# Amazon SQS vs Apache Kafka

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Apache Kafka

| Attribute | Amazon SQS | Apache Kafka |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 48.2 (64% (medium)) | 60.1 (51% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 1 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 33,629 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | - | 5,508,093 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A managed service that stores and delivers messages between software components, enabling them to communicate without requiring direct connections or simultaneous availability. | 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. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"cloud","ordering":"none","paradigm":"queue","message_replay":false,"persistent_log":true,"consumer_groups":true,"managed_offering":true,"dead_letter_queue":true,"delivery_guarantee":"at_least_once","horizontal_scaling":true}` | `{"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}` |
| integrations.count | - | 4 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Postgres"},{"name":"JMS"},{"name":"Elasticsearch"},{"name":"AWS S3"}]` |
| language.primary | - | Java |
| license.spdx | - | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"usage","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_pr","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T11:04:20.771Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://kafka.apache.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T11:04:16.831Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.transparent | no | - |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 6.1 |
| 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}` |

## Capabilities (Message Queues)

| Capability | Amazon SQS | Apache Kafka |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Messaging paradigm | Queue | Pub/sub |
| **Correctness** |  |  |
| Delivery guarantee | At-least-once | Exactly-once |
| Ordering guarantee | None | 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 | Cloud only | Self-hosted only |
| **Processing** |  |  |
| Built-in stream processing | - | ✓ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T15:19:54.084Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*