# Apache Kafka

> Distributed event streaming platform for high-performance data pipelines and streaming analytics

- **Canonical URI:** https://www.vioscale.ai/software/apache-kafka
- **Category:** Message Queues
- **Homepage:** https://kafka.apache.org
- **Also known as:** apache-kafka
- **Profile claimed by vendor:** no
- **Last updated:** 2026-08-05T13:30:45.150Z

## Vioscale score

**79 / 100**, confidence 26% (low).

Composite of weighted, independently-sourced signals (no user reviews, no vendor payment).

| Signal | Score | Weight | Contribution | Evidence present |
|---|--:|--:|--:|:--:|
| docs_quality | 0 | 0.09 | 0 | - |
| github_stars | 85.3 | 0.05 | 4.3 | ✓ |
| github_activity | 63.1 | 0.18 | 11.4 | ✓ |
| release_cadence | 0 | 0.12 | 0 | - |
| security_posture | 0 | 0.14 | 0 | - |
| package_downloads | 88.1 | 0.28 | 24.7 | ✓ |
| stackoverflow_activity | 0 | 0.14 | 0 | - |

## Pricing

_As of 2026-08-01, [verify at source](https://kafka.apache.org). Independently observed._

Open source · Free tier

## About

Apache Kafka is an open-source distributed event streaming platform used for high-performance data pipelines, streaming analytics, and data integration. It provides permanent, distributed, fault-tolerant storage with guaranteed ordering, exactly-once processing, and built-in stream processing capabilities.

_Independently observed._

## Platform & deployment
- **Deployment:** Self-hosted

## Integrations (4)

_Independently observed._

- Postgres
- JMS
- Elasticsearch
- AWS S3

## Capabilities

_The capabilities that matter for Message Queues. "-" = undocumented, not absent._

| Capability | Supported |
|---|:--:|
| **Core** | |
| Messaging paradigm | Log / streaming |
| **Correctness** | |
| Delivery guarantee | Exactly-once |
| Ordering guarantee | Per-partition |
| **Durability** | |
| Durable replayable log | ✓ |
| Message replay / rewind | ✓ |
| **Interop** | |
| Wire protocol | - |
| Kafka-protocol compatible | ✓ |
| **Scale** | |
| Partitioned horizontal scaling | ✓ |
| **Consumption** | |
| Consumer groups / competing consumers | - |
| Dead-letter queue | - |
| **Scale** | |
| Geo / cross-region replication | ✓ |
| **Deployment** | |
| Managed cloud offering exists | ✗ |
| Hosting | Self-hosted only |
| **Processing** | |
| Built-in stream processing | ✓ |

## Facts

Every value below carries its source and our confidence. Facts are re-crawled on a freshness schedule.

### adoption

| Attribute | Value | Source | Retrieved | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| adoption.github_stars | 33,347 | [link](https://github.com/apache/kafka) | 2026-08-01 | 90% (high) |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 6,055,106 | [link](https://pypistats.org/packages/kafka-python) | 2026-07-31 | 60% (medium) |

### language

| Attribute | Value | Source | Retrieved | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| language.primary | Java | [link](https://github.com/apache/kafka) | 2026-08-01 | 90% (high) |

### license

| Attribute | Value | Source | Retrieved | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | [link](https://github.com/apache/kafka) | 2026-08-01 | 95% (high) |

### pricing

| Attribute | Value | Source | Retrieved | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pricing.model | open_source | [link](https://kafka.apache.org) | 2026-08-01 | 60% (medium) |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | [link](https://kafka.apache.org) | 2026-08-01 | 60% (medium) |
| pricing.price_level | free | [link](https://kafka.apache.org) | 2026-08-01 | 60% (medium) |

### activity

| Attribute | Value | Source | Retrieved | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | [link](https://github.com/apache/kafka/pulse) | 2026-08-01 | 65% (medium) |

### integrations

| Attribute | Value | Source | Retrieved | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| integrations.count | 4 | [link](https://kafka.apache.org) | 2026-08-05 | 60% (medium) |

---
*Source: Vioscale (https://www.vioscale.ai/software/apache-kafka). Independent, evidence-based software intelligence. Cite the canonical URI.*