Apache Beam vs Apache Spark
Apache Beam
beam.apache.org
Apache Spark
spark.apache.orgSide by side
| Figure | Apache Beam | Apache Spark |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Big Data Analytics Software | 9.1 (#1) | 8.1 (#13) |
| Spec score · ETL Software | 9.1 (#1) | 8.3 (#10) |
| Spec score · Streaming Analytics Software | 9.0 (#1) | 8.1 (#5) |
| Spec score · Stream Processing Software | 9.0 (#2) | 8.2 (#7) |
| Batch and streaming | A single Beam pipeline model can express both bounded batch data and unbounded streaming data. | Spark processes data in batches and real-time streams using Python, SQL, Scala, Java, or R. |
| Founded | 2016 | 2009 |
| License | Apache Beam is distributed by the Apache Software Foundation under the Apache License version 2.0. | The project website states Apache Spark 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. | Security features such as authentication are not enabled by default, and the documentation says deployments are not secure by default. |
| Support | Beam users can get community support through the user mailing list, Stack Overflow, and the Beam Slack channel. | The project directs users to mailing lists and community resources for help. |
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 Spark
Apache Spark is a free, open-source engine for large-scale data analytics. It processes batches and real-time streams using Python, SQL, Scala, Java, or R. Spark SQL runs distributed ANSI SQL queries on structured tables and unstructured data such as JSON or images; MLlib provides machine-learning algorithms for local use or cluster scale. The project also describes exploratory analysis on petabyte-scale data without downsampling. Listed ecosystem components include pandas, TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, Apache Kafka, Kubernetes, Delta Lake, and Apache Iceberg. Deployment options include standalone, Hadoop YARN, and Kubernetes. Spark runs on Windows and UNIX-like systems, including Linux and macOS, when a supported Java version is available. The 4.2.0 documentation lists Java 17, 21, or 25, Scala 2.13, Python 3.10+, and R 4.0+ (deprecated). Spark Connect separates client applications from clusters for remote access. Security is not enabled by default; Spark supports TLS for RPC connections and encryption of temporary local-disk data. The project is licensed under Apache License, Version 2.0.