Comparison

Google Cloud Pub/Sub vs Redpanda

On the evidence we track, Redpanda leads this comparison with a composite score of 66/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Google Cloud Pub/Sub54
★Redpanda66
Score
vioscaleAI score
Google Cloud Pub/Sub54 / 100medium · 50%
Redpanda66 / 100medium · 58%
Pricing
Free tier
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓
Redpanda✓
Model
Google Cloud Pub/Subfreemium
Redpandafreemium
Price level
Google Cloud Pub/Sublow
Redpandalow
Transparent
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✗
Redpanda✗
Integrations
Count
Google Cloud Pub/Sub9
Redpanda300
Security
Certifications
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
Disclosure policy
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
Redpanda✓
Gdpr
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
Redpanda✓
Scorecard
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
Redpanda6.5
Soc2
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
Redpanda✓
Reliability
Sla pct
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
Redpanda99.99
Status page
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓
Redpanda✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
Redpanda25
Github stars
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
Redpanda12,610
Activity
Commits last 30d
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
Redpanda100
Release
Cadence days
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
Redpanda6
History
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
Redpanda20 items
Language
Primary
Google Cloud Pub/Sub–
RedpandaC++
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
Google Cloud Pub/Sub6 items
Redpanda6 items

Capabilities

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

Core
Messaging paradigm
Google Cloud Pub/SubPub/sub
RedpandaLog / streaming
Correctness
Delivery guarantee
Google Cloud Pub/SubAt-least-once
RedpandaAt-least-once
Ordering guarantee
Google Cloud Pub/SubPer-key
RedpandaPer-partition
Durability
Durable replayable log
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓
Redpanda✓
Message replay / rewind
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓
Redpanda✓
Interop
Wire protocol
Google Cloud Pub/Sub-
RedpandaKafka protocol
Kafka-protocol compatible
Google Cloud Pub/Sub-
Redpanda✓
Scale
Partitioned horizontal scaling
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓
Redpanda✓
Geo / cross-region replication
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓
Redpanda✓
Consumption
Consumer groups / competing consumers
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓
Redpanda✓
Dead-letter queue
Google Cloud Pub/Sub-
Redpanda-
Deployment
Managed cloud offering exists
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓
Redpanda✓
Hosting
Google Cloud Pub/SubCloud only
RedpandaCloud + self-hosted
Processing
Built-in stream processing
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓
Redpanda✓

What each one is

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

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

Redpanda

Leader

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.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

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 ↗

Redpanda

Leader
HybridFree tier

Free tier (Community Edition). Cloud and Enterprise plans available via quote.

  • Community EditionFree
  • Enterprise EditionContact sales
  • Redpanda CloudContact sales
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
Web
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓
Redpanda✗
macOS
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✗
Redpanda✓
Windows
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✗
Redpanda✓
Linux
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✗
Redpanda✓
CLI
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✗
Redpanda✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓
Redpanda✓
Self-hosted
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✗
Redpanda✓
Hybrid
Google Cloud Pub/Sub✓
Redpanda✓

Integrations

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

In common (1)
  • BigQuery

Google Cloud Pub/Sub

12 total - 11 not shared
  • Cloud Storage
  • Dataflow
  • Splunk
  • Datadog
  • Striim
  • Informatica
  • Confluent Cloud
  • Apache Kafka
  • Knative Eventing
  • Looker Studio
  • Data Studio
Independently observed

Redpanda

Leader
23 total - 22 not shared
  • Kafka
  • PostgreSQL
  • Apache Iceberg
  • Snowflake
  • Google Cloud Storage
  • AWS
  • Google Cloud Platform
  • Azure
  • MySQL
  • Amazon S3
  • Databricks Unity Catalog
  • AWS Glue Data Catalog
  • Kerberos
  • Debezium
  • Schema Registry
  • Apache Spark
  • Grafana
  • Prometheus
  • Kubernetes
  • ClickHouse
  • ScyllaDB
  • Benthos
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Google Cloud Pub/Sub or Redpanda: 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.