# Apache Kafka vs Redpanda

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Redpanda

| Attribute | Apache Kafka | Redpanda |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 57.2 (49% (low)) | 66.2 (58% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 1 | 25 |
| adoption.github_stars | 33,937 | 12,610 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 3,890,048 | - |
| 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":"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 system for capturing, storing, and processing continuous data flows at scale. Used to build real-time analytics, data connectors, and mission-critical applications. | 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":"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":"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 | 4 | 300 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Postgres"},{"name":"JMS"},{"name":"Elasticsearch"},{"name":"AWS S3"}]` | `[{"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":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"linux":true}` | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://kafka.apache.org","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T13:46:57.642Z"}` | `{"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 | - | no |
| release.cadence_days | - | 6 |
| release.history | - | `[{"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 | 6.1 | 6.5 |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.trust_center | - | https://www.redpanda.com/blog/soc-2-compliance-data-streaming-cloud |
| 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":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 | Apache Kafka | Redpanda |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Messaging paradigm | Pub/sub | Log / streaming |
| **Correctness** |  |  |
| Delivery guarantee | Exactly-once | At-least-once |
| Ordering guarantee | Per-partition | Per-partition |
| **Durability** |  |  |
| Durable replayable log | ✓ | ✓ |
| Message replay / rewind | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Interop** |  |  |
| Wire protocol | Binary over TCP (SSL/SASL for authentication/encryption) | 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 | Self-hosted only | Cloud + self-hosted |
| **Processing** |  |  |
| Built-in stream processing | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-17T06:32:00.865Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*