Available worldwide
What is NATS?
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.
NATS pricing
We don't have NATS's full plan breakdown yet (its pricing page resisted automated reading). Here's what we could confirm. Always check live pricing for exact numbers.
What NATS does
The capabilities that matter for message queues, normalised so it lines up with every alternative. “-” means we haven't confirmed it, not that it's missing.
- Messaging paradigm
- Pub/sub
- Delivery guarantee
- -
- Ordering guarantee
- -
- Durable replayable log
- ✓
- Message replay / rewind
- ✓
- Wire protocol
- -
- Kafka-protocol compatible
- -
- Partitioned horizontal scaling
- ✓
- Geo / cross-region replication
- -
- Consumer groups / competing consumers
- ✓
- Dead-letter queue
- -
- Managed cloud offering exists
- -
- Hosting
- Self-hosted only
- Built-in stream processing
- -
Platform & deployment
Independently observed- CLI
- Cloud / SaaS
- On-premise
- Self-hosted
Security & compliance
Known vulnerabilities: 29 (14 in the last 12 months), max severity CRITICAL sourcea count reflects scale & disclosure, not quality
NATS FAQ
Common questions about NATS, answered from independent, dated evidence.
What is NATS?
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. It is indexed under Message Queues.
Source: https://nats.io
Is NATS free to use?
NATS is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.
Source: https://nats.io
What platforms does NATS support?
NATS supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.
Source: https://nats.io
Can NATS be self-hosted?
Yes. NATS can be deployed cloud / SaaS, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.
Source: https://nats.io
What security certifications does NATS have?
We have independently confirmed GDPR for NATS. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as NATS not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.
Source: https://nats.io/privacy
Is NATS open source?
Yes. NATS is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.
NATS alternatives
Other message queues we track, ranked by the same independent score.
- Confluent CloudA fully managed, serverless cloud platform for Apache Kafka enabling real-time data streaming, processing, and integration at any scalemedium · 73%
- WarpStreamA Kafka-compatible streaming platform that significantly reduces costs and operational complexity by storing data in object storage instead of local disksmedium · 73%
- TemporalA platform for building reliable, long-running applications with automatic state management and fault tolerance.high · 76%
- RabbitMQA unified messaging and streaming broker for distributed application communicationlow · 47%
- RedpandaA fast, developer-friendly streaming data platform that works with Apache Kafka without ZooKeeper or Javamedium · 59%
- Trigger.devAn open-source platform for building durable AI agents with built-in task scheduling and streamingmedium · 73%
Compare NATS
Side by side against other message queues, attribute by attribute, with a source on every value.
The vioscaleAI score: one lens on the evidence
Not user reviews and not a paid placement: a confidence-weighted blend of the independent signals below (adoption, activity, security posture, and more), which you can sort and re-weight yourself. Vendors can correct their listing but can never move their rank, and stars are weighted low as a vanity metric. It is one way to read the evidence for NATS, not the verdict.
| Signal | Score | Weight | Contribution | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package downloads | 78 | 0.14 | 10.6 | ✓ |
| Development activity | 63 | 0.09 | 5.9 | ✓ |
| Release cadence | 99 | 0.05 | 5.2 | ✓ |
| Dependent projects | 73 | 0.06 | 4.6 | ✓ |
| Capabilities | 67 | 0.06 | 4.2 | ✓ |
| Security score | 70 | 0.04 | 2.9 | ✓ |
| Stars | 81 | 0.03 | 2.1 | ✓ |
| Integrations | 0 | 0.07 | 0.0 | - |
| Security posture | 5 | 0.12 | 0.0 | - |
| Developer Q&A activity | 0 | 0.06 | 0.0 | - |
Computed . Re-weight it by intent, or see the full method.
All data & sourcesshow ↓
Every value we hold, with its source, retrieval date, and confidence. This is the evidence behind the score: don't trust it, verify it.
Activity
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Commits last 30d | 100 | mediumsource · 2026-09-10 · 65% |
Adoption
Content
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Faq | 6 items | mediumsource · 2026-09-10 · 68% |
Features
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Capabilities | Hosting: self · Paradigm: pubsub · Message replay: Yes · Persistent log: Yes · Consumer groups: Yes · Horizontal scaling: Yes | mediumsource · 2026-09-10 · 60% |
Language
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | Go | mediumsource · 2026-09-10 · 63% |
License
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Spdx | Apache-2.0 | highsource · 2026-09-10 · 95% |
Market
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | PrimaryMarkets: … · AvailabilityScope: global · AvailableCountries: … · NotAvailableCountries: … | highsource · 2026-08-05 · 75% |
Pricing
Release
Security
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Gdpr | Yes | highsource · 2026-08-05 · 75% |
| Scorecard | 7 | highsource · 2026-09-10 · 90% |
| 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 | highsource · 2026-09-10 · 90% |
Is NATS the right choice for you?
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