# ActiveMQ vs Redpanda

| Attribute | ActiveMQ | Redpanda |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 66.8 (22% (low)) | 69 (59% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 39 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 7,528 | 25 |
| adoption.github_stars | 2,451 | 12,485 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A message broker that facilitates asynchronous communication between services regardless of programming language, using standardized protocols. Supports high-availability configurations and can be deployed on-premises or through managed cloud services. | 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. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"both","paradigm":"pubsub","protocol":"AMQP, STOMP, MQTT, JMS","persistent_log":true,"managed_offering":true,"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 | - | 300 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Kafka"},{"name":"PostgreSQL"},{"name":"Apache Iceberg"},{"name":"Snowflake"},{"name":"BigQuery"},{"name":"Google Cloud Storage"},{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"Google Cloud Platform"},{"name":"Azure"}]` |
| language.primary | Java | C++ |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Open source and free to download and use. Professional support available from commercial vendors.","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://activemq.apache.org/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T08:34:39.952Z"}` | `{"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 | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | no |
| release.cadence_days | - | 6 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.3.1","date":"2026-08-06T14:44:33Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.9","date":"2026-08-06T15:19:04Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.10","date":"2026-08-06T20:10:51Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.3.0","date":"2026-07-24T11:39:40Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.8","date":"2026-07-24T07:53:25Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.9","date":"2026-07-24T13:59:42Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.7","date":"2026-06-25T05:29:05Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.8","date":"2026-06-25T05:59:26Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.6","date":"2026-05-27T11:37:10Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.7","date":"2026-05-27T12:14:13Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.5","date":"2026-04-21T16:26:33Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.6","date":"2026-04-21T16:52:16Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.4","date":"2026-04-08T16:23:38Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.5","date":"2026-04-08T17:00:50Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.4","date":"2026-03-28T05:44:50Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.3","date":"2026-03-27T18:33:08Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-6.2.2","date":"2026-03-20T12:34:58Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-6.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/activemq/releases/tag/activemq-5.19.3","date":"2026-03-20T12:58:54Z","type":"stable","version":"activemq-5.19.3"}]` | `[{"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.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 6.9 | 6.5 |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":12,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=org.apache.activemq%3Aactivemq-broker&per_page=100","last_12m":9,"max_severity":"CRITICAL"}` | `{"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 | ActiveMQ | Redpanda |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Messaging paradigm | Pub/sub | Log / streaming |
| **Correctness** |  |  |
| Delivery guarantee | - | At-least-once |
| Ordering guarantee | - | Per-partition |
| **Durability** |  |  |
| Durable replayable log | ✓ | ✓ |
| Message replay / rewind | - | ✓ |
| **Interop** |  |  |
| Wire protocol | AMQP, STOMP, MQTT, JMS | 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 | Cloud + self-hosted | Cloud + self-hosted |
| **Processing** |  |  |
| Built-in stream processing | - | ✓ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:20:28.811Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*