# Apache Kafka vs WarpStream

**Leader by Vioscale score:** WarpStream

| Attribute | Apache Kafka | WarpStream |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 60.1 (51% (medium)) | 80.3 (73% (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,"hybrid":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. | WarpStream is a Kafka-compatible streaming platform that eliminates local disks by using cloud object storage, enabling automatic scaling and reducing costs significantly compared to traditional Kafka. It maintains full protocol compatibility while simplifying operations through managed deployment in customer cloud accounts. |
| 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":"per_partition","paradigm":"log_stream","protocol":"Kafka","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 | 4 | 12 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Postgres"},{"name":"JMS"},{"name":"Elasticsearch"},{"name":"AWS S3"}]` | `[{"name":"Apache Kafka"},{"name":"Bento"},{"name":"RisingWave"},{"name":"Grafana"},{"name":"Materialize"},{"name":"Snowflake"},{"name":"Schema Registry"},{"name":"Iceberg"},{"name":"Tigris"},{"name":"Protobuf"},{"name":"Avro"},{"name":"JSON"}]` |
| 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":"usage","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Dev","summary":"$100/month base + metered write throughput and cluster minutes","features":["Core functionality","99.9% SLA","mTLS"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":100,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"GiB"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.01,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":15,"unit":"min"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.0345,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Development-grade cluster with basic functionality","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"retention":"7 days","partitions":"4,096"}},{"free":false,"name":"Fundamentals","summary":"$500/month base + metered usage","features":["Production functionality","99.9% SLA","Agent Groups","Cluster Recovery","mTLS","PrivateLink","Audit Logs","Schema Validation"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":500,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"GiB"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.01,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":15,"unit":"min"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.1725,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Production-grade cluster with standard SLA","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"partitions":"16,384"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"$1,500/month base + metered usage","features":["Advanced isolation","Multi-region replication","99.99% SLA","Lightning Topics","Topic Recovery","Lower Latency"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":1500,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"GiB"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.01,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":15,"unit":"min"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.52083,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Advanced cluster with high availability and multi-region replication","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"partitions":"50,000"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Contact sales for pricing","features":["99.999% SLA","Dedicated Control Plane Cell","Multi-Region HA Replication"],"description":"Custom enterprise deployment","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"partitions":"200,000+"}}],"summary":"From $100/month base + metered write throughput ($0.01-$0.003/GiB, tiered by volume) and storage. Free $400 non-expiring credits with no card required.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.warpstream.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T09:20:17.521Z","startingPrice":{"amount":0.01,"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.sla_pct | - | 99.9 |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.iso27001 | - | 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 | WarpStream |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Messaging paradigm | Pub/sub | Log / streaming |
| **Correctness** |  |  |
| Delivery guarantee | Exactly-once | At-least-once |
| Ordering guarantee | Per-partition | Per-partition |
| **Durability** |  |  |
| Durable replayable log | ✓ | ✓ |
| Message replay / rewind | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Interop** |  |  |
| Wire protocol | Binary over TCP (SSL/SASL for authentication/encryption) | Kafka |
| 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 2026-09-01T16:54:04.065Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*