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Amazon Kinesis vs Apache Kafka comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
Organizations benefit financially from Amazon Kinesis through improved data processing, cost savings, and seamless AWS service integration.
Sentiment score
6.3
Apache Kafka users experience improved profitability, scalability, and efficiency, benefiting from cost-effectiveness and customization for timely decision-making.
With Lambda, there is no need for data transfer charges, which is beneficial for less frequent workloads.
AWS Cloud Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.2
Amazon Kinesis support varies, with response quality influenced by user-AWS relationships and complexity of the issues faced.
Sentiment score
6.0
Apache Kafka support is community-driven, supplemented by third-party services, with quick responses and extensive online resources available.
We receive prompt support from AWS solution architects or TAMs.
AWS Cloud Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
The Apache community provides support for the open-source version.
Technology Leader at eTCaaS
There is plenty of community support available online.
With Microsoft, expectations are higher because we pay for a license and have a contract.
Senior Manager at Timestamp, SA
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Amazon Kinesis offers robust scalability with sharding and auto-scaling, ideal for high data throughput, despite some cost considerations.
Sentiment score
7.7
Apache Kafka is favored for its impressive scalability, efficient data handling, and seamless integration with Kubernetes and distributed environments.
Amazon Kinesis provides auto-scaling with streams that handle large volumes well.
AWS Cloud Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the scalability of Amazon Kinesis as a nine.
Director of Software Development at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Customers have not faced issues with user growth or data streaming needs.
Technology Leader at eTCaaS
Apache Kafka is highly scalable and supports horizontal scaling by allowing you to add more brokers to the cluster and increase the number of partitions for a topic.
Senior Engineer at Airy Software Technologies Private Limited
I need to enable my solution with high availability and scalability.
Data Architect at Ascendion
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Amazon Kinesis is reliable with minor issues, praised for consistent performance and effective fault-tolerance features.
Sentiment score
7.6
Apache Kafka is stable and reliable, though proper configuration is crucial; users experience few stability issues despite evolving APIs.
I would rate the stability of Amazon Kinesis as high, giving it a 10.
Director of Software Development at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Apache Kafka is stable.
Technology Leader at eTCaaS
This feature of Apache Kafka has helped enhance our system stability when handling high volume data.
DevOps Engineer
Apache Kafka is more stable and is very good technology for asynchronous programming.
Senior Engineer at Airy Software Technologies Private Limited
 

Room For Improvement

Amazon Kinesis users seek enhancements in data aggregation, integration, automation, retention, cost reduction, compatibility, machine learning, and documentation.
Users desire enhancements in Kafka's operational complexity, scalability, monitoring, debugging, and management tools for better user experience.
There is no lack of functions in Amazon Kinesis. Functionality-wise, we feel it's complete.
Director of Software Development at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Amazon Kinesis could improve its pricing to be more competitive, especially for large volumes.
AWS Cloud Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Operating an Apache Kafka cluster requires expertise in partitioning, application monitoring, and capacity planning.
Senior Engineer at Airy Software Technologies Private Limited
The performance angle is critical, and while it works in milliseconds, the goal is to move towards microseconds.
Technology Leader at eTCaaS
Apache Kafka groups could introduce themes or profiles of configuration to help manage this complexity without needing expertise.
Senior Principal Architect at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Amazon Kinesis offers competitive pricing, though costs rise with scaling, large data volumes, and Kinesis Analytics can be expensive.
Enterprises favor Apache Kafka for its free open-source model, despite potential costs from managed services and infrastructure.
Amazon Kinesis and Lambda pricing is competitive, but we noticed that scaling and large volumes could potentially increase costs significantly.
AWS Cloud Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
From a price perspective, if you are asking about Apache Kafka, I would rate it a nine.
Senior Principal Architect at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
The open-source version of Apache Kafka results in minimal costs, mainly linked to accessing documentation and limited support.
Technology Leader at eTCaaS
Apache Kafka itself is open source and free to use.
Senior Engineer at Airy Software Technologies Private Limited
 

Valuable Features

Amazon Kinesis provides easy, scalable streaming with AWS integration, supporting analytics and monitoring without complex infrastructure management.
Apache Kafka excels in real-time processing, scalability, and integration, offering robust support for high-volume, event-driven architectures.
Lambda's scalability, seamless integration with other AWS services, and support for multiple programming languages are very beneficial.
AWS Cloud Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Amazon Kinesis integrates easily with the AWS environment.
Director of Software Development at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Apache Kafka is effective when dealing with large volumes of data flowing at high speeds, requiring real-time processing.
Apache Kafka is particularly valuable for managing high levels of transactions.
Senior Manager at Timestamp, SA
The best features include high throughput with low latency and support for horizontal scaling.
Senior Engineer at Airy Software Technologies Private Limited
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon Kinesis
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Apache Kafka
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
92
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Streaming Analytics category, the mindshare of Amazon Kinesis is 4.0%, down from 7.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Apache Kafka is 3.8%, up from 3.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Streaming Analytics Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Apache Kafka3.8%
Amazon Kinesis4.0%
Other92.2%
Streaming Analytics
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1480695 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Software Development at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Has enabled real-time processing of critical event streams with seamless cloud integration
We are contemplating moving away from Amazon Kinesis primarily because of the cost. It is very useful, but if we write our own analytics and data processing pipeline, it would be much cheaper for us. The cost is a primary hindrance. That's why we are not using it widely. For our critical pipeline we are using it, but after that we are putting it in an S3 bucket. Other pipelines directly put the events in an S3 bucket and then process from there. There is no lack of functions in Amazon Kinesis. Functionality-wise, we feel it's complete. The cost aspect is what we are really concerned about.
Amandeep Pawar - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Engineer at Airy Software Technologies Private Limited
Event-driven architecture has improved asynchronous communication and supports high throughput
We can improve the high throughput because there are some limitations. We could add something to improve Apache Kafka. Based on my daily usage and analysis, there is a complex setup and management, which is one area requiring improvement. Apache Kafka does not have built-in message delay or scheduling capabilities. Apache Kafka cannot natively schedule messages. Limited message prioritization is also an area requiring improvement. Ordering is limited to a single partition. Large messages affect performance. Apache Kafka is optimized for many small to medium-sized messages, but large payloads increase network usage, increase disk usage, and slow down producers and consumers. I rate Apache Kafka eight out of ten instead of ten out of ten because operating an Apache Kafka cluster requires expertise in partitioning, application monitoring, and capacity planning. Self-managed deployment can become complex as the cluster grows. Pro-managed Apache Kafka services significantly reduce the operational overhead.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business33
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise51
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon Kinesis?
Amazon Kinesis and Lambda pricing is competitive, but we noticed that scaling and large volumes could potentially increase costs significantly.
What needs improvement with Amazon Kinesis?
We are contemplating moving away from Amazon Kinesis primarily because of the cost. It is very useful, but if we write our own analytics and data processing pipeline, it would be much cheaper for u...
What is your primary use case for Amazon Kinesis?
We use Amazon Kinesis for stream processing. We get events from on-premise devices to the cloud. We get many device events and we have to process these events that are coming from the devices. To p...
What are the differences between Apache Kafka and IBM MQ?
Apache Kafka is open source and can be used for free. It has very good log management and has a way to store the data used for analytics. Apache Kafka is very good if you have a high number of user...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Kafka?
From the AWS perspective, the price is on the higher side. However, if you go for Apache Kafka, it is low. From a price perspective, if you are asking about Apache Kafka, I would rate it a nine.
What needs improvement with Apache Kafka?
Apache Kafka is abundant with features which only an expert-level person will be able to manage due to the high volume and high concurrent expectations. Apache Kafka groups could introduce themes o...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Amazon AWS Kinesis, AWS Kinesis, Kinesis
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Zillow, Netflix, Sonos
Uber, Netflix, Activision, Spotify, Slack, Pinterest
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Kinesis vs. Apache Kafka and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.