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RisingWave vs Timeplus Proton

RisingWave: An Apache-licensed, Postgres-compatible streaming database that stores state on S3 and writes Iceberg. Timeplus Proton: A single C++ binary for streaming SQL, built on ClickHouse's engine with streams and windows.

key differences

  • RisingWave is primarily a relational database; Timeplus Proton is columnar / OLAP.
  • RisingWave is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Timeplus Proton (≤ 100 GB).
  • Horizontal scaling is native in RisingWave and none in Timeplus Proton.
  • Transactions: RisingWave offers limited ACID; Timeplus Proton offers none.
  • Only RisingWave has secondary indexes, vector search, change data capture, role-based access.
  • Only Timeplus Proton has columnar storage.

choose risingwave for

  • +Streaming ETL from Kafka or CDC into Iceberg
  • +Real-time monitoring and alerting dashboards
  • +Fresh ML feature computation
  • +IoT telemetry aggregation

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

RisingWaveAn Apache-licensed, Postgres-compatible streaming database that stores state on S3 and writes Iceberg.
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
RisingWave Labs
Timeplus Inc.
First release
2022
2023
Latest version
3.1.0 (Sep 21, 2026)
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
17.4
16.6
Rank
#191
#199
GitHub stars
9.4K
2.3K
Stack Overflow questions
–
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Small (≤ 100 GB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
None
Multi-region
None
None
ACID
Limited
None
Consistency
Strong
Eventual
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Shared storage, Client server
Single node, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
–
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
SQL (ClickHouse dialect with streaming extensions)
Client languages
Python, Java, JavaScript, Go, Rust, C#, Ruby
Python, Go, Java, JavaScript
Best for
Streaming, Real-time analytics, Lakehouse, IoT
Streaming, Real-time analytics, Observability, IoT
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

RisingWave vs Timeplus Proton: FAQ

What is the difference between RisingWave and Timeplus Proton?

RisingWave: An Apache-licensed, Postgres-compatible streaming database that stores state on S3 and writes Iceberg. Timeplus Proton: A single C++ binary for streaming SQL, built on ClickHouse's engine with streams and windows. RisingWave is primarily a relational database; Timeplus Proton is columnar / OLAP. RisingWave is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Timeplus Proton (≤ 100 GB). Horizontal scaling is native in RisingWave and none in Timeplus Proton.

When should I choose RisingWave over Timeplus Proton?

Choose RisingWave for streaming ETL from Kafka or CDC into Iceberg; real-time monitoring and alerting dashboards; and fresh ML feature computation. Choose Timeplus Proton for streaming ETL from Kafka into ClickHouse; real-time observability and security analytics; and edge or single-box streaming pipelines.

Is RisingWave or Timeplus Proton more popular?

RisingWave ranks #191 on the WhichDB Score (17.4/100) and Timeplus Proton ranks #199 (16.6/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are RisingWave and Timeplus Proton open source?

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