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Apache Kafka VS Apache Pulsar

Compare Apache Kafka VS Apache Pulsar and see what are their differences

Apache Kafka logo Apache Kafka

Apache Kafka is an open-source message broker project developed by the Apache Software Foundation written in Scala.

Apache Pulsar logo Apache Pulsar

Apache Pulsar is an open-source, distributed messaging and streaming platform built for the cloud.
  • Apache Kafka Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-01
  • Apache Pulsar Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-12-17

Apache Kafka features and specs

  • High Throughput
    Kafka is capable of handling thousands of messages per second due to its distributed architecture, making it suitable for applications that require high throughput.
  • Scalability
    Kafka can easily scale horizontally by adding more brokers to a cluster, making it highly scalable to serve increased loads.
  • Fault Tolerance
    Kafka has built-in replication, ensuring that data is replicated across multiple brokers, providing fault tolerance and high availability.
  • Durability
    Kafka ensures data durability by writing data to disk, which can be replicated to other nodes, ensuring data is not lost even if a broker fails.
  • Real-time Processing
    Kafka supports real-time data streaming, enabling applications to process and react to data as it arrives.
  • Decoupling of Systems
    Kafka acts as a buffer and decouples the production and consumption of messages, allowing independent scaling and management of producers and consumers.
  • Wide Ecosystem
    The Kafka ecosystem includes various tools and connectors such as Kafka Streams, Kafka Connect, and KSQL, which enrich the functionality of Kafka.
  • Strong Community Support
    Kafka has strong community support and extensive documentation, making it easier for developers to find help and resources.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Kafka

  • Complex Setup and Management
    Kafka's distributed nature can make initial setup and ongoing management complex, requiring expert knowledge and significant administrative effort.
  • Operational Overhead
    Running Kafka clusters involves additional operational overhead, including hardware provisioning, monitoring, tuning, and scaling.
  • Latency Sensitivity
    Despite its high throughput, Kafka may experience increased latency in certain scenarios, especially when configured for high durability and consistency.
  • Learning Curve
    The concepts and architecture of Kafka can be difficult for new users to grasp, leading to a steep learning curve.
  • Hardware Intensive
    Kafka's performance characteristics often require dedicated and powerful hardware, which can be costly to procure and maintain.
  • Dependency Management
    Managing Kafka's dependencies and ensuring compatibility between versions of Kafka, Zookeeper, and other ecosystem tools can be challenging.
  • Limited Support for Small Messages
    Kafka is optimized for large throughput and can be inefficient for applications that require handling a lot of small messages, where overhead can become significant.
  • Operational Complexity for Small Teams
    Smaller teams might find the operational complexity and maintenance burden of Kafka difficult to manage without a dedicated operations or DevOps team.

Apache Pulsar features and specs

  • Multi-tenancy
    Apache Pulsar supports multi-tenancy, allowing multiple independent applications to operate in isolated environments within the same cluster. This enables more efficient resource usage and simplified operational management.
  • Geo-replication
    Pulsar's built-in geo-replication feature allows for data to be replicated across different geographic locations, providing high availability and disaster recovery capabilities.
  • Scalability
    Pulsar offers easy horizontal scalability, supporting the seamless addition of new nodes without downtime, which allows it to handle large volumes of data efficiently.
  • Stream and Queue Patterns
    Pulsar supports both streaming and queuing messaging patterns, making it versatile for a wide range of use cases and simplifying architecture by reducing the need for multiple messaging systems.
  • Low Latency
    Designed for low latency, Pulsar is suitable for applications requiring quick message processing, thanks to features like segment-oriented storage architecture.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Pulsar

  • Complex Setup
    The initial setup and configuration of Apache Pulsar can be complex, requiring a solid understanding of its components and architecture, which may be a barrier to entry for new users.
  • Limited Ecosystem
    Compared to more mature platforms like Apache Kafka, Pulsar has a smaller ecosystem of tools and middleware support, which might limit its integration options.
  • Resource Intensive
    Operating a Pulsar cluster can be resource-intensive, requiring significant computational resources, especially when dealing with high-throughput scenarios.
  • Less Community Support
    As a relatively newer project compared to some competitors, Pulsar has a smaller community, which could impact the availability of support and third-party expertise.
  • Learning Curve
    Pulsar's architecture and features, though powerful, come with a steep learning curve, demanding considerable time and effort to master for effective use.

Apache Kafka videos

Apache Kafka Tutorial | What is Apache Kafka? | Kafka Tutorial for Beginners | Edureka

More videos:

  • Review - Apache Kafka - Getting Started - Kafka Multi-node Cluster - Review Properties
  • Review - 4. Apache Kafka Fundamentals | Confluent Fundamentals for Apache Kafka®
  • Review - Apache Kafka in 6 minutes
  • Review - Apache Kafka Explained (Comprehensive Overview)
  • Review - 2. Motivations and Customer Use Cases | Apache Kafka Fundamentals

Apache Pulsar videos

Introduction to Apache Pulsar Basics

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache Kafka and Apache Pulsar)
Stream Processing
93 93%
7% 7
Data Integration
91 91%
9% 9
Web Service Automation
88 88%
12% 12
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Apache Kafka and Apache Pulsar

Apache Kafka Reviews

Best ETL Tools: A Curated List
Debezium is an open-source Change Data Capture (CDC) tool that originated from RedHat. It leverages Apache Kafka and Kafka Connect to enable real-time data replication from databases. Debezium was partly inspired by Martin Kleppmann’s "Turning the Database Inside Out" concept, which emphasized the power of the CDC for modern data pipelines.
Source: estuary.dev
Best message queue for cloud-native apps
If you take the time to sort out the history of message queues, you will find a very interesting phenomenon. Most of the currently popular message queues were born around 2010. For example, Apache Kafka was born at LinkedIn in 2010, Derek Collison developed Nats in 2010, and Apache Pulsar was born at Yahoo in 2012. What is the reason for this?
Source: docs.vanus.ai
Are Free, Open-Source Message Queues Right For You?
Apache Kafka is a highly scalable and robust messaging queue system designed by LinkedIn and donated to the Apache Software Foundation. It's ideal for real-time data streaming and processing, providing high throughput for publishing and subscribing to records or messages. Kafka is typically used in scenarios that require real-time analytics and monitoring, IoT applications,...
Source: blog.iron.io
10 Best Open Source ETL Tools for Data Integration
It is difficult to anticipate the exact demand for open-source tools in 2023 because it depends on various factors and emerging trends. However, open-source solutions such as Kubernetes for container orchestration, TensorFlow for machine learning, Apache Kafka for real-time data streaming, and Prometheus for monitoring and observability are expected to grow in prominence in...
Source: testsigma.com
11 Best FREE Open-Source ETL Tools in 2024
Apache Kafka is an Open-Source Data Streaming Tool written in Scala and Java. It publishes and subscribes to a stream of records in a fault-tolerant manner and provides a unified, high-throughput, and low-latency platform to manage data.
Source: hevodata.com

Apache Pulsar Reviews

Best message queue for cloud-native apps
Pulsar also provides a rich set of client libraries for various programming languages, making it easy to build messaging and streaming applications using Pulsar. Apache Pulsar is a popular choice for real-time data processing and messaging in large-scale data processing applications, such as those used in the financial, telecommunications, and internet-of-things industries.
Source: docs.vanus.ai

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Apache Kafka seems to be a lot more popular than Apache Pulsar. While we know about 142 links to Apache Kafka, we've tracked only 4 mentions of Apache Pulsar. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Apache Kafka mentions (142)

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Apache Pulsar mentions (4)

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache Kafka and Apache Pulsar, you can also consider the following products

RabbitMQ - RabbitMQ is an open source message broker software.

Apache ActiveMQ - Apache ActiveMQ is an open source messaging and integration patterns server.

NATS - NATS.io is an open source messaging system for cloud native applications, IoT messaging, Edge, and microservices architectures.

StatCounter - StatCounter is a simple but powerful real-time web analytics service that helps you track, analyse and understand your visitors so you can make good decisions to become more successful online.

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

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