12 Best Confluent Alternative Platforms in 2025

Confluent Cloud has long been the enterprise standard for managed Apache Kafka, offering a comprehensive streaming platform with Schema Registry, ksqlDB, and extensive connector ecosystem. For organizations deeply invested in the Kafka ecosystem and requiring its full feature set, Confluent remains a powerful choice.

However, as data architectures evolve and cost pressures mount, many teams are evaluating Confluent alternatives that better fit their specific needs. Common reasons include seeking a simpler operational model without Kafka expertise requirements, reducing total cost of ownership at scale, or finding a platform purpose-built for specific use cases like Change Data Capture (CDC).

This guide examines 12 leading Confluent alternatives, from Kafka-compatible platforms like Redpanda and Amazon MSK to CDC-first solutions like Streamkap. For each platform, we provide detailed analysis of architecture, pricing, operational requirements, and ideal use cases.

1. Streamkap

Streamkap offers a fundamentally different approach as a Confluent alternative—rather than providing managed Kafka infrastructure, it delivers a zero-ops platform for real-time data pipelines. Built on Kafka and Flink internally, Streamkap abstracts away all infrastructure complexity while focusing on the outcome: getting data from sources to destinations with sub-second latency.

This makes Streamkap ideal for teams whose primary use case is CDC—streaming database changes to warehouses, lakehouses, or other destinations—rather than general-purpose event streaming.

Key Features & Use Cases

• Zero-Ops CDC: Sub-second Change Data Capture from PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, SQL Server, and Oracle with no infrastructure to manage
• Native Warehouse Delivery: Direct integration with Snowflake (Snowpipe Streaming), BigQuery, Databricks, ClickHouse, and Apache Iceberg
• Managed Flink Transforms: SQL, Python, and TypeScript transformations without provisioning Flink clusters
• Automatic Schema Evolution: Schema changes propagate automatically—no pipeline breaks, no manual intervention
• 50+ Connectors: Pre-built, fully managed connectors for sources and destinations

Real-World Impact: Customers report 3x lower TCO compared to self-managed solutions, 66% cost savings vs previous platforms, and deployment times measured in minutes rather than weeks.

Pros and Cons

Getting Started

Streamkap offers a free trial with no credit card required. Teams can have production pipelines running within an hour.

Start Free Trial →

2. Amazon MSK (Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka)

Amazon MSK provides a fully managed Apache Kafka service within the AWS ecosystem. It handles cluster provisioning, patching, and monitoring while maintaining full Kafka API compatibility.

Key Features

• AWS Integration: Native integration with IAM, VPC, CloudWatch, and other AWS services
• MSK Serverless: Automatic capacity management without provisioning brokers
• MSK Connect: Managed Kafka Connect for running connectors
• Multi-AZ Deployment: Built-in high availability across availability zones

Pricing

MSK pricing is based on broker instance hours, storage, and data transfer. MSK Serverless charges by partition-hours and throughput. Costs can scale significantly with data volume.

Best For

Organizations already invested in AWS who want native Kafka with cloud provider support and integration.

3. Redpanda

Redpanda is a Kafka-compatible streaming platform written in C++ for high performance. It eliminates JVM tuning and Zookeeper dependencies while maintaining full Kafka API compatibility.

Key Features

• High Performance: Thread-per-core architecture delivers consistent low latency
• Simple Operations: No JVM, no Zookeeper, single binary deployment
• Kafka Compatible: Drop-in replacement for Kafka clients
• Tiered Storage: Offload data to object storage for cost efficiency

Pricing

Redpanda Cloud offers usage-based pricing. Self-hosted is open source with enterprise features requiring a license.

Best For

Teams seeking Kafka compatibility with simpler operations and lower resource consumption.

4. Aiven for Apache Kafka

Aiven provides fully managed Kafka across multiple cloud providers with a focus on operational simplicity and multi-cloud flexibility.

Key Features

• Multi-Cloud: Deploy on AWS, GCP, or Azure with consistent experience
• Integrated Services: Kafka Connect, Schema Registry, and ksqlDB included
• Terraform Support: Infrastructure-as-code for deployment automation
• 24/7 Support: Enterprise support included in all plans

Pricing

Hourly pricing based on plan tier and cluster size. Transparent pricing calculator available.

Best For

Multi-cloud organizations wanting managed Kafka without vendor lock-in.

5. Google Cloud Pub/Sub

Pub/Sub is Google’s serverless messaging service, offering automatic scaling and tight GCP integration without Kafka compatibility.

Key Features

• Serverless: No clusters to manage, automatic scaling to any throughput
• Global: Multi-region by default with automatic geo-routing
• Dataflow Integration: Native streaming into BigQuery via Dataflow
• At-Least-Once Delivery: Reliable message delivery with acknowledgment

Pricing

Pay-per-use based on data volume. No cluster costs, but can be expensive at scale.

Best For

GCP-native organizations who don’t require Kafka API compatibility.

6. Azure Event Hubs

Event Hubs is Microsoft’s big data streaming platform with Kafka compatibility mode, designed for Azure-native workloads.

Key Features

• Kafka Protocol Support: Connect existing Kafka clients without code changes
• Azure Integration: Native connection to Azure services
• Capture: Automatic data archival to Azure Blob or Data Lake
• Throughput Units: Predictable capacity planning

Pricing

Based on throughput units (ingress) and capture storage. Premium tier offers dedicated capacity.

Best For

Azure-centric organizations seeking Kafka compatibility with minimal operations.

7. WarpStream

WarpStream offers a Kafka-compatible platform that separates compute from storage, storing data directly in object storage for significant cost reduction.

Key Features

• Zero Disks: Data stored in S3/GCS, eliminating disk management
• Cost Efficient: Up to 80% cheaper than traditional Kafka at scale
• Kafka Compatible: Full Kafka protocol support
• BYOC: Bring Your Own Cloud deployment model

Pricing

Based on data ingested plus compute. Dramatically lower storage costs than traditional Kafka.

Best For

Cost-conscious teams with high data volumes who can tolerate slightly higher latency.

8. Upstash Kafka

Upstash provides serverless Kafka with per-request pricing, ideal for variable or low-volume workloads.

Key Features

• Serverless: True pay-per-request model with no idle costs
• REST API: HTTP interface in addition to Kafka protocol
• Global Replication: Multi-region support for global applications
• Free Tier: Generous free tier for development and low-volume use

Pricing

Per-message pricing with generous free tier. Predictable costs for variable workloads.

Best For

Startups and applications with variable or unpredictable streaming volumes.

9. Apache Kafka (Self-Managed)

Self-managing Apache Kafka provides maximum control and customization at the cost of operational complexity.

Key Features

• Full Control: Complete customization of every configuration
• No Vendor Lock-in: Open source with large community
• Cost at Scale: Lower licensing costs offset by operational overhead
• Ecosystem: Largest ecosystem of tools and connectors

Considerations

Requires significant Kafka expertise, ongoing maintenance, and dedicated platform team.

Best For

Organizations with existing Kafka expertise and requirements for deep customization.

10. Decodable

Decodable offers a managed streaming platform focused on real-time data transformations using Apache Flink.

Key Features

• Managed Flink: SQL-based stream processing without infrastructure
• Connectors: Built-in CDC and data warehouse connectors
• Schema Management: Automatic schema inference and evolution
• Real-Time ETL: Purpose-built for streaming ETL use cases

Pricing

Usage-based pricing on data processed and connector usage.

Best For

Teams focused on real-time transformations who want managed Flink without Kafka management.

11. Estuary Flow

Estuary provides a real-time data platform combining CDC, streaming, and batch in a unified system.

Key Features

• Real-Time & Batch: Single platform for both streaming and batch workloads
• CDC Support: Built-in change data capture from databases
• Materializations: Continuous updates to destinations
• Open Source Core: Transparent, extensible platform

Pricing

Usage-based pricing with free tier available.

Best For

Teams wanting unified real-time and batch processing with CDC capabilities.

12. Fivetran

Fivetran is an ELT platform focused on data warehouse loading, offering a different approach than streaming-first platforms.

Key Features

• 300+ Connectors: Extensive SaaS and database connector library
• Automated Sync: Fully managed data pipelines
• Schema Handling: Automatic schema drift handling
• dbt Integration: Native dbt Cloud integration

Limitations

Batch-based with 5-60 minute sync intervals—not true real-time streaming.

Best For

Organizations prioritizing connector breadth over real-time latency requirements.

Choosing the Right Confluent Alternative

The best Confluent alternative depends on your primary use case:

Key Decision Factors

1. Latency Requirements: Do you need sub-second latency, or are minute-level syncs acceptable?
2. Kafka Expertise: Does your team have Kafka expertise, or do you need a platform that abstracts it?
3. Primary Use Case: Is your focus CDC, general event streaming, or real-time transformations?
4. Cloud Strategy: Are you single-cloud, multi-cloud, or cloud-agnostic?
5. Budget: What’s your tolerance for operational costs vs licensing costs?

Conclusion

While Confluent remains a powerful choice for organizations requiring the full Kafka feature set and ecosystem, many teams find that specialized alternatives better fit their specific needs—whether that’s simpler operations, lower costs, or purpose-built CDC capabilities.

For teams whose primary need is streaming database changes to data warehouses with sub-second latency and zero operational overhead, Streamkap offers the most direct path to production without requiring Kafka expertise.

Try Streamkap Free →