vioscaleAI
Comparison

Apache Kafka vs Google Cloud Pub/Sub

No clear leader: Apache Kafka (57.2) and Google Cloud Pub/Sub (53.7) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Apache Kafka full profile →Google Cloud Pub/Sub full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Apache Kafka57
Google Cloud Pub/Sub54
Score
vioscaleAI score
Apache Kafka57 / 100low · 49%
Google Cloud Pub/Sub54 / 100medium · 50%
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/Sub9
Security
Scorecard
Apache Kafka6.1
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Status page
Apache Kafka–
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
Apache Kafka1
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
Github stars
Apache Kafka33,937
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
Package downloads weekly
Apache Kafka3,890,048
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
Content
Faq
Apache Kafka6 items
Google Cloud Pub/Sub6 items

Capabilities

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

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

An open-source system for capturing, storing, and processing continuous data flows at scale. Used to build real-time analytics, data connectors, and mission-critical applications.

Independently observed

Google Cloud Pub/Sub

Google Cloud's publish-subscribe messaging platform that delivers events to multiple subscribers with at-least-once delivery guarantees, cross-zone replication, and optional per-key ordering. It integrates with popular data processing, analytics, and monitoring tools for end-to-end data streaming solutions.

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

Open source
as of verify ↗

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 verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

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✗
Hybrid
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

4 total
  • Postgres
  • JMS
  • Elasticsearch
  • AWS S3
Independently observed

Google Cloud Pub/Sub

12 total
  • BigQuery
  • Cloud Storage
  • Dataflow
  • Splunk
  • Datadog
  • Striim
  • Informatica
  • Confluent Cloud
  • Apache Kafka
  • Knative Eventing
  • Looker Studio
  • Data Studio
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Apache Kafka or Google Cloud Pub/Sub: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

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