# NSQ vs RabbitMQ

**Leader by Vioscale score:** RabbitMQ

| Attribute | NSQ | RabbitMQ |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 34.3 (38% (low)) | 64.6 (38% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 3 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 39 | 3 |
| adoption.github_stars | 25,775 | 13,807 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | - | 3,179,580 |
| deployment.options | `{"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Distributed message queue system designed for high-throughput, real-time message delivery across fault-tolerant clusters without centralized brokers. Supports both load-balanced queuing and publish-subscribe messaging patterns with minimal operational overhead and configuration complexity. | 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":"none","paradigm":"queue","protocol":"TCP","persistent_log":true,"consumer_groups":true,"geo_replication":false,"kafka_compatible":false,"managed_offering":false,"delivery_guarantee":"at_least_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 | 1 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"statsd"}]` | - |
| language.primary | Go | JavaScript |
| license.spdx | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"web":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://nsq.io/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T08:31:09.381Z"}` | `{"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 | 84 | 9 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v1.3.0","date":"2023-12-27T05:04:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v1.2.1","date":"2021-08-16T01:28:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v1.2.0","date":"2019-08-28T15:42:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v1.1.0","date":"2018-08-19T23:53:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v1.1.0-rc1","date":"2018-07-31T15:11:14Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.1.0-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v1.0.0-compat","date":"2017-03-22T19:58:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.0.0-compat"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v0.3.8","date":"2016-05-26T16:57:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.3.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v0.3.7","date":"2016-02-24T06:22:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.3.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v0.3.6","date":"2015-09-25T14:28:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.3.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v0.3.5","date":"2015-04-26T22:40:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.3.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v0.3.4","date":"2015-04-26T21:58:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.3.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v0.3.3","date":"2015-04-26T21:20:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.3.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v0.3.2","date":"2015-02-08T18:08:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.3.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v0.3.1","date":"2015-01-22T06:12:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v0.3.0","date":"2014-11-18T15:14:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v0.2.31","date":"2014-08-26T14:51:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.2.31"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v0.2.30","date":"2014-07-29T04:05:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.2.30"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v0.2.29","date":"2014-07-25T12:39:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.2.29"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v0.2.28","date":"2014-04-29T03:25:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.2.28"},{"url":"https://github.com/nsqio/nsq/releases/tag/v0.2.27","date":"2014-02-17T14:24:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.2.27"}]` | `[{"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"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 3.5 | 5.8 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fnsqio%2Fnsq&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 | NSQ | RabbitMQ |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Messaging paradigm | Queue | Queue |
| **Correctness** |  |  |
| Delivery guarantee | At-least-once | At-least-once |
| Ordering guarantee | None | - |
| **Durability** |  |  |
| Durable replayable log | ✓ | ✓ |
| Message replay / rewind | - | - |
| **Interop** |  |  |
| Wire protocol | TCP | 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 2026-09-01T15:18:17.643Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*