# ActiveMQ vs Redpanda

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Redpanda

| Attribute | ActiveMQ | Redpanda |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 59 (29% (low)) | 66.2 (58% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 33 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 7,528 | 25 |
| adoption.github_stars | 2,465 | 12,610 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A message broker that facilitates asynchronous communication between services regardless of programming language, using standardized protocols. Supports high-availability configurations and can be deployed on-premises or through managed cloud services. It is indexed under Message Queues.","source":"https://activemq.apache.org/","question":"What is ActiveMQ?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"ActiveMQ is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://activemq.apache.org/","question":"Is ActiveMQ free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"ActiveMQ supports Windows, Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://activemq.apache.org/","question":"What platforms does ActiveMQ support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. ActiveMQ can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://activemq.apache.org/","question":"Can ActiveMQ be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. ActiveMQ is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/apache/activemq","question":"Is ActiveMQ open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"A data streaming platform designed to reduce operational costs while maintaining high throughput. Kafka-compatible with support for both managed cloud deployments (Dedicated, BYOC, Serverless) and self-hosted options, featuring tiered storage, built-in data transforms, and governance capabilities for AI agents. It is indexed under Message Queues.","source":"https://www.redpanda.com","question":"What is Redpanda?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Redpanda does not publish its prices. Pricing is quoted on request, across 3 plans (Community Edition, Enterprise Edition and Redpanda Cloud), so the figure depends on your seat count and requirements. We record this as a pricing-transparency signal rather than guessing a number. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.redpanda.com","question":"How much does Redpanda cost?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Redpanda supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.redpanda.com","question":"What platforms does Redpanda support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Redpanda can be deployed cloud / SaaS, hybrid, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://www.redpanda.com","question":"Can Redpanda be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 9 integrations for Redpanda, including Kafka, PostgreSQL, Apache Iceberg, Snowflake, BigQuery, Google Cloud Storage, AWS and Google Cloud Platform, plus 1 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.redpanda.com","question":"What does Redpanda integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 and GDPR for Redpanda. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Redpanda not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.redpanda.com/legal/security","question":"What security certifications does Redpanda have?","confidence":0.7}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | An open source Java-based system for asynchronous messaging between applications across different platforms. It supports multiple standard communication protocols and offers high availability features through message load-balancing and master-broker configurations. | A data streaming platform optimized for high performance and developer productivity, offering Kafka-compatible APIs with lower operational overhead. Available as a managed cloud service or self-hosted deployment. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"both","paradigm":"pubsub","protocol":"AMQP, STOMP, MQTT, JMS","persistent_log":true,"consumer_groups":true,"managed_offering":true,"stream_processing":true,"horizontal_scaling":true}` | `{"hosting":"both","ordering":"per_partition","paradigm":"log_stream","protocol":"Kafka protocol","message_replay":true,"persistent_log":true,"consumer_groups":true,"geo_replication":true,"kafka_compatible":true,"managed_offering":true,"stream_processing":true,"delivery_guarantee":"at_least_once","horizontal_scaling":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 300 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Kafka"},{"name":"PostgreSQL"},{"name":"Apache Iceberg"},{"name":"Snowflake"},{"name":"BigQuery"},{"name":"Google Cloud Storage"},{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"Google Cloud Platform"},{"name":"Azure"},{"name":"MySQL","native":true,"category":"database","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Amazon S3","native":true,"category":"storage","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Databricks Unity Catalog","native":true,"category":"analytics","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"AWS Glue Data Catalog","native":true,"category":"analytics","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Kerberos","native":true,"category":"authentication","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Debezium","category":"data_integration"},{"name":"Schema Registry","category":"schema_management"},{"name":"Apache Spark","category":"data_processing"},{"name":"Grafana","native":true,"category":"monitoring"},{"name":"Prometheus","native":true,"category":"monitoring"},{"name":"Kubernetes","category":"orchestration"},{"name":"ClickHouse","category":"analytics"},{"name":"ScyllaDB","category":"database"},{"name":"Benthos","category":"data_integration"}]` |
| language.primary | Java | C++ |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"web":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Open source and free to download and use. Professional support available from commercial vendors.","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://activemq.apache.org/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T08:34:39.952Z"}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Community Edition","summary":"Free, BSL license","description":"Free, source-available under BSL","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise Edition","summary":"Contact for pricing","description":"Commercially supported self-managed deployment","contactSales":true},{"free":false,"name":"Redpanda Cloud","summary":"Contact for pricing","description":"Fully-managed cloud service with Dedicated, BYOC, and Serverless options","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free tier (Community Edition). Cloud and Enterprise plans available via quote.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.redpanda.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T12:13:12.076Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | no |
| release.cadence_days | 4 | 6 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.10","date":"2026-09-22T04:34:56Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.11","date":"2026-09-02T18:17:39Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.3.2","date":"2026-08-29T15:39:07Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.3.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.3.1","date":"2026-08-06T14:44:33Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.9","date":"2026-08-06T15:19:04Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.10","date":"2026-08-06T20:10:51Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.3.0","date":"2026-07-24T11:39:40Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.8","date":"2026-07-24T07:53:25Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.9","date":"2026-07-24T13:59:42Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.7","date":"2026-06-25T05:29:05Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.8","date":"2026-06-25T05:59:26Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.6","date":"2026-05-27T11:37:10Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.7","date":"2026-05-27T12:14:13Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.5","date":"2026-04-21T16:26:33Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.6","date":"2026-04-21T16:52:16Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.4","date":"2026-04-08T16:23:38Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.5","date":"2026-04-08T17:00:50Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.4","date":"2026-03-28T05:44:50Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.3","date":"2026-03-27T18:33:08Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.2","date":"2026-03-20T12:34:58Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.2"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.2.2","date":"2026-08-22T00:45:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.1.17","date":"2026-08-20T00:03:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.1.17"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v25.3.17","date":"2026-08-20T00:04:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v25.3.17"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.1.16","date":"2026-08-13T19:25:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.1.16"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v25.3.16","date":"2026-08-13T19:13:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v25.3.16"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.1.15","date":"2026-08-07T03:37:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.1.15"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.2.1","date":"2026-07-28T17:59:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.1.14","date":"2026-07-24T11:39:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.1.14"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.1.13","date":"2026-07-17T02:23:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.1.13"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.1.12","date":"2026-06-28T05:05:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.1.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.1.11","date":"2026-06-25T23:58:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.1.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.1.10","date":"2026-06-12T15:46:57Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.1.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v25.3.15","date":"2026-06-04T21:12:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v25.3.15"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.1.9","date":"2026-05-22T12:40:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.1.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.1.8","date":"2026-05-14T12:16:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.1.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.1.7","date":"2026-05-08T12:48:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.1.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.1.6","date":"2026-04-22T01:35:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.1.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v25.3.14","date":"2026-04-16T14:42:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v25.3.14"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.1.5","date":"2026-04-15T14:20:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.1.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/releases/tag/v26.1.4","date":"2026-04-11T15:29:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v26.1.4"}]` |
| reliability.sla_pct | - | 99.99 |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.certifications | - | `[{"name":"SOC 2 Type II","status":"active","auditor":"Barr Advisory","evidenceUrl":"https://www.redpanda.com/blog/soc-2-compliance-data-streaming-cloud"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 7 | 6.5 |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.trust_center | - | https://www.redpanda.com/blog/soc-2-compliance-data-streaming-cloud |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":12,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=org.apache.activemq%3Aactivemq-broker&per_page=100","last_12m":9,"max_severity":"CRITICAL"}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fredpanda-data%2Fredpanda%2Fsrc%2Fgo%2Frpk&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Message Queues)

| Capability | ActiveMQ | Redpanda |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Messaging paradigm | Pub/sub | Log / streaming |
| **Correctness** |  |  |
| Delivery guarantee | - | At-least-once |
| Ordering guarantee | - | Per-partition |
| **Durability** |  |  |
| Durable replayable log | ✓ | ✓ |
| Message replay / rewind | - | ✓ |
| **Interop** |  |  |
| Wire protocol | AMQP, STOMP, MQTT, JMS | Kafka protocol |
| Kafka-protocol compatible | - | ✓ |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Partitioned horizontal scaling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Geo / cross-region replication | - | ✓ |
| **Consumption** |  |  |
| Consumer groups / competing consumers | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dead-letter queue | - | - |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Managed cloud offering exists | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hosting | Cloud + self-hosted | Cloud + self-hosted |
| **Processing** |  |  |
| Built-in stream processing | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:08:48.184Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*