Apache Kafka Alternatives (January 2026)

Apache Kafka

https://kafka.apach.org/

Apache Kafka: A Distributed Streaming Platform.

4.4/5

459+ reviews

Reviewed on:

Redpanda | The streaming data platform for developers

https://www.redpand

.com/

Redpanda is a powerful, simple, and cost-efficient streaming data platform that is compatible with Kafka® APIs while eliminating Kafka complexity.

Confluent | Apache Kafka® Reinvented for the Cloud

https://www.confluen

.io/

Confluent makes it easy to connect your apps, data systems, and entire business with secure, scalable, fully managed Kafka and real-time data streaming, processing, and analytics.

Managed Apache Kafka as a service | Aiven

https://aive

.io/kafka/

Aiven for Apache Kafka – Managed event streaming Kafka service ✓ Microservices ✓ Event-driven architecture ✓ Streaming pipelines ✓

Introducing Red Hat OpenShift Streams for Apache Kafka

https://www.redha

.com/en/blog/introducing-red-hat-openshift-streams-apache-kafka/

Red Hat OpenShift Streams for Apache Kafka makes it easier to create, discover and connect to real-time data streams regardless of where they exist.

Apache Apex

https://apex.apach

.org/

Apex is an enterprise grade native YARN big data-in-motion platform that unifies stream processing as well as batch processing.

Apache Kudu - Fast Analytics on Fast Data

https://kudu.apach

.org/

A new open source Apache Hadoop ecosystem project, Apache Kudu completes Hadoop's storage layer to enable fast analytics on fast data

Apache Pinot™

https://pinot.apach

.org/

Realtime distributed OLAP datastore

Apache Eagle - Analyze Big Data Platforms For Security and Performance

https://eagle.apach

.org/

Apache Eagle - Analyze Big Data Platforms For Security and Performance

IBM Event Streams

https://www.ib

.com/products/event-streams/

IBM Event Streams is an event streaming software built on open-source Apache Kafka. It is available as a fully managed service on IBM Cloud or for self-hosting.