# Apache Kafka vs RabbitMQ

| Attribute | Apache Kafka | RabbitMQ |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 60.1 (51% (medium)) | 64.6 (38% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 1 | 3 |
| adoption.github_stars | 33,629 | 13,807 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 5,508,093 | 3,179,580 |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | A powerful, enterprise-grade open-source messaging and streaming broker that enables efficient, reliable and versatile communication for distributed microservices, real-time data, and IoT applications. |
| 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","paradigm":"queue","protocol":"AMQP 1.0, MQTT 5.0, STOMP","persistent_log":true,"consumer_groups":true,"geo_replication":true,"managed_offering":true,"stream_processing":true,"delivery_guarantee":"at_least_once","horizontal_scaling":true}` |
| integrations.count | 4 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Postgres"},{"name":"JMS"},{"name":"Elasticsearch"},{"name":"AWS S3"}]` | - |
| language.primary | Java | JavaScript |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"linux":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://kafka.apache.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T11:04:16.831Z"}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Open Source","description":"Free and open source under Mozilla Public License 2.0","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Tanzu RabbitMQ","description":"Enterprise-grade commercial offering with 24/7 expert support, longer lifecycle, disaster recovery, cloud cost savings, and industry compliance","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free open source, with commercial Tanzu RabbitMQ offering available","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.rabbitmq.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-05T13:27:32.390Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | - | no |
| release.cadence_days | - | 9 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.3.5","date":"2026-08-17T21:41:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.3.4","date":"2026-07-23T14:46:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.2.9","date":"2026-07-20T14:43:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.3.3","date":"2026-07-20T14:55:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.2.8","date":"2026-06-15T15:08:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.3.2","date":"2026-06-15T15:34:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.3.1","date":"2026-05-20T01:21:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.2.7","date":"2026-05-19T23:48:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.3.0","date":"2026-04-23T01:18:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.2.6","date":"2026-04-23T00:54:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.3.0-rc.1","date":"2026-04-20T18:19:14Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.3.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.3.0-rc.0","date":"2026-03-26T03:47:43Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.3.0-rc.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.2.5","date":"2026-03-17T00:29:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.2.4","date":"2026-02-17T01:44:57Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.2.3","date":"2026-01-22T03:57:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.1.8","date":"2026-01-22T03:48:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.2.2","date":"2025-12-15T18:25:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.1.7","date":"2025-12-15T18:10:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.2.1","date":"2025-11-17T02:47:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases/tag/v4.1.6","date":"2025-11-17T02:23:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.6"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 6.1 | 5.8 |
| 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=conda&package_name=rabbitmq-server&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Message Queues)

| Capability | Apache Kafka | RabbitMQ |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Messaging paradigm | Pub/sub | Queue |
| **Correctness** |  |  |
| Delivery guarantee | Exactly-once | At-least-once |
| Ordering guarantee | Per-partition | - |
| **Durability** |  |  |
| Durable replayable log | ✓ | ✓ |
| Message replay / rewind | ✓ | - |
| **Interop** |  |  |
| Wire protocol | Binary over TCP (SSL/SASL for authentication/encryption) | AMQP 1.0, MQTT 5.0, STOMP |
| 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: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:57:27.403Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*