ActiveMQ vs IBM Event Streams comparison

Apache and IBM are both solutions in the Message Queue (MQ) Software category. Apache is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.0, while IBM is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.0. Apache holds a 26.4% mindshare in MQ, compared to IBM’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Apache users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of IBM users who would recommend it.

ActiveMQ

Read 26 ActiveMQ reviews

6,942 Views
4,318 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

IBM Event Streams

Read 3 IBM Event Streams reviews

227 Views
164 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

ActiveMQ

IBM Event Streams

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 27, 2025

ActiveMQ and IBM Event Streams are competing in the message brokering and data streaming markets. While ActiveMQ is noted for its cost-effectiveness, IBM Event Streams is recognized for its robust features, offering a high-value solution for enterprises.

Features: ActiveMQ supports multiple messaging protocols, dynamic clustering, and simplicity, which benefit smaller teams. IBM Event Streams includes advanced integration with Apache Kafka, geo-replication capabilities, and powerful data analytics tools, appealing to enterprises that need to handle high throughput and complex data.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ActiveMQ offers a straightforward deployment process, ideal for smaller projects with limited technical support. IBM Event Streams may be more complex due to its Kafka integration but gains strength from extensive customer service and thorough documentation, fitting large-scale operations.

Pricing and ROI: ActiveMQ has a lower initial cost, suitable for startups or budget-conscious projects, providing satisfactory ROI for small to medium applications. IBM Event Streams, with a higher initial investment, delivers significant ROI for larger businesses seeking sophisticated data integration and capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed ActiveMQ vs. IBM Event Streams Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ActiveMQ vs. IBM Event Streams

April 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

ActiveMQ

Ranking in Message Queue (MQ) Software

2nd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM Event Streams

Ranking in Message Queue (MQ) Software

10th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Message Queue (MQ) Software category, the mindshare of ActiveMQ is 26.4%, up from 21.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Event Streams is 0.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Message Queue (MQ) Software

Featured Reviews

Prashant-Sharma

Senior Software Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

Allows for asynchronous communication, enabling services to operate independently but issues with stability

The feature of ActiveMQ which I feel is good is its ability to have DLP, the later queues. If something goes wrong with the platform, it retries. Even if it fails, it goes to DLP, and later we can rescan the same event for processing. The ability to store the failed events for some time is valuable.

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Ismail El-Dahshan

CEO at areebah

Easy to set up with good support and good routing scenarios

The triggering and the events that they have triggered as well as the route of the message according to the events are very useful. The triggering scenarios and routing scenarios are all good. It's a very useful solution for financial institutions. The initial setup is pretty straightforward. The stability has been good. I've found the product to be scalable. Technical support is responsive.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"There is a vibrant community, and it is one of the strongest points of this product. We always get answers to our problems. So, my experience with the community support has been good."

"The initial setup is straightforward and only takes a few minutes."

"The main function I find valuable in ActiveMQ is facilitating message transfer within the client's internal network. ActiveMQ handles the message transfer from the internal network to the cloud. Regarding multi-protocols, we use different approaches based on client capabilities. Some clients connect for real-time data transfer, using database queries for periodic updates every ten minutes. We collect data from multiple clients, ensuring we get real-time sensor values where possible and periodic updates for others."

"It provides the best support services."

"Most people or many people recommended using ActiveMQ on small and medium-scale applications."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the holding and forwarding."

"We value ActiveMQ for its performance, throughput, and low latency, especially in handling large volumes of data and sequential management of topics."

"Reliable message delivery and mirroring."

More ActiveMQ pros

"The system efficiently processes and calculates the data flow within the cluster using DLP functionality."

"The stability has been good."

"I'm an administrator, and what I like most is the interface, the security, and the storage."

Cons

"The tool needs to improve its installation part which is lengthy. The product is already working on that aspect so that the complete installation gets completed within a month."

"The solution's stability needs improvement."

"I would like the tool to improve compliance and stability. We will encounter issues while using the central applications. In the solution's future releases, I want to control and set limitations for databases."

"We need to enhance stability and improve the deployment optimization to fully leverage the platform's capabilities."

"The solution can improve the other protocols to equal the AMQ protocol they offer."

"The clustering for sure needs improvement. When we were using it, the only thing available was an active/passive relationship that had to be maintained via shared file storage. That model includes a single point of failure in that storage medium."

"Needs to focus on a certain facet and be good at it, instead of handling support for most of the available message brokers."

"This solution could improve by providing better documentation."

More ActiveMQ cons

"The product's interface needs improvement."

"It would be helpful if they could help us explain why they, as in, the customers, should use the product and the overall benefits."

"In the next release, I would like to see the GUI allow you to configure the security section."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I think the software is free."

"I use open source with standard Apache licensing."

"It’s open source, ergo free."

"The tool's pricing is reasonable and competitive compared to other solutions."

"There are no fees because it is open-source."

"We use the open-source version."

"We are using the open-source version, so we have not looked at any pricing."

"The solution is less expensive than its competitors."

More ActiveMQ pricing and cost advice

"The platform is averagely priced."

"The pricing needs to be improved."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

34%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

30%

Computer Software Company

13%

Retailer

Hospitality Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ActiveMQ?

For reliable messaging, the most valuable feature of ActiveMQ for us is ensuring prompt message delivery.

See all answers

What needs improvement with ActiveMQ?

We need to address the non-deterministic load issues. Sometimes, ActiveMQ either restarts automatically or goes into ActiveMQ mode, causing interruptions. We need to enhance stability and improve t...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for ActiveMQ?

We have a digital ID platform that uses various services running on Kafka. There are two main endpoints where services interact with external services. These include an automatic biometric service ...

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Event Streams?

The system efficiently processes and calculates the data flow within the cluster using DLP functionality.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Event Streams?

The platform is averagely priced. I rate the pricing a six out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Event Streams?

The product's interface needs improvement. Additionally, there could be a management console to create and manage clusters.

See all answers

Comparisons

IBM MQ vs ActiveMQ

Compared 53% of the time

Red Hat AMQ vs ActiveMQ

Compared 17% of the time

MuleSoft Anypoint Platform vs ActiveMQ

Compared 11% of the time

Amazon SQS vs ActiveMQ

Compared 5% of the time

PubSub+ Platform vs ActiveMQ

Compared 4% of the time

More ActiveMQ Competitors

Apache Kafka vs IBM Event Streams

Compared 55% of the time

Red Hat AMQ vs IBM Event Streams

Compared 45% of the time

More IBM Event Streams Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ActiveMQ

April 2025

Download ActiveMQ product report

Buyer's Guide

Message Queue (MQ) Software

March 2025

Download IBM Event Streams product report

Also Known As

AMQ

No data available

Overview

Apache ActiveMQ is the most popular and powerful open source messaging and Integration Patterns server.

Apache ActiveMQ is fast, supports many Cross Language Clients and Protocols, comes with easy to use Enterprise Integration Patterns and many advanced features while fully supporting JMS 1.1 and J2EE 1.4. Apache ActiveMQ is released under the Apache 2.0 License

Apache

Built on open source Apache Kafka, IBM Event Streams is an event-streaming platform that helps you build smart applications that can react to events as they happen. IBM Event Streams is based on years of operational expertise IBM has gained from running Apache Kafka event streams for enterprises

IBM

Sample Customers

University of Washington, Daugherty Systems, CSC, STG Technologies, Inc.

American Airlines, UBank, Bitly, Eurobits, Active International, Bison, Contextor, Constance Hotels, Resorts & Golf, Creval, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, FaceMe, FacePhi, Fitzsoft, Fuga Technologies, Guardio, Honeywell, Japanese airline, Jenzabar, KONE

Buyer's Guide

ActiveMQ vs. IBM Event Streams

April 2025

Free Report: ActiveMQ vs. IBM Event Streams

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