How to choose (quick checklist)
- Just want to try RisingWave locally? Use Standalone mode.
- Need production reliability with minimal ops? Use RisingWave Cloud.
Quick comparison
| Deployment option | Time to deploy | Production use? | Best for | Documentation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standalone mode (Script, Docker, or Homebrew) | < 5 minutes | No | Learning, development, quick experiments | Standalone mode |
| RisingWave Cloud | < 5 minutes | Yes | Managed production deployments | RisingWave Cloud |
| Docker Compose | < 5 minutes | No (testing only) | Local testing with bundled services | Docker Compose |
| Kubernetes (Helm) | ~30 minutes | Yes | Self-managed production deployments (simpler) | Kubernetes (Helm) |
| Kubernetes (Operator) | ~30 minutes | Yes | Self-managed production deployments (more automation) | Kubernetes (Operator) |
Recommendations
Quick start and development
Recommended: Standalone mode Best for learning, development, and quick testing. It runs as a single process and gets you started in minutes. Learn more →Production environments
Recommended: RisingWave Cloud (managed) or Kubernetes (self-managed)- RisingWave Cloud: Fully managed. Best when you want production reliability without infrastructure management.
- Kubernetes: Self-managed. Best when you need full control and already operate Kubernetes in production.