Ehcache vs Hazelcast Platform

Ehcache is a free, open-source Java caching library for keeping application data, database results, and web pages available to applications. It is designed to improve performance, reduce database work, and support scaling. It can run inside an application or in mixed in-process and out-of-process deployments, including terabyte-sized caches. Ehcache 3 supports off-heap storage, including configurations that rely on it exclusively, and is compatible with the JCache API defined by JSR-107. The project describes Spring Caching and Hibernate integration through javax.cache support. Configuration is available through XML or the Java API, and data can be shared between application instances using Terracotta clustered storage. Ehcache 3.11 also allows caches to share resources. It supports JTA-managed XA transactions, including two-phase commit and crash recovery, but documents Read-Committed as the only supported isolation level and Bitronix 2.1.4 as the only tested transaction manager. Ehcache 3.11 requires Java 8 or later and is the last release line to support Java 8. The license is Apache 2.0.

Hazelcast Platform brings a distributed compute engine and an in-memory data store together for real-time and AI-driven applications. It can process streaming data before storage, supporting action on data in motion, and provides fast reads and writes for interactive request/response workloads. SQL processing, stateful processing, event-time windows, and Java and SQL are listed capabilities. WAN Replication synchronizes clusters and supports automatic failover to a secondary cluster for disaster recovery. Security features include JAAS role-based access controls and TLS encryption for data moving between nodes and applications. The platform runs on public and private clouds, is available through AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure marketplaces, and supports hybrid deployment. Its Kafka Connector processes Apache Kafka topic streams and sends processed data back to Kafka. Hazelcast identifies mission-critical, data-intensive AI workloads as a focus, including use in financial services, retail, supply chain, and healthcare. The platform is available for Linux, macOS, and Windows, as well as through an API and self-hosted deployment. A free plan and free 30-day Enterprise trial are listed; the trial requires a requested license key. The annual self-managed subscription includes professional support, with pricing available by request.