DataStax Astra Streaming
DataStax Astra Streaming is a managed cloud service for streaming data and processing event streams, powered by Apache Pulsar.
What DataStax Astra Streaming is
DataStax Astra Streaming is a managed cloud service for streaming data and processing event streams, powered by Apache Pulsar. It provides messaging for streaming, publish-subscribe workflows and queuing, and supports real-time event processing and change data capture. Users manage Pulsar tenants and resources such as topics, connectors, functions and subscriptions through the Astra Portal, APIs or related tools. Applications connect with open-source Apache Pulsar client APIs; the service runs Pulsar 3.1 and recommends that API version or higher. Included sink connectors cover Astra DB and Cassandra, Kafka, AWS Kinesis, Cloud Storage, Elasticsearch, BigQuery, JDBC databases and Snowflake. Source connectors include Kafka, AWS Kinesis, data generation and Debezium for several databases. Shared tenants use Pulsar authentication and authorization alongside Astra organization roles, and connections use TLS. Shared clusters have limits on tenants, namespaces, topics, message size and throughput. Custom source or sink connectors are not supported, and experimental connectors are not fully supported or tested. A free plan is available; paid plans use usage-based charges, with optional Streaming Capacity Units.
Good
- Supports real-time event processing and change data capture
- Manage resources through portal or APIs
- Includes a range of source and sink connectors
- Applications can use open-source Pulsar client APIs
- Free plan available
Watch out
- Custom source and sink connectors are not supported
- Experimental connectors are not fully supported or tested
- Shared clusters have tenant, topic and throughput limits
Who it suits
Astra Streaming may suit developers and organizations that need managed streaming, messaging or event processing. Its listed audience ranges from individual developers and small businesses to mid-market and enterprise workloads.
Verdict
Astra Streaming offers managed Pulsar-based messaging and event processing with a free plan and included connectors. Check shared-cluster limits and connector availability for your use case.
Plans and prices
From DataStax Astra Streaming's own pricing page, checked 3 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Free | Exact price and included limits not stated on the opened pages |
| Paid Astra Streaming plans | Priced on request | Streaming Capacity Units are an optional addition to the base plan and are billed uniquely per customer · Usage-based charges; rates vary by region and usage |
The facts
Each one read from DataStax Astra Streaming's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Audience
- DataStax describes Astra Streaming as serving enterprise mission-critical workloads as well as mid-market, small-business, and individual developer use cases.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Client libraries
- Applications can connect using open-source Apache Pulsar client APIs; the service runs Pulsar 3.1 and recommends that API version or higher.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Connector limitation
- Astra Streaming does not support custom source or sink connectors, and experimental connectors are not fully supported or tested.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- Included sink connectors support Astra DB and Cassandra, Kafka, AWS Kinesis, Cloud Storage, Elasticsearch, BigQuery, JDBC databases, and Snowflake.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Management
- Users can manage Pulsar tenants and resources including topics, connectors, functions, and subscriptions through the Astra Portal, APIs, or related tools.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Pricing model
- Astra Streaming offers a free tier, while its serverless model charges for resources used; dedicated Streaming Capacity Units are billed separately with customer-specific pricing.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Security
- Shared tenants use Pulsar authentication and authorization alongside Astra organization RBAC, with tenant-scoped roles and permissions.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Service
- Astra Streaming is a fully managed SaaS for data streaming and event stream processing, powered by Apache Pulsar.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Shared cluster limits
- Shared clusters allow up to 10 tenants per organization, 20 namespaces per tenant, 100 topics per namespace, and 5 MB messages.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Source connectors
- Included source connectors support Kafka, AWS Kinesis, data generation, and Debezium for MongoDB, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Support
- The documentation directs customers to IBM Support for requests such as private connectivity and unavailable regions.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Throughput limits
- On shared clusters, the per-topic producer, consumer, and subscription throughput guardrail is 5,000 messages per second and 25 MB per second.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Transport and private networking
- Connections use authentication, authorization, and TLS; private connectivity is available for Streaming Capacity Units, not shared clusters.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Use cases
- The service provides unified messaging for streaming, pub/sub, and queuing, and supports real-time event processing and change data capture.checked 3 Oct 2026
Alternatives to DataStax Astra Streaming
- 1
Aiven for Apache Kafka
Free planOpen sourceWebAPILinuxSelf-hosted7.9From $35 a month - 2
Apache RocketMQ
Free planOpen sourceAPILinuxmacOSSelf-hosted7.5Free plan - 3
Redpanda
Free planWebAPILinuxmacOS7.4Free plan - 4
Confluent Cloud
Free planWebAPILinux7.1From $385 a month - 5
Lightstreamer
Free planAndroidiOSWebAPI7.1Free plan - 6
Solace PubSub+ Event Broker
Free planWebAPILinuxSelf-hosted7.1Free plan