# NATS vs RabbitMQ

**Leader by Vioscale score:** NATS

| Attribute | NATS | RabbitMQ |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 75.4 (48% (low)) | 64.6 (38% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 24,884 | 3 |
| adoption.github_stars | 20,599 | 13,807 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 1,291,214 | 3,179,580 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | NATS enables components of a distributed software system to send messages to each other. It is an open-source project maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation and can be deployed across cloud environments, on-site servers, edge computing devices, and embedded systems. | 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","paradigm":"pubsub","message_replay":true,"persistent_log":true,"consumer_groups":true,"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}` |
| language.primary | Go | JavaScript |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://nats.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T12:15:06.032Z"}` | `{"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 | 1 | 9 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.6-RC.2","date":"2026-08-26T17:01:24Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.6-RC.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.6-RC.1","date":"2026-08-25T16:47:43Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.6-RC.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.15.0-preview.1","date":"2026-08-24T13:33:40Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.0-preview.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.5","date":"2026-08-12T15:31:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.12.15","date":"2026-08-12T15:30:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.12.15"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.4","date":"2026-07-30T13:57:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.12.14","date":"2026-07-30T13:56:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.12.14"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.3","date":"2026-06-29T15:36:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.12.12","date":"2026-06-29T15:36:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.12.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.12.11","date":"2026-06-09T14:57:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.12.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.2","date":"2026-06-02T16:02:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.12.10","date":"2026-06-02T16:02:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.12.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.2-RC.1","date":"2026-05-29T15:17:59Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.2-RC.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.12.10-RC.1","date":"2026-05-29T15:16:47Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.12.10-RC.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.1","date":"2026-05-20T15:42:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.12.9","date":"2026-05-20T15:41:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.12.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.1-RC.2","date":"2026-05-19T16:39:13Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.1-RC.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.12.9-RC.2","date":"2026-05-19T16:38:34Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.12.9-RC.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.14.1-RC.1","date":"2026-05-14T15:12:59Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.1-RC.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/releases/tag/v2.12.9-RC.1","date":"2026-05-14T15:12:19Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.12.9-RC.1"}]` | `[{"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.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 7.2 | 5.8 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":29,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fnats-io%2Fnats-server%2Fv2&per_page=100","last_12m":14,"max_severity":"CRITICAL"}` | `{"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 | NATS | RabbitMQ |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Messaging paradigm | Pub/sub | Queue |
| **Correctness** |  |  |
| Delivery guarantee | - | At-least-once |
| Ordering guarantee | - | - |
| **Durability** |  |  |
| Durable replayable log | ✓ | ✓ |
| Message replay / rewind | ✓ | - |
| **Interop** |  |  |
| Wire protocol | - | 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 2026-09-01T16:11:26.488Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*