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 8.5, while IBM is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.0. Apache holds a 25.1% mindshare in MQ, compared to IBM’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Apache users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of IBM users who would recommend it.

ActiveMQ

Read 28 ActiveMQ reviews

5,398 Views
4,966 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

IBM Event Streams

Read 3 IBM Event Streams reviews

380 Views
209 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: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ActiveMQ vs. IBM Event Streams

September 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

8.0

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

9th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Message Queue (MQ) Software category, the mindshare of ActiveMQ is 25.1%, up from 24.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Event Streams is 1.1%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Message Queue (MQ) Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
ActiveMQ	25.1%
IBM Event Streams	1.1%
Other	73.8%

Message Queue (MQ) Software

Featured Reviews

Eyob Alemu

Technical Director at NIDP

Efficient data flow management with high performance and occasional stability improvements

For high traffic volumes where management time on ActiveMQ is minimal and where the rate of flow from the provider is slower than from the consumer, ActiveMQ offers the highest performance based on our experience. It has been efficient for data flow control between two endpoints, despite occasional unexpected glitches. I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

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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

"ActiveMQ brings the most value to small applications because it will not cost you very much to complete."

"It provides the best support services."

"It’s a JMS broker, so the fact that it can allow for asynchronous communication is valuable."

"I appreciate many features including queue, topic, durable topic, and selectors. I also value a different support for different protocols such as MQTT and AMQP. It has full support for EIP, REST, Message Groups, UDP, and TCP."

"Reliable message delivery and mirroring."

"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."

"ActiveMQ demonstrates excellent stability and sturdiness."

"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."

More ActiveMQ pros

"The stability has been good."

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

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

Cons

"AI capabilities require improvement in future updates."

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

"One potential area would be the complexity of the initial setup."

"There are some stability issues."

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

"I would rate the stability a five out of ten because sometimes it gets stuck, and we have to restart it. We"

"Message Management: Better management of the messages. Perhaps persist them, or put in another queue with another life cycle."

"For additional functionality, I suggest making it easier to install and monitor the queues, topics, broker status, publisher status, and consumer status. Improved monitoring tools would help avoid needing to manually access the server for monitoring purposes."

More ActiveMQ cons

"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."

"The product's interface needs improvement."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"The solution is less expensive than its competitors."

"It’s open source, ergo free."

"We use the open-source version."

"I use open source with standard Apache licensing."

"I think the software is free."

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

"ActiveMQ is open source, so it is free to use."

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

31%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	17

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?

Pricing is something to consider with ActiveMQ, though cloud pricing is not costly and depends upon the compute selection. Focusing on AI is essential nowadays. AI capabilities require improvement ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for ActiveMQ?

In my current organization, I'm only working with ActiveMQ. I previously worked with IBM WebSphere MQ.

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 49% of the time

Red Hat AMQ vs ActiveMQ

Compared 20% of the time

MuleSoft Anypoint Platform vs ActiveMQ

Compared 10% of the time

Amazon SQS vs ActiveMQ

Compared 6% of the time

VMware Tanzu Data Solutions vs ActiveMQ

Compared 3% of the time

More ActiveMQ Competitors

Apache Kafka vs IBM Event Streams

Compared 40% of the time

Red Hat AMQ vs IBM Event Streams

Compared 38% of the time

IBM MQ vs IBM Event Streams

Compared 22% of the time

More IBM Event Streams Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ActiveMQ

October 2025

Download ActiveMQ product report

Buyer's Guide

Message Queue (MQ) Software

October 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

September 2025

Free Report: ActiveMQ vs. IBM Event Streams

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