# Apache Kafka vs Trigger.dev

| Attribute | Apache Kafka | Trigger.dev |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 60.1 (51% (medium)) | 59.5 (74% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 1 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 33,629 | - |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 5,508,093 | - |
| 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 cloud service that executes durable, serverless tasks and AI agents with built-in retry logic, observability, and automatic scaling. Code runs without timeouts on managed infrastructure, with state preserved across execution pauses and failures. |
| 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":"cloud","ordering":"fifo","paradigm":"job_queue","message_replay":false,"persistent_log":true,"consumer_groups":false,"geo_replication":false,"kafka_compatible":false,"managed_offering":true,"dead_letter_queue":false,"stream_processing":true,"delivery_guarantee":"at_least_once","horizontal_scaling":true}` |
| integrations.count | 4 | 5 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Postgres"},{"name":"JMS"},{"name":"Elasticsearch"},{"name":"AWS S3"}]` | `[{"name":"Prisma"},{"name":"OpenAI"},{"name":"Resend"},{"name":"Vercel"},{"name":"GitHub"}]` |
| language.primary | Java | - |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"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":"Free","summary":"Free","features":["Dev and Prod environments","Community support","1 day log retention"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"team_members":"5","concurrent_tasks":"20","log_retention_days":"1"}},{"free":false,"name":"Hobby","summary":"$10/month","features":["Dev, Preview and Prod environments","Community support","7 day log retention"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":10,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"team_members":"5","concurrent_tasks":"50","log_retention_days":"7"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"From $50/month","features":["Dev, Preview and Prod environments","Dedicated Slack support","30 day log retention"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":50,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"50 concurrent tasks","amount":10,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"branch","amount":10,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"dashboard","amount":10,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"1000 events","amount":10,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"branches":"20","dashboards":"5","team_members":"25","concurrent_tasks":"200","events_per_month":"1000","log_retention_days":"30"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing","features":["All Pro plan features","Custom log retention","Priority support","Role-based access control (RBAC)","SOC 2 report","Penetration test report","Single sign-on (SSO)"],"contactSales":true}],"addOns":[{"name":"HIPAA BAA (Business Associate Agreement)"}],"summary":"Free tier available. From $10/month for Hobby tier; Pro starts at $50/month with usage-based overage pricing.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://trigger.dev/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T08:33:58.046Z","startingPrice":{"amount":10,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.hipaa | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 6.1 | - |
| 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}` | - |

## Capabilities (Message Queues)

| Capability | Apache Kafka | Trigger.dev |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Messaging paradigm | Pub/sub | Job / task queue |
| **Correctness** |  |  |
| Delivery guarantee | Exactly-once | At-least-once |
| Ordering guarantee | Per-partition | FIFO |
| **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 only |
| **Processing** |  |  |
| Built-in stream processing | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T14:45:24.727Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*