Side by side
Raystack Stencil vs Redpanda
Both stand on schema registry software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Choose Stencil if you need a free, open-source registry for Protobuf, Avro, or JSON schemas, with version history and upload compatibility checks. Check the client limitation if your workflow refreshes descriptors after encountering unknown fields, since that behavior is listed for Java and Go clients.
Visit Raystack Stencil
Choose Redpanda if your team needs replayable event streams through a Kafka-compatible API and wants managed or self-managed deployment choices. Look elsewhere if the BYOC throughput and partition ceilings do not fit your workload, or if you need plan prices before contacting the provider.
Visit RedpandaThe facts
| Raystack Stencil | Redpanda | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | No |
| Runs on | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Not published | Free or on request |
| Plans published | None | 4 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | github.com | redpanda.com |
| On schema registry software | #14 of 26 | #10 of 26 |
Raystack Stencil: what it does well
- Supports Protobuf, Avro, and JSON schemas.
- Checks uploads for backward compatibility by default.
- Keeps versioned proto descriptor history by namespace and name.
- Provides gRPC and HTTP APIs plus a schema search CLI.
- Lists clients for Java, Go, JavaScript, and Clojure.
What to know first
- The server requires PostgreSQL 13.
- Unknown-field-triggered descriptor refresh is supported only by Java and Go clients.
- Ruby and Python clients are marked as coming soon.
Redpanda: what it does well
- Kafka API compatibility is designed to avoid application rewrites and tool changes.
- More than 300 pre-built connectors cover sources, sinks, databases, APIs, and more.
- Native Apache Iceberg support includes topics for lakehouse-ready tables.
- Deployment options include Serverless, managed BYOC, and self-managed environments.
- Clients are available for Java, C/C++, Go, Python, Rust, and Node.js.
What to know first
- BYOC and Enterprise Edition use annual commitments.
- BYOC has maximum write and read rates and a partition limit.
- Prices for the listed plans are not provided.
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