Confluent vs Cribl comparison

The compared Confluent and Cribl solutions aren't in the same category. Confluent is ranked #3 in SA , with an average rating of 7.8, and holds a 8.5% mindshare in the category. Cribl is ranked #1 in OPS , with an average rating of 8.4, and holds a 44.6% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Confluent users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Cribl users who would recommend it.

Confluent

Read 25 Confluent reviews

5,083 Views
2,745 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Cribl

Read 25 Cribl reviews

4,976 Views
1,344 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Confluent

Cribl

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 1, 2024

Confluent offers a cloud-native service for Apache Kafka, Kafka focuses on the movement and storage of large data streams, while Cribl Stream focuses on processing and enrichment of those streams for further analysis. Cribl Stream can be used to shape, filter, and enrich data before it is ingested into a Kafka stream managed by Confluent. This allows for optimized and more relevant data to be streamed in real-time.

Cribl Stream is a data pipeline solution focused on enabling observability, security, and data management. It allows to route, shape, and enrich data from various sources before sending it to multiple destinations.

Cribl Features: It can direct data to multiple destinations and apply transformations, It allows for selective data retention and filtering to reduce storage costs, and it supports integration with various observability and security tools, enhancing their capabilities.

Confluent offers a managed service for Apache Kafka, which is a distributed event streaming platform used for building real-time data pipelines and streaming applications. Confluent provides additional features and managed services on top of Apache Kafka.

Confluent Features: It excels at handling real-time data streams for high-throughput, low-latency use cases. It integrates with a wide range of data sources and sinks, making it suitable for data integration and ETL processes.

Both Cribl Stream and Confluent can handle data routing and transformation, though Cribl Stream is often more specialized in these areas with a focus on observability data. Both can integrate with a wide range of data sources, but the use cases might differ slightly based on their core strengths.

To learn more, read our detailed Confluent vs. Cribl Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Confluent vs. Cribl

January 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:

Categories and Ranking

Confluent

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Streaming Analytics (3rd)

Cribl

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (12th), Log Management (6th), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (10th), Observability Pipeline Software (1st)

Mindshare comparison

Confluent and Cribl aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Confluent is designed for Streaming Analytics and holds a mindshare of 8.5%, down 9.7% compared to last year.
Cribl, on the other hand, focuses on Observability Pipeline Software, holds 44.6% mindshare, down 47.7% since last year.

Streaming Analytics Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Confluent	8.5%
Apache Flink	14.8%
Databricks	12.5%
Other	64.2%

Streaming Analytics

Observability Pipeline Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cribl	44.6%
DataBahn	15.0%
BindPlane OP	14.2%
Other	26.200000000000003%

Observability Pipeline Software

Featured Reviews

PavanManepalli

AVP - Sr Middleware Messaging Integration Engineer at Wells Fargo

Has supported streaming use cases across data centers and simplifies fraud analytics with SQL-based processing

I recommend that Confluent should improve its solution to keep up with competitors in the market, such as Solace and other upcoming tools such as NATS. Recently, there has been a lot of buzz about Confluent charging high fees while not offering features that match those of other tools. They need to improve in that direction by not only reducing costs but also providing better solutions for the problems customers face to avoid frustrations, whether through future enhancement requests or ensuring product stability. The cost should be worked on, and they should provide better solutions for customers. Solutions should focus on hierarchical topics; if a customer has different types of data and sources, they should be able to send them to the same place for analytics. Currently, Confluent requires everything to send to the same topic, which becomes very large and makes running analytics difficult. The hierarchy of topics should be improved. This part is available in MQ and other products such as Solace, but it is missing in Confluent, leading many in capital markets and trading to switch to Solace. In terms of stability, it is not the stability itself that needs improvement but rather the delivery semantics. Other products offer exactly-once delivery out of the box, whereas Confluent states it will offer this but lacks the knobs or levers for tuning configurations effectively. Confluent has hundreds of configurations that application teams must understand, which creates a gap. Users are often unaware of what values to set for better performance or to achieve exactly-once semantics, making it difficult to navigate through them. Delivery semantics also need to be worked on.

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Richard McIver

Senior Security Engineer at a university with 10,001+ employees

Simplifies data processing and reduces ingest costs through real-time transformation

My favorite feature of Cribl is just how easy it makes working with the data; it's always been a pain point for us with other solutions, just taking our raw data from the source, transforming and manipulating it into what we need on the SIM side. That's always been a pretty heavy lift, however, Cribl has made that much easier. The tools built into the platform allow us to work with the data, see the results in real-time, see what the output's going to look before we commit it, and has really made our job in that respect a lot easier. The Cribl UI is very simple and easy to use, particularly when working with data from various sources; it makes it very easy to create pipelines, add complex logic to those pipelines, and then gives you a preview of what your data looks like before applying that pipeline and what you get after. As we're bringing data in and Cribl's processing it, it makes it very easy to identify subsets of data or certain events that source data that maybe are less useful or just noisy, not really applicable to to what we need what our security team needs, and we're able to just drop those events before they get sent out and and ingested by our SIEM. So that helps keep our data pipeline streamlined, keeps our output clean. It filters out noise, and then it makes our analysis more efficient. That reduces the data volume going into our SIMs, and that reduces and limits the ingest costs associated with that end. With less data, there's less to process when you're running complex searches. So we have charges against those compute resources reduced.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The documentation process is fast with the tool."

"The solution can handle a high volume of data because it works and scales well."

"The monitoring module is impressive."

"Confluence's greatest asset is its user-friendly interface, coupled with its remarkable ability to seamlessly integrate with a vast range of other solutions."

"Some of the best features are that it's very quick to set up, very easy to have a centralized area that gives us a history of changes, and the ability to give feedback on any information placed onto the pages."

"The benefit is escaping email communication. Sometimes people ignore emails or put them into spam, but with Confluence, everyone sees the same text at the same time."

"Implementing Confluent's schema registry has significantly enhanced our organization's data quality assurance."

"I find Confluent's Kafka Connectors and Kafka Streams invaluable for my use cases because they simplify real-time data processing and ETL tasks by providing reliable, pre-packaged connectors and tools."

More Confluent pros

"The support team was very helpful and managed to get everything production-ready."

"I'd rate the solution ten out of ten."

"Features such as Cribl Stream, Cribl LogStream, and Cribl Edge have been the most beneficial. The Cribl LogStream, in particular, is valuable for routing data, creating firewalls on pipelines, and putting security measures in place to ensure data reaches its destination without issues."

"We reduce cost by using Cribl to control what data we need to be sent over to the SIEM, and we were able to use their functionality, specifically aggregation and also some of the drop functions within Cribl to cut down this noise, send a full copy of the data to S3 or a different data lake, and then send the reduced log over to the SIEM."

"Cribl is a very good platform to work with, with lots of features that other platforms don't provide."

"Cribl definitely helps with the complexity because you don't have to push for deployment—they provide the interface where you can mimic what the output will look like, and you can see that in real time when setting up the Cribl configuration, which definitely helps considerably."

"My favorite feature of Cribl is just how easy it makes working with the data; it's always been a pain point for us with other solutions, just taking our raw data from the source, transforming and manipulating it into what we need on the SIM side."

"Cribl search has affected us greatly, and it has optimized our operations teams' time and efficiency; they're able to troubleshoot and find issues for our customers in a minimal amount of time."

More Cribl pros

Cons

"They should remove Zookeeper because of security issues."

"Confluence could improve the server version of the solution. However, most companies are going to the cloud."

"The product should integrate tools for incorporating diagrams like Lucidchart. It also needs to improve its formatting features. We also faced issues while granting permissions."

"The pricing model should include the ability to pick features and be charged for them only."

"Areas for improvement include implementing multi-storage support to differentiate between database stores based on data age and optimizing storage costs."

"Recently, there has been a lot of buzz about Confluent charging high fees while not offering features that match those of other tools."

"It could be more user-friendly and centralized. A way to reduce redundancy would be helpful."

"It could be improved by including a feature that automatically creates a new topic and puts failed messages."

More Confluent cons

"There have been several administrative issues. Another point is that the browsing functions aren't very intuitive."

"Cribl should consider adding more features that are applicable to smaller firms, allowing broader access to their data migration through Cribl."

"Cribl could be improved by some UI tweaks and some usability tweaks, mostly centered around error troubleshooting for large volumes of Edge nodes."

"Improvement could be made in the logging area, as sometimes we encounter issues in a pipeline or something, and it's not immediately obvious when you look at the logs that the pipeline is failing."

"One area that could be improved is the aggregation functionality within Cribl."

"Improvement could be made in the logging area, as sometimes we encounter issues in a pipeline or something, and it's not immediately obvious when you look at the logs that the pipeline is failing."

"There is room for improvement in the documentation and knowledge base, particularly regarding configurations like sources where logs are being ingested"

"Currently, Cribl Search is dedicated to one bucket at a time in the case of S3 buckets. The ability to search for multiple buckets would be awesome."

More Cribl cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Confluent is expensive, I would prefer, Apache Kafka over Confluent because of the high cost of maintenance."

"Confluent is an expensive solution as we went for a three contract and it was very costly for us."

"Confluent has a yearly license, which is a bit high because it's on a per-user basis."

"It comes with a high cost."

"The pricing model of Confluent could improve because if you have a classic use case where you're going to use all the features there is no plan to reduce the features. You should be able to pick and choose basic services at a reduced price. The pricing was high for our needs. We should not have to pay for features we do not use."

"Confluent is an expensive solution."

"The solution is cheaper than other products."

"Confluence's pricing is quite reasonable, with a cost of around $10 per user that decreases as the number of users increases. Additionally, it's worth noting that for teams of up to 10 users, the solution is completely free."

More Confluent pricing and cost advice

"The product pricing is reasonable compared to other solutions."

"I would not say it is a cheaply priced tool as it has been doing wonders in the market. The tool has been budget-friendly for organizations."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

12%

Retailer

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	16

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	15

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Confluent?

I find Confluent's Kafka Connectors and Kafka Streams invaluable for my use cases because they simplify real-time data processing and ETL tasks by providing reliable, pre-packaged connectors and to...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Confluent?

They charge a lot for scaling, which makes it expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Confluent?

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cribl?

I did not deal with pricing directly. We had a team that dealt with Cribl.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cribl?

The product is very good. They could add more AI-assisted pipeline development in the future release.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cribl?

My current use cases involve using it as a pipeline to process data, to route data from cloud logs to different repositories. Some data goes to Splunk and others go to different data lakes. I didn'...

See all answers

Comparisons

Amazon Kinesis vs Confluent

Compared 12% of the time

Apache Flink vs Confluent

Compared 11% of the time

Databricks vs Confluent

Compared 8% of the time

Amazon MSK vs Confluent

Compared 7% of the time

Aiven Platform vs Confluent

Compared 4% of the time

More Confluent Competitors

DataBahn vs Cribl

Compared 12% of the time

BindPlane OP vs Cribl

Compared 11% of the time

Onum vs Cribl

Compared 10% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs Cribl

Compared 6% of the time

Graylog Enterprise vs Cribl

Compared 2% of the time

More Cribl Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Confluent

October 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Cribl

October 2025

Download Cribl product report

Overview

Confluent is an enterprise-ready, full-scale streaming platform that enhances Apache Kafka.

Confluent has integrated cutting-edge features that are designed to enhance these tasks:

Speed up application development and connectivity
Enable transformations through stream processing
Streamline business operations at scale
Adhere to strict architectural standards

Confluent is a more complete distribution of Kafka in that it enhances the integration possibilities of Kafka by introducing tools for managing and optimizing Kafka clusters while providing methods for making sure the streams are secure. Confluent supports publish-and-subscribe as well as the storing and processing of data within the streams. Kafka is easier to operate and build thanks to Confluent.

Confluent's software is available in three different varieties:

A free, open-source streaming platform that makes it simple to start using real-time data streams
An enterprise-grade version of the product with more administrative, ops, and monitoring tools
A premium cloud-based version.

Confluent Advantage Features

Confluent has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Multi-language
- Clients: C++, Python, Go, and .NET
- REST proxy: Can connect to Kafka from any connected network device
- Admin REST APIs: RESTful interface for performing administrator operations

Pre-built ecosystem
- Connectors: More than 100 supported connectors, including S3, Elastic, HDFS, JDBC
- MQTT proxy: Gain access to Kafka from MQTT gateways and devices
- Schema registry: Centralized database to guarantee data compatibility

Streaming database
- ksqlDB: Materialized views and real-time stream processing

GUI management
- Control panel: GUI for scalable Kafka management and monitoring
- Health+: Smart alerts and cloud-based control centers

DevOps automation that is flexible
- Confluent for Kubernetes: Complete API to deploy on Kubernetes
- Automated Ansible deployment on non-containerized environments

Dynamic performance
- Self-balancing clusters: Automated partition re-balancing across brokers in the cluster
- Tiered storage: Older Kafka data offloading to object storage with transparent access

Security that is enterprise-grade
- Role-based access control: Granular user/group access authorization
- Audit logs that are structured: Logs of user actions kept in dedicated Kafka topics
- Secret protection: Sensitive information is encrypted

Global resilience
- Linking clusters: A real-time, highly reliable, and consistent bridge across on-premises and cloud environments
- Multiple-region clusters: Single Kafka cluster with automated client failover distributed across multiple data centers
- Replicator: Asynchronous replication that is based on the Kafka Connect framework

Support
- Round the clock enterprise support from Kafka experts

Reviews from Real Users

Confluent stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its robust enterprise support and its open source option. PeerSpot users take note of the advantages of these features in their reviews:

Ravi B., a solutions architect at a tech services company, writes of the solution, “KSQL is a valuable feature, as is the Kafka Connect framework for connecting to the various source systems where you need not write the code. We get great support from Confluent because we're using the enterprise version and whenever there's a problem, they support us with fine-tuning and finding the root cause.”

Amit S., an IT consultant, notes, “The biggest benefit is that it is open source. You have the flexibility of opting or not opting for enterprise support, even though the tool itself is open source.” He adds, “The second benefit is it's very modern and built on Java and Scala. You can extend the features very well, and it doesn't take a lot of effort to do so.”

Confluent

Cribl offers advanced data transformation and routing with features such as data reduction, plugin configurations, and log collection within a user-friendly framework supporting various deployments, significantly reducing data volumes and costs.

Cribl is designed to streamline data management, offering real-time data transformation and efficient log management. It supports seamless SIEM migration, enabling organizations to optimize costs associated with platforms like Splunk through data trimming. The capability to handle multiple data destinations and compression eases log control. With flexibility across on-prem, cloud, or hybrid environments, Cribl provides an adaptable interface that facilitates quick data model replication. While it significantly reduces data volumes, enhancing overall efficiency, there are areas for improvement, including compatibility with legacy systems and integration with enterprise products. Organizations can enhance their operational capabilities through certification opportunities and explore added functionalities tailored towards specific industry needs.

What are Cribl's most important features?

Data Transformation: Real-time data routing and transformation for improved efficiency.
Data Reduction: Reduces data volumes, lowering storage and licensing costs.
Routing and Masking: Offers powerful data masking and easy plugin configurations.
Log Collection: Simplifies the log collection process across different environments.
Deployment Flexibility: Supports on-prem, cloud, or hybrid deployments.
Seamless Integration: Facilitates easy migration to SIEMs and various data destinations.

What benefits or ROI should users look for?

Cost Savings: Reduces licensing costs by trimming unnecessary data.
Enhanced Efficiency: Improves data handling through seamless integration and transformation.
Operational Flexibility: Provides multiple deployment options to suit organizational preferences.
Data Management: Enhances user control over logs with advanced data reduction and compression.
Certification Opportunities: Offers users chances to enhance skills and operational capabilities.

Cribl sees extensive use in industries prioritizing efficient data management and cost optimization. Organizations leverage its capabilities to connect between different data sources, including cloud environments, improving both data handling and storage efficiency. Its customization options appeal to firms needing specific industry compliance and operational enhancements.

Cribl

Sample Customers

ING, Priceline.com, Nordea, Target, RBC, Tivo, Capital One, Chartboost

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Buyer's Guide

Confluent vs. Cribl

January 2025

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