Apache Beam vs Apache Heron
Apache Beam
beam.apache.org
Apache Heron
heron.apache.orgSide by side
| Figure | Apache Beam | Apache Heron |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 0 |
| Spec score · Streaming Analytics Software | 9.0 (#1) | 7.5 (#16) |
| Spec score · Stream Processing Software | 9.0 (#2) | 7.5 (#18) |
| License | Apache Beam is distributed by the Apache Software Foundation under the Apache License version 2.0. | The project is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. |
| Security | Apache release files include OpenPGP signatures and SHA-512 checksums so users can verify downloaded files. | The GitHub repository page links to a security policy. |
| What it does | Apache Beam is an open-source programming model for building batch and streaming data-processing pipelines. | Heron is a real-time, distributed, fault-tolerant stream processing engine. |
Plans
In their own words
Apache Beam
Apache Beam is an open-source programming model for building data-processing pipelines across batch and streaming workloads. The same model can support both patterns in production, while runners provide different execution back ends, including Dataflow, Flink, Spark, and the Direct Runner. SDKs and quickstarts cover Java, Python, Go, and TypeScript. Pipeline building blocks include ParDo, GroupByKey, Flatten, and Combine, alongside windowing and triggering. Beam I/O connectors supply read and write transforms for external storage in batch or streaming pipelines, with catalog examples such as BigQuery, Snowflake, Apache Parquet, and Apache Iceberg. Beam Playground provides a way to try examples and transforms without a local installation. The software is free and open source; the listed plan is free, but execution costs depend on the runner and infrastructure selected. It targets data and software developers building pipelines on supported back ends. APIs may change before the first stable 1.x release, and semantic-versioning practice has exceptions.
Apache Heron
Apache Heron has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.