Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud vs PostgreSQL on Ubuntu comparison

Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud vs. PostgreSQL on Ubuntu

June 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:

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

6.4

PostgreSQL on Ubuntu is cost-effective, offering 40% savings over commercial databases with no licensing fees and scalability benefits.

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.

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Chief Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Since there are no upfront licensing fees, the ROI is increased with a scalable system without exponential cost growth.

Senior software developer at Simplifyvms

Think about if you are in a different geographic location and your cluster is hosted in two different geographic locations, maybe one in South Pacific and one in Western Europe. In both cases, if write transactions are happening, this is a good way to basically order the transactions so that the eventual data consistency is there.

Debarshi Banerjee

Specialist Programmer L3 at Infosys

If I look into the market, I have very heavy products, and even MySQL is also open source, but PostgreSQL on Ubuntu gives me a lot of savings in terms if I were to go to any other vendor which has a license.

For more quotes and insights, download the PostgreSQL on Ubuntu report

Manager Dev Ops at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

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

4.8

Users mainly use public resources for PostgreSQL on Ubuntu, with some expressing satisfaction with minimal customer support interactions.

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.

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Chief Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Community support is usually helpful in addressing queries and finding solutions to various scenarios.

SampathkumarRajasekaran

Director IT at Artizense Hub

Customer support for PostgreSQL on Ubuntu is good.

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Student at a university with 501-1,000 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

6.9

PostgreSQL on Ubuntu is scalable, efficient with complex operations, but requires careful structuring and advanced techniques for vertical scaling.

According to me, it is quite scalable in terms of all the data it can handle and stream.

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Lead Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

The scalability of PostgreSQL on Ubuntu is very good because complex joins are performed smoothly and efficiently.

Senior software developer at Simplifyvms

I do not see any limits in scalability for PostgreSQL on Ubuntu; it scales well without constraints.

SampathkumarRajasekaran

Director IT at Artizense Hub

I cannot reduce them back because I do not know what sort of data I need and which sort of data I need to discard. That is a very difficult decision to make.

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Manager Dev Ops at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

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

8.1

PostgreSQL on Ubuntu is praised for its stability, reliability, and scalability, especially for businesses handling financial transactions.

No quotes available

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PostgreSQL on Ubuntu is quite stable.

Debarshi Banerjee

Specialist Programmer L3 at Infosys

PostgreSQL on Ubuntu is handling my production infrastructures very well and it is going very good.

Manager Dev Ops at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

PostgreSQL on Ubuntu is stable in my experience because at one time there are more than one user using PostgreSQL on Ubuntu, and it properly provides answers to every user.

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Student at a university with 501-1,000 employees

Room For Improvement

Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud needs improvements in integrations, user interface, cost, monitoring, and configuration for enhanced functionality.

PostgreSQL on Ubuntu needs AI integration, UI updates, improved documentation, asynchronous replication, index tools, and enhanced user experience.

If it were easier to configure clusters and had more straightforward configuration, high-level API abstraction in the APIs could improve it.

FABIO LUIS VELLOSO DA SILVA

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.

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Chief Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Maybe it makes more sense to use AI for configuration in future updates of PostgreSQL on Ubuntu so that the database is automatically optimized for the best performance for a given hardware.

HardeepSingh1

Head of IT at Givo Pvt Ltd

I would also appreciate the ability to use the EXPLAIN ANALYZE tool.

Claudia Agosti

Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Optimizing index management such as adding proper indexes and removing unused ones.

For more quotes and insights, download the PostgreSQL on Ubuntu report

Senior software developer at Simplifyvms

Setup Cost

Enterprise users of Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud find pricing accessible but warn of potential cost surges with added features.

I thought Confluent would stop me when I crossed the credits, but it did not, and then I got charged.

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Lead Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

We were on the lowest tier, so it was around $5 or something.

HardeepSingh1

Head of IT at Givo Pvt Ltd

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for PostgreSQL on Ubuntu is based on the fact that I am using it as a free source, free open source.

For more quotes and insights, download the PostgreSQL on Ubuntu report

Student at a university with 501-1,000 employees

The price model for PostgreSQL on Ubuntu is not expensive; it is affordable since most solutions we use are completely open source, leading to lower costs.

SampathkumarRajasekaran

Director IT at Artizense Hub

Valuable Features

Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud enables scalable, efficient real-time data processing with seamless platform integration and advanced management features.

PostgreSQL on Ubuntu offers robust production support with scalability, community backing, and advanced features for efficient data management.

These features are important due to scalability and resiliency.

FABIO LUIS VELLOSO DA SILVA

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#.

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Lead Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

One of the most important points about PostgreSQL on Ubuntu is that it is free.

HardeepSingh1

Head of IT at Givo Pvt Ltd

Overall, PostgreSQL on Ubuntu is a powerful and reliable database management system; it is easy to use and good for students who want to move beyond basic and industry-level skills.

Student at a university with 501-1,000 employees

Any open-source software allows me to look into the code, understand the logic, and mold my code according to it, and it will work perfectly rather than proprietary solutions where I am very much dependent on the vendor and have to wait for their next release to fix things.

For more quotes and insights, download the PostgreSQL on Ubuntu report

Manager Dev Ops at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

Categories and Ranking

Apache Kafka on Confluent C...

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Streaming Analytics (11th)

PostgreSQL on Ubuntu

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Operating Systems (OS) for Business (31st)

Mindshare comparison

Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud and PostgreSQL on Ubuntu aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud is designed for Streaming Analytics and holds a mindshare of 0.5%.
PostgreSQL on Ubuntu, on the other hand, focuses on Operating Systems (OS) for Business, holds 0.4% mindshare.

Streaming Analytics Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud	0.5%
Apache Flink	10.9%
Databricks	9.0%
Other	79.6%

Streaming Analytics

Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
PostgreSQL on Ubuntu	0.4%
Rocky Linux	10.2%
Ubuntu Linux	8.8%
Other	80.6%

Operating Systems (OS) for Business

Featured Reviews

Has unified log streams from multiple systems and accelerated issue tracking through streamlined setup

Lead Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

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.

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Robust relational queries have supported secure user data growth and improve transaction safety

Senior software developer at Simplifyvms

The best features PostgreSQL on Ubuntu offers are complex joins, which allow us to perform advanced SQL queries, providing the atomicity of our tables, ACID properties for transaction safety, and scalability that we can expand to, as we currently have 10 lakh users, and it is easily scalable. Complex joins are the best feature that PostgreSQL on Ubuntu provides because I have been using NoSQL solutions such as MongoDB, but PostgreSQL has better efficiency for complex queries when used correctly. PostgreSQL on Ubuntu has positively impacted our organization because, from the initial phase with around 1,000 plus users during user accessibility testing, we defined the tables in such a manner that even with future scalability increases, it would function well, and now it has grown to 10 lakh users, still holding up well with fast data retrieval and good query performance, supported by effective indexing methods. In our user table with PostgreSQL on Ubuntu, we initially added indexing on the email property, but after a while, we found that the phone number field was also frequently used, and adding indexing to it improved our query retrieving speed and efficiency by almost 20 to 30 percent.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

40%

Comms Service Provider

Energy/Utilities Company

Engineering Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud?

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 advice do you have for others considering Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud?

My advice to others looking into using Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud is that it is easier and has a low learning curve. If there is any use case regarding streaming, I would suggest starting off ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PostgreSQL on Ubuntu?

For the Software as a Service version, we were using PostgreSQL on Ubuntu and paid some amount. It was not a very large amount for PostgreSQL on Ubuntu. We were on the lowest tier, so it was around...

What needs improvement with PostgreSQL on Ubuntu?

From an improvement perspective, the UI of PostgreSQL on Ubuntu can be somewhat better because from my experience, it is outdated compared to current UI generations, and the reliability without cha...

What is your primary use case for PostgreSQL on Ubuntu?

The main use case for PostgreSQL on Ubuntu is storing the database and serving as our primary database for storing the credentials of users and other information, including candidate data and enter...

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Product Reports

Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud

March 2026

Download Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud product report

Download PostgreSQL on Ubuntu product report

PostgreSQL on Ubuntu

March 2026

Overview

Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud provides real-time data streaming with seamless integration, enhanced scalability, and efficient data processing, recognized for its real-time architecture, ease of use, and reliable multi-cloud operations while effectively managing large data volumes.

Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud is designed to handle large-scale data operations across different cloud environments. It supports real-time data streaming, crucial for applications in transaction processing, change data capture, microservices, and enterprise data movement. Users benefit from features like schema registry and error handling, which ensure efficient and reliable operations. While the platform offers extensive connector support and reduced maintenance, there are areas requiring improvement, including better data analysis features, PyTRAN CDC integration, and cost-effective access to premium connectors. Migrating with Kubernetes and managing message states are areas for development as well. Despite these challenges, it remains a robust option for organizations seeking to distribute data effectively for analytics and real-time systems across industries like retail and finance.

What are the key features of Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud?

Seamless Integration: Connects with many data sources seamlessly.
Enhanced Scalability: Easily scales to manage increasing data loads.
Schema Registry: Maintains compatibility and evolution of schemas.
Offset Management: Tracks consumer progress efficiently.
Error Handling: Offers mechanisms to manage inaccuracies effectively.
Connector Support: Extensive connectors for diverse third-party tools.

What benefits should users seek in reviews?

Reliability: Consistent performance in multi-cloud environments.
Ease of Use: Simplified operations and maintenance.
Developer Efficiency: Streamlined features that save developers time.
Data Volume Handling: Capable of managing large-scale data streaming.

In industries like retail and finance, Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud is implemented to manage real-time location tracking, event-driven systems, and enterprise-level data distribution. It aids in operations that require robust data streaming, such as CDC, log processing, and analytics data distribution, providing a significant edge in data management and operational efficiency.

Confluent

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