# Apache Kafka vs Temporal

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Temporal

| Attribute | Apache Kafka | Temporal |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 60.1 (51% (medium)) | 71 (76% (high)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 1 | 30 |
| adoption.github_stars | 33,629 | 22,544 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 5,508,093 | 7,338,116 |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":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 platform that enables applications to automatically recover from failures by maintaining execution state and resuming operations without manual intervention or data loss. |
| 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":"durable_exec","message_replay":true,"persistent_log":true,"geo_replication":true,"managed_offering":true,"delivery_guarantee":"at_least_once","horizontal_scaling":true}` |
| integrations.count | 4 | 2 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Postgres"},{"name":"JMS"},{"name":"Elasticsearch"},{"name":"AWS S3"}]` | `[{"name":"Google ADK"},{"name":"OpenAI Agents SDK"}]` |
| language.primary | Java | Go |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"linux":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":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","features":["Full durable execution capabilities","Self-hosted deployment","Community support"],"description":"Self-hosted open-source platform","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Temporal Cloud Pay-as-You-Go","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"action"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.000025,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Managed cloud service with consumption-based billing","contactSales":false}],"summary":"Free open-source self-hosted. Cloud from $0.000025 per action. 90-day free trial with $1,000 credits.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://temporal.io/blog/introducing-pay-as-you-go-pricing-for-temporal-cloud-on-the-aws-marketplace","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T12:10:32.063Z","freeTrialDays":90,"startingPrice":{"amount":0.000025,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 4 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.31.2","date":"2026-07-08T17:10:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.31.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.30.6","date":"2026-07-08T17:10:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.30.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.30.5","date":"2026-06-15T20:06:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.30.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.29.7","date":"2026-06-12T16:51:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.29.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.31.1","date":"2026-06-10T16:46:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.31.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.30.4.1","date":"2026-05-01T22:37:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.30.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.31.0","date":"2026-04-29T21:09:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.31.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.29.6.1","date":"2026-05-06T20:41:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.29.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.30.4","date":"2026-04-10T21:06:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.30.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.29.6","date":"2026-04-10T21:07:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.29.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.28.4","date":"2026-04-10T21:07:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.28.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.30.3","date":"2026-04-01T17:55:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.30.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.29.5","date":"2026-04-01T17:55:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.29.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.28.3.1","date":"2026-03-26T20:05:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.28.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.29.4.1","date":"2026-03-25T17:07:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.29.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.30.2","date":"2026-03-24T22:40:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.30.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.28.3","date":"2026-03-18T17:30:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.28.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.29.4","date":"2026-03-07T03:40:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.29.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.30.1","date":"2026-03-02T22:45:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.30.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/temporalio/temporal/releases/tag/v1.29.3","date":"2026-02-04T18:17:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.29.3"}]` |
| reliability.sla_pct | - | 99.9 |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.hipaa | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 6.1 | 5.7 |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| 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":6,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=go.temporal.io%2Fserver&per_page=100","last_12m":5,"max_severity":"MODERATE"}` |

## Capabilities (Message Queues)

| Capability | Apache Kafka | Temporal |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Messaging paradigm | Pub/sub | Durable execution |
| **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) | - |
| 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 2026-09-01T16:35:39.765Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*