Comparison

Apache Pulsar vs NATS

On the evidence we track, NATS leads this comparison with a composite score of 75/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
Apache Pulsar59
NATS75
Score
Vioscale score
Apache Pulsar59 / 100low · 29%
NATS75 / 100low · 48%
Pricing
Free tier
Apache Pulsar
NATS
Model
Apache Pulsarcommercial
Price level
Apache Pulsarfree
NATSfree
Integrations
Count
Apache Pulsar35
NATS
Adoption
Dependent repos
Apache Pulsar316
NATS24,884
Github stars
Apache Pulsar15,315
NATS20,599
Package downloads weekly
Apache Pulsar
Activity
Commits last 30d
Apache Pulsar69
NATS100
Release
Cadence days
Apache Pulsar
NATS1
History
Apache Pulsar20 items
License
Spdx
Apache PulsarApache-2.0
Language
Primary
Apache PulsarJava
NATSGo
Market
Availability
Apache Pulsar

Capabilities

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

Core
Messaging paradigm
Apache PulsarPub/sub
NATSPub/sub
Correctness
Delivery guarantee
Apache PulsarExactly-once
NATS-
Ordering guarantee
Apache PulsarPer-partition
NATS-
Durability
Durable replayable log
Apache Pulsar
NATS
Message replay / rewind
Apache Pulsar
NATS
Interop
Wire protocol
Apache Pulsarpulsar://
NATS-
Kafka-protocol compatible
Apache Pulsar
NATS-
Scale
Partitioned horizontal scaling
Apache Pulsar
NATS
Geo / cross-region replication
Apache Pulsar
NATS-
Consumption
Consumer groups / competing consumers
Apache Pulsar
NATS
Dead-letter queue
Apache Pulsar-
NATS-
Deployment
Managed cloud offering exists
Apache Pulsar-
NATS-
Hosting
Apache PulsarCloud + self-hosted
NATSSelf-hosted only
Processing
Built-in stream processing
Apache Pulsar
NATS-

What each one is

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

Apache Pulsar

A distributed messaging system built for cloud deployments that enables applications to reliably publish and consume messages—either individually or as continuous streams—with sub-10-millisecond latency, supporting millions of independent topics and large-scale streaming workloads.

Independently observed

NATS

Leader

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.

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 Pulsar

Open source
as of verify ↗

NATS

Leader
Open source
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
CLI
Apache Pulsar
NATS
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Apache Pulsar
NATS
Self-hosted
Apache Pulsar
NATS
On-premise
Apache Pulsar
NATS

Integrations

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

Apache Pulsar

29 total
  • Kafka
  • RabbitMQ
  • MongoDB
  • Cassandra
  • Elasticsearch
  • HBase
  • HDFS
  • InfluxDB
  • Redis
  • Solr
  • DynamoDB
  • Kinesis
  • Azure Data Explorer
  • ClickHouse
  • PostgreSQL
  • MariaDB
  • SQLite
  • Debezium MySQL
  • Debezium PostgreSQL
  • Debezium MongoDB
  • Debezium Oracle
  • Debezium Microsoft SQL Server
  • Canal
  • Aerospike
  • +5 more
Independently observed

NATS

Leader

Not documented yet.

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