What is Apache Kafka?
Apache Kafka is an open-source event streaming platform built around retained, partitioned topics. Producers publish events and consumers read them with independent progress, supporting event-driven services and data pipelines. Retention, replication, consumer behaviour and application side effects require explicit design.
Who is Apache Kafka for?
Engineering teams building event streams with replay and multiple consuming applications.
Apache Kafka features
The core capabilities to consider for your workflow.
- Partitioned event topics and retention
- Producer and consumer APIs
- Kafka Connect integration framework
- Kafka Streams processing library
Apache Kafka pricing
Free self-managed event streaming
Size retained data, replication, network traffic and processing. Include operating work or the exact managed-service bill rather than assuming free production capacity.
Calculate the cost of your quote →Free access & evaluation
Upstream Kafka is free to self-manage. Hosted services, infrastructure and commercial connector products are separate.
Before you choose Apache Kafka
Self-managed clusters need capacity, upgrades, monitoring and recovery ownership.
Managed Kafka services and third-party connector licences are separate from the upstream project.
Explore Apache Kafka in more detail
Take a closer look at the decisions behind this product.
Apache Kafka vs RabbitMQ: replay, routing and delivery
Read the articleCompare Apache Kafka
Explore the individual profiles
Apache Kafka FAQs
Does Apache Kafka have a free plan?
Upstream Kafka is free to self-manage. Hosted services, infrastructure and commercial connector products are separate.
Who is Apache Kafka for?
Engineering teams building event streams with replay and multiple consuming applications.
What should I compare before buying?
Check the tier that contains your essential features, confirm plan limits and compare the total quote with your own expected usage.