Pick Materialize if
data teams who will start the Cloud trial, then stay on on-demand at $1.50 / compute credit / hour when a live view must stay correct as the source moves.
Read the Materialize pageMaterialize vs RisingWave
Our take
Pick Materialize if data teams who will start the Cloud trial, then stay on on-demand at $1.50 / compute credit / hour when a live view must stay correct as the source moves. Pick RisingWave if streaming teams who will burn the 7-day Cloud trial (no setup), then pay $0.227 per RWU-hour on Basic — or stay on Apache 2.0 self-managed when they will operate Kubernetes themselves.
Materialize
streaming-SQL warehouse
RisingWave
streaming SQL database
Best for
Materialize Live views you pay per credit
RisingWave Always-on SQL views you start with a 7-day Cloud trial or Apache 2.0 on your metal
Free plan
Materialize No free plan
RisingWave No free plan
Lowest paid
Materialize Cloud Capacity (annual) $1.50
RisingWave Not published by the vendor
Runs where
Materialize
RisingWave Hosted
Watch out
Materialize Credits are not seats
RisingWave Cloud Basic is a 7-day trial, then RWU-hours
Last checked
Materialize 2026-10-23 · materialize.com/materialize-pricing
RisingWave 2026-10-22 · risingwave.com/pricing
Which one, then?
Pick RisingWave if
streaming teams who will burn the 7-day Cloud trial (no setup), then pay $0.227 per RWU-hour on Basic — or stay on Apache 2.0 self-managed when they will operate Kubernetes themselves.
Read the RisingWave page