head to head · open source
kafka vs Timeplus
kafka has 34,117 GitHub stars, 15,657 forks, 574 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Timeplus has 2,280 stars, 112 forks, 77 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. kafka leads on adoption by 1,396% (34,117 vs 2,280 stars). kafka is written in Java under Apache-2.0; Timeplus is written in C++ under Apache-2.0. kafka has attracted 46% as many forks as stars, Timeplus 5%. kafka was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| kafka | Timeplus | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 34K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 16K | ⑂ 112 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick kafka if
- You weight community size — 34K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Timeplus if
- You want the Timeplus feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and Timeplus fits your workflow better
About kafka
Apache Kafka is an open source distributed event streaming platform used by thousands of companies for high performance data pipelines, streaming analytics, data integration, and mission critical applications. You need to have Java installed. We build and test Apache Kafka with Java versions 17 and 25. The release parameter in javac is set to 11 for the clients and streams modules, and 17 for the rest, ensuring compatibility with their respective minimum Java versions. Similarly, the release parameter in scalac is set to 11 for the streams modules and 17 for the rest. Scala 2.13 is the only supported version in…
read the full kafka overview →
About Timeplus
Fastest SQL pipeline engine for stream processing, analytics, observability and AI What's Timeplus Proton 🚀 The fastest SQL pipeline engine in a single C++ binary, for stream processing, analytics, observability and AI. A simple, fast and efficient alternative to ksqlDB and Apache Flink, powered by ClickHouse engine. 🔥 SQL for everything : Native source/sink (Kafka, ClickHouse, MySQL, Postgres, MongoDB, S3/Iceberg, OpenSearch etc.), Streaming ingestion, Multi stream JOINs, Incremental Materialized Views, Alerting, Tasks, UDF in Python/JS etc. ⚡ No JVM. No ZooKeeper. Zero dependencies. Just speed, control and…
read the full Timeplus overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is kafka or Timeplus more popular?
kafka has 34,117 GitHub stars and Timeplus has 2,280. kafka has the larger community by that measure.
Are kafka and Timeplus free?
Both are open source. kafka is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Timeplus under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between kafka and Timeplus?
kafka is written in Java and Timeplus in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, kafka or Timeplus?
Choose kafka if you want the larger community (34,117 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Timeplus if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.