Engine Overview

SeaTunnel supports multiple execution engines, allowing you to choose the best one for your use case. This document provides a comprehensive comparison to help you make the right choice.

Start Here

If you are evaluating SeaTunnel for the first time, use this rule first and read the full comparison second:

• Start with SeaTunnel Engine (Zeta) if you do not already operate Flink or Spark infrastructure.
• Choose Flink if your team already runs Flink clusters and wants to reuse that operational stack.
• Choose Spark if your team already runs Spark and your workloads are mainly batch-oriented.

For most new deployments, SeaTunnel Engine is the recommended default because it has the shortest setup path, lower operational overhead, and strong support for synchronization workloads such as CDC and multi-table migration.

Recommended Reading Path

• I want the shortest first-run path: Getting Started Overview -> SeaTunnel Engine -> Quick Start With SeaTunnel Engine
• I need detailed architecture context before choosing: About SeaTunnel -> How It Works -> Architecture Overview
• I already know my runtime platform: jump directly to SeaTunnel Engine, Flink Engine Guide, or Spark Engine Guide

Supported Engines

Engine	Description	Recommended For
SeaTunnel Engine (Zeta)	Native engine built specifically for data integration	New projects, data synchronization
Apache Flink	Distributed stream processing engine	Existing Flink infrastructure
Apache Spark	Distributed batch/stream processing engine	Existing Spark infrastructure

Quick Comparison

Feature Comparison

Feature	SeaTunnel Engine	Flink	Spark
Batch Processing	✅	✅	✅
Stream Processing	✅	✅	✅
CDC Support	✅	✅	❌
Exactly-Once	✅	✅	✅
Multi-Table Sync	✅	✅	✅
Schema Evolution	✅	✅	❌
REST API	✅	✅	❌
Web UI	✅	✅	✅
Standalone Mode	✅	✅	✅
Cluster Mode	✅	✅	✅

Performance Comparison

Metric	SeaTunnel Engine	Flink	Spark
Throughput	⭐⭐⭐ High	⭐⭐ Medium	⭐⭐ Medium
Latency	⭐⭐⭐ Low	⭐⭐⭐ Low	⭐⭐ Medium
Resource Usage	⭐⭐⭐ Low	⭐⭐ Medium	⭐ High
Startup Time	⭐⭐⭐ Fast	⭐⭐ Medium	⭐ Slow

Ease of Use

Aspect	SeaTunnel Engine	Flink	Spark
Installation	⭐⭐⭐ Simple	⭐⭐ Medium	⭐⭐ Medium
Configuration	⭐⭐⭐ Simple	⭐⭐ Medium	⭐⭐ Medium
Dependencies	⭐⭐⭐ None	⭐⭐ Zookeeper (optional)	⭐ YARN/Mesos
Learning Curve	⭐⭐⭐ Easy	⭐⭐ Medium	⭐⭐ Medium

When to Use Each Engine

SeaTunnel Engine (Zeta) - Recommended

Best for:

• New data integration projects
• Data synchronization and CDC scenarios
• Users without existing big data infrastructure
• Scenarios requiring low resource consumption
• Real-time synchronization of many small tables

Advantages:

• No external dependencies (no Zookeeper, HDFS required)
• Optimized for data synchronization scenarios
• Dynamic thread sharing for efficient resource usage
• Pipeline-level fault tolerance
• Built-in cluster management and HA
• JDBC connection multiplexing

Example use cases:

• MySQL to ClickHouse real-time sync
• Multi-table CDC synchronization
• Database migration projects

Apache Flink

Best for:

• Organizations with existing Flink infrastructure
• Complex stream processing requirements
• Scenarios requiring Flink ecosystem integration

Advantages:

• Mature stream processing capabilities
• Rich ecosystem and community
• Advanced state management
• Integration with Flink SQL

Example use cases:

• Integration with existing Flink pipelines
• Complex event processing
• Scenarios requiring Flink-specific features

Apache Spark

Best for:

• Organizations with existing Spark infrastructure
• Large-scale batch processing
• Integration with Spark ecosystem (MLlib, GraphX)

Advantages:

• Mature batch processing capabilities
• Rich ecosystem
• Integration with Hive, HDFS
• Support for YARN, Kubernetes

Example use cases:

• Large-scale ETL jobs
• Integration with existing Spark workflows
• Batch data warehouse loading

Decision Flowchart

Start
  │
  ▼
Do you have existing Flink/Spark infrastructure?
  │
  ├─ Yes ──► Do you want to reuse it?
  │            │
  │            ├─ Yes (Flink) ──► Use Flink Engine
  │            │
  │            ├─ Yes (Spark) ──► Use Spark Engine
  │            │
  │            └─ No ──► Use SeaTunnel Engine
  │
  └─ No ──► Use SeaTunnel Engine (Recommended)

Configuration Examples

SeaTunnel Engine

env {
  parallelism = 2
  job.mode = "STREAMING"
  checkpoint.interval = 10000
}

Flink Engine

env {
  parallelism = 2
  job.mode = "STREAMING"
  checkpoint.interval = 10000
  flink.execution.checkpointing.mode = "EXACTLY_ONCE"
  flink.execution.checkpointing.timeout = 600000
}

Spark Engine

env {
  parallelism = 2
  job.mode = "BATCH"
  spark.app.name = "SeaTunnel-Job"
  spark.executor.memory = "2g"
  spark.executor.instances = "2"
}

Connector Compatibility

All SeaTunnel V2 connectors are compatible with all three engines. However, some features may have different behaviors:

Connector Feature	SeaTunnel Engine	Flink	Spark
CDC Connectors	✅ Full support	✅ Full support	❌ Not supported
Exactly-once sink	✅ Full support	✅ Full support	✅ Partial support
Multi-table read	✅ Full support	✅ Full support	✅ Full support

Migration Guide

From Flink to SeaTunnel Engine

1. Remove Flink-specific configurations (prefixed with flink.)
2. Keep common configurations (parallelism, checkpoint.interval)
3. Test with SeaTunnel Engine

From Spark to SeaTunnel Engine

1. Remove Spark-specific configurations (prefixed with spark.)
2. Keep common configurations (parallelism, job.mode)
3. Test with SeaTunnel Engine

Summary

Scenario	Recommended Engine
New project without big data infrastructure	SeaTunnel Engine
CDC and real-time synchronization	SeaTunnel Engine
Existing Flink infrastructure	Flink
Existing Spark infrastructure	Spark
Low resource environment	SeaTunnel Engine
Complex stream processing	Flink
Large-scale batch ETL	Spark

Next Steps

• SeaTunnel Engine Introduction
• Getting Started Overview
• SeaTunnel Engine Quick Start
• Flink Engine Guide
• Spark Engine Guide