Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka
6.1#13 in event streaming platformsFrom $0.11 a monthWebAPILinux
VisitAmazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka vs Apache RocketMQ
Apache RocketMQ
7.5#2 in event streaming platformsFree planFree planAPILinuxmacOSSelf-hosted
VisitWhat both publish
| Fact | Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka | Apache RocketMQ |
|---|---|---|
| Security | MSK supports IAM access control, SASL/SCRAM or mutual TLS authentication for Provisioned clusters, and encryption at rest and in transit. | RocketMQ provides ACL and TLS, but operators must configure ACL or restrict access to trusted networks; the security guide warns that ACL is not enabled by default. |
Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka plans
- MSK Connect$0.11 a month
- MSK Provisioned — Standard brokers$0.20 a month
- MSK Replicator$0.30 a month
- MSK Provisioned — Express brokers$0.41 a month
- MSK Serverless$0.75 a month
Apache RocketMQ plans
- Apache RocketMQFree
- Apache RocketMQ open-source distributionFree
Pick Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka if…
MSK is aimed at developers and DevOps or platform engineers building streaming applications on AWS. It suits teams that want managed Kafka operations and can account for usage-based charges across brokers, storage, processing, or connectivity.
Pick Apache RocketMQ if…
Apache RocketMQ suits developers and operators building asynchronous messaging between services, particularly when they need options such as transactional messages or FIFO ordering. It is for teams prepared to deploy and configure self-hosted middleware.