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Amazon Linux vs Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Amazon Linux
Ranking in AWS Marketplace
34th
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Apache Kafka on Confluent C...
Ranking in AWS Marketplace
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Henry Rivera - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable documentation and support streamline deployment and troubleshooting
The best features with Amazon Linux include the integration with AWS and other services. It is an operating system that AWS manages, and I feel I can trust it regarding the updates without interfering with or interrupting services. The performance of Amazon Linux with AWS services is perfectly fine. I use it and change the instance type to give it more resources at times, and for the sandbox, I give it less, and it satisfies what we want. Amazon Linux reduces the time it would take for setup or deployment because I rely on the documentation for AWS since it's streamlined, and the commands I need to run are easily accessible whenever I need to look up anything. We've used the application load balancers with Amazon Linux, and that's the main one I can think of regarding advanced networking capabilities. That feature has definitely helped us enhance the scalability and reliability of our cloud applications by easing administration, as the application load balancer is managed by AWS and ties in with Amazon Certificate Manager, ensuring I do not have to concern myself with scalability and any updates. The main positive impact of Amazon Linux on my company has been no interruptions of services. The public website is up and running, which allows us to monetize with virtually no staff hours for downtime or service interruptions.
Ritik Varshney - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced data streaming with reliable features and good analytics
Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud provides an enhanced level of reliability and resources compared to Apache Kafka alone. It offers more features which are beneficial for our clients, including cluster linking, schema registry, error handling, and dead-letter queues. It significantly improves customer and publisher satisfaction, especially with topic integration and data streaming.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Whenever I deploy solutions on Amazon Linux, I almost never have to worry about the operating system."
"Overall, I think it's a good experience. Apache Kafka can be quite complex and difficult to maintain on your own, so using Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud makes it much easier to use it without worrying about setup and maintenance."
"Confluent Cloud handles data volume pretty well."
"In case of huge transactions on the web or mobile apps, it helps you capture real-time data and analyze it."
"The state-saving feature is very much appreciated. It allows me to rewind a certain process if I see an error and then reprocess it."
"The product's installation phase is pretty straightforward for us since we know how to use it."
"Kafka provides handy properties that allow us to directly configure the data, whether to keep it or discard it after use."
"Kafka and Confluent Cloud have proven to be cost-effective, especially when compared to other tools. In a recent BI integration program over the past year, we assessed multiple use cases spanning ship-to-shore and various Azure integrations. Our findings revealed that Confluent Kafka performed exceptionally well, standing out alongside Genesys and Azure Event Hubs. While these three are top contenders, the choice among other tools depends on the specific use case and project requirements. The customer initially used tools like SMQs, FITRA, and Stream for real-time data processing. However, after our recommendation, Confluent Cloud proved to be a superior choice, capable of replacing these three tools and simplifying their data infrastructure. This shift to a single tool, Confluent Cloud, streamlined their operations, making maintenance and management more efficient for their internal projects."
"Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud is more reliable and frequent to use compared to Apache Kafka."
 

Cons

"I have honestly never had any problems with Amazon Linux, aside from disk space issues."
"Maybe in terms of Apache Kafka's integration with other Microsoft tools, our company faced some challenges."
"The administration port could be more extensive."
"There are some premium connectors, for example, available in Confluent, which you cannot access in the marketplace, so there are some limitations."
"There could be an in-built feature for data analysis."
"Regarding real-time data usage, there were challenges with CDC (Change Data Capture) integrations. Specifically, with PyTRAN, we encountered difficulties. We recommended using our on-premises Kaspersky as an alternative to PyTRAN for that specific use case due to issues with CDC store configuration and log reading challenges with the iton components."
"Some areas for improvement in Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud include issues faced during migration with Kubernetes pods."
"The solution is expensive."
"There's one thing that's a common use case, but I don't know why it's not covered in Kafka. When a message comes in, and another message with the same key arrives, the first version should be deleted automatically."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I consider that the product's price falls under the middle range category."
"I think the pricing is fair, but Confluent requires a little bit more thinking because the price can go up really quickly when it comes to premium connectors."
"Regarding pricing, Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud is not a cheap tool. The right use case would justify the cost. It might make sense if you have a high volume of data that you can leverage to generate value for the business. But if you don't have those requirements, there are likely cheaper solutions you could use instead."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
8%
Transportation Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Amazon Linux?
I have been experimenting with new terminals, and I think that the default terminals for Linux machines in general could be improved. For example, Alacritty. I have been using these things extensiv...
What is your primary use case for Amazon Linux?
I work with Kubernetes tools. My job is L3 support and I troubleshoot Red Hat-based systems and Kubernetes. Those are my two areas and that is all I do. When a client's system breaks down, it is my...
What advice do you have for others considering Amazon Linux?
I deploy applications atop it. I mostly use it as a server for various DevOps concerns. For example, I have a Kubernetes server running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ansible server running on Red...
What do you like most about Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud?
Kafka and Confluent Cloud have proven to be cost-effective, especially when compared to other tools. In a recent BI integration program over the past year, we assessed multiple use cases spanning s...
What needs improvement with Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud?
I think what I would improve about the solution is the cost, mostly. From my standpoint, it's the cost. From an engineering perspective, it works really well. There's always room for improvement. O...
What is your primary use case for Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud?
We find that the best features include using the CDC functionality with the connector to take the data from our SQL database and publish it to many consumers. Any changes enable us to easily publis...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Linux vs. Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.