No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud vs Striim 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

Apache Kafka on Confluent C...
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
14th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Striim
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (47th), Cloud Data Integration (27th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Streaming Analytics category, the mindshare of Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud is 1.0%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Striim is 1.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Streaming Analytics Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud1.0%
Striim1.7%
Other97.3%
Streaming Analytics
 

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.
RV
Data Engineer
Real-time data capture has accelerated releases and now improves trust in our data warehouse
The checkpoints would help me to figure out where the problem was if there's any lag, but I had to do a lot of manual work to figure out where the lag is. Striim would not intuitively tell me the culprit table or database behind the lag. I believe that is an improvement Striim could definitely do. Passwords were an issue. Property variables were not supported for passwords, meaning I had to make sure the password is manually populated. I believe if Striim could read from AWS secrets or its own secret mechanism to store the password, that would really save a lot of time so that I don't have to keep updating the password whenever there is any change. The user experience of triggering alerts if there's any lag which Striim identified, which is outside normal processing time, could intrinsically be done by Striim. I believe that was lacking. I would wait for Striim to tell me, instead of me going and validating whether Striim is lagging behind. If Striim could itself tell me that it's seeing a lot more volume than expected, that would really make me give it a higher number.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"Some of the best features with Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud are streaming and event capabilities, which are important due to scalability and resiliency."
"It's very fast and helps us to create the project, guarantee the message delivery, and the performance."
"The order guarantee of Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud and the amount of throughput it can handle are valuable; the fact that the consumer pulls the data, not the broker, makes it more resilient and more reliable compared to other technologies."
"Confluent helped me to streamline all those logs into one place, and then I was consuming those logs that were produced, which made it very much easier because I know Kafka and using Confluent made it much simpler."
"In case of huge transactions on the web or mobile apps, it helps you capture real-time data and analyze it."
"Confluent Cloud handles data volume pretty well."
"The return on investment has been significant, especially in terms of stability, scalability, and the fact that we almost never had any issues in production."
"We were confidently in a situation to call Snowflake as a single source of truth, and I believe with Striim, we were able to do that because without Striim, the SLA would be much higher, and there would not have been much confidence in Snowflake."
"Striim is capable of absorbing a large number of transactions, and the difference between the two databases is always less than a second, which demonstrates efficiency and highlights the variety of sources and targets I have used."
 

Cons

"There could be an in-built feature for data analysis."
"Maybe in terms of Apache Kafka's integration with other Microsoft tools, our company faced some challenges."
"The clustering is a little hard for juniors and clients. It's suitable for senior engineers, but the configuration and clustering are very hard for juniors."
"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."
"I thought Confluent would stop me when I crossed the credits, but it did not, and then I got charged."
"The administration port could be more extensive."
"Although, specifically with Apache Kafka on Confluent Cloud, it was a bit more challenging to increase adoption because it's very expensive."
"There are some premium connectors, for example, available in Confluent, which you cannot access in the marketplace, so there are some limitations."
"The user experience of triggering alerts if there's any lag which Striim identified, which is not normal, could intrinsically be done by Striim."
"I think Striim could be improved with better pricing and enhanced documentation."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"I consider that the product's price falls under the middle range category."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Streaming Analytics solutions are best for your needs.
909,153 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Construction Company
16%
Healthcare Company
13%
Retailer
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise8
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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 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 Striim?
My experience with the pricing, implementation cost, and licensing of Striim is that it is somewhat expensive.
What needs improvement with Striim?
I think Striim could be improved with better pricing and enhanced documentation.
What is your primary use case for Striim?
I use Striim to perform change data capture from relational databases to non-relational databases in my organization. I implement CDC with Striim by transferring data from Oracle Database to MongoD...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Striim Platform
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Sky, UPS, MACY'S, EMAAR, HSBC
Find out what your peers are saying about Databricks, Microsoft, Apache and others in Streaming Analytics. Updated: July 2026.
909,153 professionals have used our research since 2012.