# Apache Kafka vs NATS

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** NATS

| Attribute | Apache Kafka | NATS |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 57.2 (49% (low)) | 67.8 (58% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 1 | 24,884 |
| adoption.github_stars | 33,937 | 20,867 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 3,890,048 | 1,353,667 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"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. It is indexed under Message Queues.","source":"https://kafka.apache.org","question":"What is Apache Kafka?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Apache Kafka 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://kafka.apache.org","question":"Is Apache Kafka free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Apache Kafka supports Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://kafka.apache.org","question":"What platforms does Apache Kafka support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Apache Kafka can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://kafka.apache.org","question":"Can Apache Kafka be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 4 integrations for Apache Kafka, including Postgres, JMS, Elasticsearch and AWS S3. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://kafka.apache.org","question":"What does Apache Kafka integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Apache Kafka 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/kafka","question":"Is Apache Kafka open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"NATS enables components of a distributed software system to send messages to each other. It is an open-source project maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation and can be deployed across cloud environments, on-site servers, edge computing devices, and embedded systems. It is indexed under Message Queues.","source":"https://nats.io","question":"What is NATS?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"NATS 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://nats.io","question":"Is NATS free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"NATS supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://nats.io","question":"What platforms does NATS support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. NATS can be deployed cloud / SaaS, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://nats.io","question":"Can NATS be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed GDPR for NATS. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as NATS not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://nats.io/privacy","question":"What security certifications does NATS have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Yes. NATS 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/nats-io/nats-server","question":"Is NATS open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | An open-source, lightweight messaging platform that combines pub/sub, request/reply, and persistent streaming capabilities into a single system for building high-performance distributed applications. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"self","ordering":"per_partition","paradigm":"pubsub","protocol":"Binary over TCP (SSL/SASL for authentication/encryption)","message_replay":true,"persistent_log":true,"consumer_groups":true,"geo_replication":true,"kafka_compatible":true,"managed_offering":false,"stream_processing":true,"delivery_guarantee":"exactly_once","horizontal_scaling":true}` | `{"hosting":"self","paradigm":"pubsub","message_replay":true,"persistent_log":true,"consumer_groups":true,"geo_replication":true,"managed_offering":true,"horizontal_scaling":true}` |
| integrations.count | 4 | 12 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Postgres"},{"name":"JMS"},{"name":"Elasticsearch"},{"name":"AWS S3"}]` | `[{"name":"Stripe","category":"payments"},{"name":"Apache Kafka","category":"messaging"},{"name":"Apache Spark","category":"data_processing"},{"name":"Apache Flink","category":"stream_processing"},{"name":"RabbitMQ","category":"messaging"},{"name":"Prometheus","category":"monitoring"},{"name":"RisingWave","category":"stream_database"},{"name":"Caddy","category":"web_server"},{"name":"Deepstream","category":"messaging"},{"name":"Synadia","category":"platform_service"},{"name":"Gatling","category":"load_testing"},{"name":"Yii","category":"web_framework"}]` |
| language.primary | Java | Go |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"linux":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://kafka.apache.org","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T13:46:57.642Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://nats.io","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T15:14:05.510Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| release.cadence_days | - | 1 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.15.1","date":"2026-10-09T08:40:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.15.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.8","date":"2026-10-09T08:40:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.15.1-RC.2","date":"2026-10-06T10:57:55Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.1-RC.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.8-RC.2","date":"2026-10-06T10:56:59Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.8-RC.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.15.1-RC.1","date":"2026-09-28T17:12:45Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.1-RC.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.8-RC.1","date":"2026-09-28T17:12:29Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.8-RC.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.15.0","date":"2026-09-17T13:30:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.15.0-RC.2","date":"2026-09-15T16:27:50Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.0-RC.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.7","date":"2026-09-15T15:10:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.7-RC.2","date":"2026-09-14T15:48:51Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.7-RC.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.7-RC.1","date":"2026-09-10T16:05:31Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.7-RC.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.15.0-RC.1","date":"2026-09-07T16:35:00Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.0-RC.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.6","date":"2026-08-27T15:21:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.6-RC.2","date":"2026-08-26T17:01:24Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.6-RC.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.6-RC.1","date":"2026-08-25T16:47:43Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.6-RC.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.15.0-preview.1","date":"2026-08-24T13:33:40Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.0-preview.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.5","date":"2026-08-12T15:31:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.12.15","date":"2026-08-12T15:30:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.12.15"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.4","date":"2026-07-30T13:57:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.12.14","date":"2026-07-30T13:56:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.12.14"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 6.1 | 7.4 |
| security.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,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":29,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fnats-io%2Fnats-server%2Fv2&per_page=100","last_12m":14,"max_severity":"CRITICAL"}` |

## Capabilities (Message Queues)

| Capability | Apache Kafka | NATS |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Messaging paradigm | Pub/sub | Pub/sub |
| **Correctness** |  |  |
| Delivery guarantee | Exactly-once | - |
| Ordering guarantee | Per-partition | - |
| **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 | Self-hosted only |
| **Processing** |  |  |
| Built-in stream processing | ✓ | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-15T21:52:26.107Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*