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Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud vs n8n 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
4.7
Confluent Cloud's Kafka offers cost-effective scalability and reliability, enhancing data processing and schema management despite higher costs.
Sentiment score
4.9
n8n enhances value for money by reducing staffing needs and boosting productivity, improving organizational efficiency and financial performance.
Returns depend on the application you deploy and the amount of benefits you are getting, which depends on how many applications you are deploying, what are the sorts of applications, and what are the requirements.
Chief Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
I believe the return on investment from using n8n is good because employees who previously worked on the specific problems I've automated can now focus on other, more interesting tasks.
AI and Automation Engineer at PeerSpot
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
Apache Kafka support on Confluent Cloud is praised for timely and competent assistance, with high user satisfaction ratings.
Sentiment score
3.8
n8n support is considered average, with users often relying on online resources or AI tools like ChatGPT instead.
I was getting prompt responses, and it was nicely handled regarding the support.
Lead Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I would rate them eight if 10 was the best and one was the worst.
Chief Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
I can rate the customer support a nine.
Sde-1 at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
5.8
Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud is scalable and flexible, though some users report reliability issues when scaling.
Sentiment score
7.5
Users praise n8n for its scalability, flexibility, and efficiency in managing workflows, with few limitations noted.
According to me, it is quite scalable in terms of all the data it can handle and stream.
Lead Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
n8n's scalability is good, and it maintains a version history of each and every edit and each and every workflow it ran.
Sde-1 at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
The standard solution allows for about five workflows at the same time, and it is scalable since I can upgrade my plan for more executions and workflows if needed.
AI and Automation Engineer at PeerSpot
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.0
Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud is stable and reliable, with occasional issues in high traffic and dashboard access.
Sentiment score
6.6
n8n is stable and reliable, but can be CPU-intensive and lacks notifications for API connection drops.
n8n is generally a CPU-heavy tool.
Sde-1 at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
I have not had any downtime with n8n.
Business automation Expert at INSTRUTECH LIMITED
n8n is stable, though the part that can be less stable is that you must stay connected to many APIs.
AI and Automation Engineer at PeerSpot
 

Room For Improvement

Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud needs improvements in integrations, user interface, cost, monitoring, and configuration for enhanced functionality.
Users seek improved scalability, integrations, user-friendly workflows, enhanced documentation, futuristic UI, reduced CPU usage, and AI-enhanced features for n8n.
If it were easier to configure clusters and had more straightforward configuration, high-level API abstraction in the APIs could improve it.
Partner at SouJava
Regarding additional improvements, I would say probably around error handling, where when we encounter errors specific to our response structures and everything, or the tables or anything of that nature, it would be better if we were prompted with better error handling mechanisms.
Lead Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Observability and monitoring are areas that could be enhanced.
Chief Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Documentation is really good.
Automations Engineer at Ad Up
n8n's UI is great and the documentation is also pretty good; there are various YouTube resources available for that.
Sde-1 at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
Even though I can connect to different platforms with the HTTP node, it would be easier for people who are not technically advanced to connect with the internal integrations.
Business automation Expert at INSTRUTECH LIMITED
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise users of Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud find pricing accessible but warn of potential cost surges with added features.
Enterprise users consider n8n's pricing fair initially, but costs increase with expansion and require infrastructure for cost efficiency.
I thought Confluent would stop me when I crossed the credits, but it did not, and then I got charged.
Lead Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The open source version is free.
Business automation Expert at INSTRUTECH LIMITED
I feel that the price is right as I'm using the standard version, which allows for about one thousand five hundred executions per month, which is sufficient for me and my organization.
AI and Automation Engineer at PeerSpot
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was good.
Sde-1 at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
 

Valuable Features

Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud enables scalable, efficient real-time data processing with seamless platform integration and advanced management features.
n8n offers flexibility, ease of use, and extensive integration capabilities, enhancing productivity and efficiency with minimal coding effort.
These features are important due to scalability and resiliency.
Chief Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The Kafka Streams API helps with real-time data transformations and aggregations.
Partner at SouJava
The best features Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud offers would be the connection with various external systems through various languages such as Python and C#.
Lead Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Things are now fast enough, and people's productivity is generally improved because tedious and repetitive tasks are automated, allowing us to spend our energy and time on productive tasks.
Sde-1 at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
My clients know that the information is not leaking or being sold to anybody.
Business automation Expert at INSTRUTECH LIMITED
You can use expressions anywhere. Expressions are basic JavaScript functions or JavaScript code that you can put in any node to pass data dynamically.
Automations Engineer at Ad Up
 

Categories and Ranking

Apache Kafka on Confluent C...
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Streaming Analytics (12th)
n8n
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (16th)
 

Featured Reviews

AF
Lead Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Has unified log streams from multiple systems and accelerated issue tracking through streamlined setup
I think Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud can be improved by probably working more around Confluent or the tool. In my opinion, it should utilize the response structures in a better way or be able to detect if there is any variable or if there is any data structure that is mismatched, as it would be easier than us manually having to put in the exact name in order for it to match the response. Regarding additional improvements, I would say probably around error handling, where when we encounter errors specific to our response structures and everything, or the tables or anything of that nature, it would be better if we were prompted with better error handling mechanisms. I do not think there are any other improvements Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud needs, aside from error handling and response structures.
IsaacNelson - PeerSpot reviewer
Business automation Expert at INSTRUTECH LIMITED
Automation has transformed voice-based customer workflows and now saves time and staffing costs
What I like about n8n is the ability to customize your workflow. I can do virtually anything with n8n with the HTTP request node. I can customize anything and do any automation with it. Unlike some other automation platforms, I am not limited in my own customization. n8n's user interface is very good. Recently, they upgraded their service to include AI. I can just talk to the interface. For example, I can type what I want to achieve, and the AI will build the framework for me so that I just need to input my credentials and then start the automation. They have a very friendly user interface. Data privacy is handled well in the sense that my information is saved with me. I am not worried about data privacy because everything is stored in my own virtual environment. My clients know that the information is not leaking or being sold to anybody.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Insurance Company
5%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

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 Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud can be improved by probably working more around Confluent or the tool. In my opinion, it should utilize the response structures in a better way or be able to...
What is your primary use case for Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud?
I have used Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud for one of my projects with regard to log monitoring. My main use case for Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud in that project was mainly streaming of the lo...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for n8n?
I do not have detailed information about the pricing, setup cost, or licensing cost of n8n.
What needs improvement with n8n?
There are areas that could be improved or enhanced in n8n. From a features and functionality perspective, there are specific features that are missing in n8n at the moment that I would like to see ...
What is your primary use case for n8n?
I used n8n for data management. Having the opportunity to use Airtable as an integration was a great fit to visualize and organize the data. When I had the possibility to retrieve information or st...
 

Overview

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