Redpanda
Fastest to get started
Why teams pick it
Simple deployment via native packages, Docker, or source build
Open-source alternatives to Amazon MSK
Compare community-driven replacements for Amazon MSK in event streaming platforms workflows. We curate active, self-hostable options with transparent licensing so you can evaluate the right fit quickly.
Amazon MSK
Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (MSK) runs Kafka for you—provisioning, scaling, patching, and integrating with AWS services and Kafka Connect so you can build event-driven apps faster.Read more
Key stats
- 5Alternatives
- 4Active development
Recent commits in the last 6 months
- 4Permissive licenses
MIT, Apache, and similar licenses
Counts reflect projects currently indexed as alternatives to Amazon MSK.
Start with these picks
These projects match the most common migration paths for teams replacing Amazon MSK.
Apache Kafka
AI-powered workflows
Why teams pick it
Flexible deployment: on‑prem, cloud, or containerized
All open-source alternatives
Redpanda
Kafka‑compatible streaming platform that’s faster, lighter, and ZooKeeper‑free.
Active developmentFast to deployIntegration-friendlyC++
Why teams choose it
- Kafka API compatible, drop‑in replacement for existing clients
- No ZooKeeper or JVM, reducing latency and operational overhead
- Built in C++ with tiered storage for high throughput
Watch for
Smaller ecosystem of native extensions compared to Apache Kafka
Migration highlight
Real‑time analytics pipeline
Ingests clickstream data at millions of events per second, delivering low‑latency insights to dashboards.
Pravega
Unlimited, ordered streams for durable real‑time data.
Permissive licenseIntegration-friendlyJava
Why teams choose it
- Unlimited append‑only streams with strict ordering
- Durable, high‑performance storage primitive
- Elastic scaling across distributed nodes
Watch for
Server requires Java 11+, limiting older environments
Migration highlight
Fraud detection
Processes ordered transaction streams in real time to flag suspicious activity.
Apache Kafka
Scalable distributed event streaming platform for real‑time data pipelines
Active developmentPermissive licenseFast to deployJava
Why teams choose it
- Distributed log architecture with partitioned topics
- Exactly‑once processing guarantees
- Native support for Java 11/17 and Scala 2.13
Watch for
Operational complexity requires careful capacity planning
Migration highlight
Log aggregation for microservices
Centralized, ordered event store enables traceability and fault‑tolerant communication between services.
Apache Pulsar
Scalable, low‑latency pub‑sub platform for real‑time data streams
Active developmentPermissive licenseFast to deployJava
Why teams choose it
- Horizontal scalability to millions of topics and messages per second
- Strong ordering and consistency guarantees
- Multi‑tenant security with authentication, authorization, and quotas
Watch for
Requires specific Java versions (8, 11, or 17) depending on release
Migration highlight
Streaming telemetry from IoT devices
Collects millions of sensor events per second, stores them durably, and forwards to analytics pipelines with guaranteed ordering.
Fluvio
Composable distributed data streaming engine written in Rust
Active developmentPermissive licenseIntegration-friendlyRust
Why teams choose it
- Rust-native distributed streaming engine with low overhead and high throughput
- WebAssembly-based Smart Modules for reusable inline stream transformations
- Native connectors for HTTP, MQTT, Kafka, SQL with extensible CDK framework
Watch for
Smaller ecosystem compared to established platforms like Apache Kafka or Flink
Migration highlight
Real-Time Stock Market Dashboards
Ingest market data feeds, apply WebAssembly transformations for aggregations, and stream to visualization frontends with sub-second latency.
Choosing a event streaming platforms alternative
Teams replacing Amazon MSK in event streaming platforms workflows typically weigh self-hosting needs, integration coverage, and licensing obligations.
- 4 options are actively maintained with recent commits.
Tip: shortlist one hosted and one self-hosted option so stakeholders can compare trade-offs before migrating away from Amazon MSK.