ProtonA single C++ binary for streaming SQL, built on ClickHouse's engine with streams and windows.
overview
Primary model
Relational
Columnar / OLAP
Also supports
–
Relational, Time-Series
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Cloudflare (Arroyo Systems)
Timeplus Inc.
First release
2023
2023
Latest version
0.15.0 (Dec 1, 2025)
3.0.31 (Sep 17, 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
5.4
16.6
Rank
#385
#199
GitHub stars
5.1K
2.3K
Stack Overflow questions
–
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Small (≤ 100 GB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
None
Multi-region
None
None
ACID
None
None
Consistency
Strong
Eventual
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Single node, Client server
Single node, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
✓
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
Cloudflare
–
capabilities
Transactions
—
—
Joins
✓
✓
Secondary indexes
—
—
Full-text search
—
—
Vector search
—
—
Geospatial
—
—
JSON
✓
✓
Change data capture
—
—
Triggers
—
—
Stored procedures
—
—
Materialized views
✓
✓
TTL / expiry
—
✓
Pub/Sub
—
—
Columnar storage
—
✓
In-memory
—
—
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
—
✓
Encryption at rest
—
—
Role-based access
—
—
Time travel
—
—
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
—
—
Streaming ingest
✓
✓
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
SQL (DataFusion dialect)
SQL (ClickHouse dialect with streaming extensions)
Client languages
–
Python, Go, Java, JavaScript
Best for
Streaming, Real-time analytics, Lakehouse
Streaming, Real-time analytics, Observability, IoT
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Arroyo vs Timeplus Proton: FAQ

What is the difference between Arroyo and Timeplus Proton?

Arroyo: A Rust stream processor with SQL pipelines, now owned by Cloudflare and powering Cloudflare Pipelines. Timeplus Proton: A single C++ binary for streaming SQL, built on ClickHouse's engine with streams and windows. Arroyo is primarily a relational database; Timeplus Proton is columnar / OLAP. Arroyo is built for larger datasets (≤ 10 TB) than Timeplus Proton (≤ 100 GB). Horizontal scaling is native in Arroyo and none in Timeplus Proton.

When should I choose Arroyo over Timeplus Proton?

Choose Arroyo for streaming ingestion into Iceberg/R2, real-time aggregation of Kafka events and lightweight Flink replacement for SQL pipelines. Choose Timeplus Proton for streaming ETL from Kafka into ClickHouse; real-time observability and security analytics; and edge or single-box streaming pipelines.

Is Arroyo or Timeplus Proton more popular?

Timeplus Proton ranks #199 on the WhichDB Score (16.6/100) and Arroyo ranks #385 (5.4/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Arroyo and Timeplus Proton open source?

Yes. Arroyo is open source. License: Apache License 2.0. Yes. Timeplus Proton is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.