Comparison

Apache Kafka vs Inngest

No clear leader: Inngest (60.6) and Apache Kafka (60.1) 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.

Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
Apache Kafka60
Inngest61
Score
Vioscale score
Apache Kafka60 / 100medium · 51%
Inngest61 / 100medium · 74%
Pricing
Free tier
Apache Kafka
Inngest
Model
Apache Kafkaopen_source
Inngestcommercial
Price level
Apache Kafkafree
Inngestlow
Transparent
Apache Kafka
Inngest
Integrations
Count
Apache Kafka4
Inngest5
Reliability
Status page
Apache Kafka
Inngest
Adoption
Dependent repos
Apache Kafka1
Inngest2
Github stars
Apache Kafka33,629
Inngest5,765
Package downloads weekly
Apache Kafka5,508,093
Inngest1,746,391
Activity
Commits last 30d
Apache Kafka100
Inngest88
Release
Cadence days
Apache Kafka
Inngest1
History
Apache Kafka
Inngest20 items
License
Spdx
Apache KafkaApache-2.0
InngestApache-2.0
Language
Primary
Apache KafkaJava
InngestGo
Market
Availability
Inngest

Capabilities

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

Core
Messaging paradigm
Apache KafkaPub/sub
InngestDurable execution
Correctness
Delivery guarantee
Apache KafkaExactly-once
InngestAt-least-once
Ordering guarantee
Apache KafkaPer-partition
Inngest-
Durability
Durable replayable log
Apache Kafka
Inngest
Message replay / rewind
Apache Kafka
Inngest
Interop
Wire protocol
Apache KafkaBinary over TCP (SSL/SASL for authentication/encryption)
InngestHTTPS
Kafka-protocol compatible
Apache Kafka
Inngest
Scale
Partitioned horizontal scaling
Apache Kafka
Inngest
Geo / cross-region replication
Apache Kafka
Inngest-
Consumption
Consumer groups / competing consumers
Apache Kafka
Inngest
Dead-letter queue
Apache Kafka-
Inngest-
Deployment
Managed cloud offering exists
Apache Kafka
Inngest
Hosting
Apache KafkaSelf-hosted only
InngestCloud + self-hosted
Processing
Built-in stream processing
Apache Kafka
Inngest

What each one is

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

Apache Kafka

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

Inngest

Provides an execution layer that automatically handles durability, retries, and state management for background jobs, scheduled tasks, and AI workflows through code-based function definitions.

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 sourceFree tier
as of verify ↗

Inngest

from $0.50/moSubscriptionFree tier

Free tier available. Pro from $99/mo + metered usage.

  • HobbyFree
    • 50k executions
    • 5 concurrent executions
    • 500 MB span data ingested
    • 10K scores
    • 500k events ingested
    • +6 more
  • ProStarting at $99/mo + metered usage
    • 1M executions included
    • Pay as you go up to 20M
    • 100+ concurrent executions
    • 5 GB span data ingested
    • 50K scores
    • +8 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • Custom executions
    • Custom concurrent executions
    • Custom span data ingested
    • Custom scores
    • Custom events ingested
    • +5 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
Inngest
Linux
Apache Kafka
Inngest
CLI
Apache Kafka
Inngest
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Apache Kafka
Inngest
Self-hosted
Apache Kafka
Inngest

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

Inngest

5 total
  • Datadog
  • Vercel
  • OpenAI
  • Discord
  • Deno
Independently observed

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