Comparison

Apache Kafka vs Google Cloud Pub/Sub

On the evidence we track, Apache Kafka leads this comparison with a composite score of 60/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Apache Kafka full profile →Google Cloud Pub/Sub full profile →

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★Apache Kafka60

Google Cloud Pub/Sub53

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	Apache KafkaLeader	Google Cloud Pub/Sub
Vioscale score	60 / 100medium · 51%	53 / 100low · 49%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	open_source	freemium
Price levelpricing.price_level	free	low
Transparentpricing.transparent	-	✗
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	4	3
Security
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	6.1	-
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fapache%2Fkafka&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0	-
Reliability
Status pagereliability.status_page	-	✓
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	1	-
Github starsadoption.github_stars	33,629	-
Package downloads weeklyadoption.package_downloads_weekly	5,508,093	-
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	100	-
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	Apache-2.0	-
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	Java	-
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide	Available worldwide · Popular in US · HQ US

Score

Vioscale score

Apache Kafka60 / 100medium · 51%

Google Cloud Pub/Sub53 / 100low · 49%

Pricing

Free tier

Apache Kafka✓

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓

Model

Apache Kafkaopen_source

Google Cloud Pub/Subfreemium

Price level

Apache Kafkafree

Google Cloud Pub/Sublow

Transparent

Apache Kafka–

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✗

Integrations

Count

Apache Kafka4

Google Cloud Pub/Sub3

Security

Scorecard

Apache Kafka6.1

Google Cloud Pub/Sub–

Vulnerabilities

Apache KafkaCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fapache%2Fkafka&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Google Cloud Pub/Sub–

Reliability

Status page

Apache Kafka–

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓

Adoption

Dependent repos

Apache Kafka1

Google Cloud Pub/Sub–

Github stars

Apache Kafka33,629

Google Cloud Pub/Sub–

Package downloads weekly

Apache Kafka5,508,093

Google Cloud Pub/Sub–

Activity

Commits last 30d

Apache Kafka100

Google Cloud Pub/Sub–

License

Spdx

Apache KafkaApache-2.0

Google Cloud Pub/Sub–

Language

Primary

Apache KafkaJava

Google Cloud Pub/Sub–

Market

Availability

Apache KafkaAvailable worldwide

Google Cloud Pub/SubAvailable worldwide · Popular in US · HQ US

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for message queues. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for Message Queues
Capability	Apache Kafka	Google Cloud Pub/Sub
Core
Messaging paradigm	Pub/sub	Pub/sub
Correctness
Delivery guarantee	Exactly-once	At-least-once
Ordering guarantee	Per-partition	Per-key
Durability
Durable replayable log	✓	✓
Message replay / rewind	✓	✓
Interop
Wire protocol	Binary over TCP (SSL/SASL for authentication/encryption)	-
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	Self-hosted only	Cloud only
Processing
Built-in stream processing	✓	✓

Core

Messaging paradigm

Apache KafkaPub/sub

Google Cloud Pub/SubPub/sub

Correctness

Delivery guarantee

Apache KafkaExactly-once

Google Cloud Pub/SubAt-least-once

Ordering guarantee

Apache KafkaPer-partition

Google Cloud Pub/SubPer-key

Durability

Durable replayable log

Apache Kafka✓

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓

Message replay / rewind

Apache Kafka✓

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓

Interop

Wire protocol

Apache KafkaBinary over TCP (SSL/SASL for authentication/encryption)

Google Cloud Pub/Sub-

Kafka-protocol compatible

Apache Kafka✓

Google Cloud Pub/Sub-

Scale

Partitioned horizontal scaling

Apache Kafka✓

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓

Geo / cross-region replication

Apache Kafka✓

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓

Consumption

Consumer groups / competing consumers

Apache Kafka✓

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓

Dead-letter queue

Apache Kafka-

Google Cloud Pub/Sub-

Deployment

Managed cloud offering exists

Apache Kafka✗

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓

Hosting

Apache KafkaSelf-hosted only

Google Cloud Pub/SubCloud only

Processing

Built-in stream processing

Apache Kafka✓

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Apache Kafka

Leader

Apache Kafka is a free system for capturing, storing, and processing data streams in real time. It enables organizations to reliably move large volumes of data between applications and systems, with support for transformations, aggregations, and stateful processing.

Independently observed

Google Cloud Pub/Sub

A cloud-based publish/subscribe messaging system that enables applications to ingest and stream event data at scale with guaranteed delivery, automatic scaling, and built-in replay capabilities. Integrates with data warehouses and stream processing pipelines for real-time analytics.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Apache Kafka

Leader

Open sourceFree tier

as of 2026-08-14verify ↗

Google Cloud Pub/Sub

from $0.27/moUsage-basedFree tier

Usage-based: $40/TiB throughput, $0.27/GiB-month storage. Free tier: 10 GiB/month throughput.

Standard Pub/Sub$40/TiB throughput + $0.27/GiB-month storage (first 10 GiB throughput free)
- At-least-once message delivery
- Per-key message ordering
- Pull and push delivery modes
- Cross-zone replication
- Automatic scaling and provisioning
- +1 more

as of 2026-08-05verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Apache Kafka	Google Cloud Pub/Sub
WebPlatforms	✗	✓
LinuxPlatforms	✓	✗
CLIPlatforms	✓	✓
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✗	✓
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✗

Platforms

Web

Apache Kafka✗

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓

Linux

Apache Kafka✓

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✗

CLI

Apache Kafka✓

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

Apache Kafka✗

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓

Self-hosted

Apache Kafka✓

Google Cloud Pub/Sub✗

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Apache Kafka

Leader

4 total

Postgres
JMS
Elasticsearch
AWS S3

Independently observed

Google Cloud Pub/Sub

3 total

BigQuery
Cloud Storage
Dataflow

Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.