Apache Kafka is an open-source distributed streaming platform that serves as a central hub for handling real-time data streams. It allows efficient publishing, subscribing, and processing of data from various sources like applications, servers, and sensors.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Apache Kafka | 3.5% |
| Apache Flink | 14.5% |
| Databricks | 13.5% |
| Other | 68.5% |
| Title | Rating | Mindshare | Recommending | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Databricks | 4.1 | 13.5% | 96% | 91 interviewsAdd to research |
| Confluent | 4.1 | 8.3% | 95% | 23 interviewsAdd to research |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 26 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 17 |
| Large Enterprise | 33 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 192 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 119 |
| Large Enterprise | 569 |
Kafka's core benefits include high scalability for big data pipelines, fault tolerance ensuring continuous operation despite node failures, low latency for real-time applications, and decoupling of data producers from consumers.
Key features include topics for organizing data streams, producers for publishing data, consumers for subscribing to data, brokers for managing clusters, and connectors for easy integration with various data sources.
Large organizations use Kafka for real-time analytics, log aggregation, fraud detection, IoT data processing, and facilitating communication between microservices.
Uber, Netflix, Activision, Spotify, Slack, Pinterest
| Author info | Rating | Review Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Technology Leader at eTCaaS | 4.5 | I worked with Apache Kafka for financial and OTT platforms, primarily for data streaming. It's valuable for propagating data in motion but could improve performance, aiming for microseconds instead of milliseconds. No other solutions were considered and deployment is cloud-based. |
| Works | 3.5 | In our Telco projects, Apache Kafka efficiently handled large volumes of streaming data, particularly for real-time customer airtime purchases. Although its usability could be enhanced, it outperformed RabbitMQ for our needs, despite no immediate ROI observed. |
| Sr. Lead - Engineering at GlobalLogic | 4.5 | We primarily use Kafka for event streaming, valuing its scalability, language integration, and stability. While we've seen increased productivity, the UI could be improved for better user appeal. We haven't considered other streaming solutions. |
| DevOps Engineer | 4.0 | In our big project, Apache Kafka is essential for message exchange. I value its speed and security with AWS, though we could benefit from an integrated UI. Its scalability suits varying throughput needs, and I have observed some ROI. |
| Technical Director at NIDP | 4.5 | We use Apache Kafka for stage event-driven processes, valuing its real-time data processing and stability. Despite limited queue management capabilities, it offers cost-saving benefits over proprietary solutions without prior alternatives evaluated. Kafka facilitates smooth setup post-data center outages. |
| Big Data Teaching Assistant at Center for Cloud Computing and Big Data, PES University | 4.5 | I use Apache Kafka as a streaming platform for high-load message exchanges, appreciating its asynchronous data streaming and decoupling features. However, improvements are needed in its architecture and language, similar to Redpanda's advancements. |
| R&D Director at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees | 4.5 | I work for an observability company utilizing Kafka for real-time data processing and aggregation. Kafka's streams client is invaluable for transformations without a separate engine. However, fine-tuning is necessary for optimal architecture, and scaling down can be challenging. |
| Vice President (Information and Product Management) at Tradebulls Securities (P) Limited | 4.5 | My company uses Apache Kafka for intermediate data management, valuing its clustering and sharding features. However, creating consumers is complicated, requiring extensive internal knowledge. We chose Kafka over RabbitMQ due to its popularity and available support resources. |
