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Amazon Kinesis Data Streams
What Amazon Kinesis Data Streams is
Amazon Kinesis Data Streams is a cloud-based, serverless service for capturing, processing, and analyzing live data streams. It can continuously collect gigabytes of data per second from hundreds of thousands of sources, and make data available to real-time analytics applications, Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink, or AWS Lambda within 70 milliseconds of collection. AWS synchronously replicates data across three Availability Zones in a Region. Each stream can have up to 20 consumers with dedicated read throughput, and retention can be extended to 365 days. Security options include server-side encryption with AWS Key Management Service keys and private access through Amazon VPC. Listed integrations include DynamoDB, Aurora, Database Migration Service, CloudWatch, Lambda, Managed Service for Apache Flink, and Kinesis Data Firehose. Records can go directly to Amazon S3 Tables as Apache Iceberg tables or to general-purpose S3 buckets in source format. Use cases include event and log streaming, real-time analytics, event-driven applications, and real-time AI and machine-learning applications. The service is paid and is not currently available in the AWS Free Tier. Listed pricing models include on-demand standard, on-demand advantage, and provisioned mode; prices vary by usage and configuration.
Who it suits
Kinesis Data Streams suits teams building data pipelines, real-time analytics, event-driven systems, or real-time AI and machine-learning applications. It is a cloud service accessed through web tools and APIs, with client languages including Java, Python, JavaScript, and others.
What it does well
- Makes collected data available within 70 milliseconds
- Replicates data across three Availability Zones
- Supports retention up to 365 days
- Offers multiple AWS integrations and S3 delivery
What to know first
- Not currently available in the AWS Free Tier
- Pricing depends on usage and configuration
Limits
On-demand Standard includes 24-hour retention, with optional retention up to 365 days. On-demand Advantage supports retention up to 365 days and requires a 25 MB/s account-level minimum for ingestion and retrieval; Provisioned mode uses shard, payload-unit, and optional-feature billing.
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| On-demand Standard | pay per GB written and read plus per-stream hourly charge · $0.08/GB ingested in US-East · $0.040/GB retrieved in US-East · $0.040 per stream-hour in US-East · 24-hour retention included · optional retention up to 365 days | On request |
| On-demand Advantage | pay per GB written and read with account-level minimum usage · $0.032/GB ingested in US-East · $0.016/GB retrieved in US-East · 25 MB/s minimum ingested and retrieved at account level · no fixed stream-hour charge · retention up to 365 days | On request |
| Provisioned mode | pay per shard-hour, PUT payload units, and optional features · 1 MB/s write or 1,000 records/s per shard · 2 MB/s read per shard · 25 KB PUT payload units · 24-hour default retention · retention up to 365 days | On request |
As aws.amazon.com lists them, read 1 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Getting started
- Open the Amazon Kinesis Data Streams website
- Create a stream in the AWS Management Console or with the CreateStream API
- Configure producers to send records
- Build applications to read and process records
Verdict
Kinesis Data Streams is designed for continuous ingestion and downstream processing, with consumer fan-out, extended retention, and AWS service integrations. It has no Free Tier availability, and its listed pricing models charge according to usage or provisioned capacity.
Questions
What does Amazon Kinesis Data Streams cost?
It is paid, with pricing from $0.03. Listed plans use usage-based charges rather than a single fixed price.
Is there a free plan or AWS Free Tier access?
There is no free plan, and Amazon Kinesis Data Streams is not currently available in the AWS Free Tier.
Which platforms and languages are supported?
Access is available through API and web. Supported client languages include Go, Java, JavaScript, .NET, PHP, Python, Ruby, C++, Kotlin, Rust, SAP ABAP, and Swift.
What services can it integrate with?
Listed integrations include DynamoDB, Aurora, Database Migration Service, CloudWatch, Lambda, Managed Service for Apache Flink, and Kinesis Data Firehose. Records can also be delivered to Amazon S3 Tables and S3 buckets.
How long can stream data be retained?
Retention supports up to 365 days, depending on the selected mode and configuration.
Facts from Amazon Kinesis Data Streams's own pages
- Availability
- Streaming data is synchronously replicated across three Availability Zones in an AWS Region. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Consumer fan-out
- A Kinesis data stream can have up to 20 consumers, each with dedicated read throughput. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Data delivery
- Kinesis Data Streams can deliver records directly to Amazon S3 Tables as Apache Iceberg tables and to general-purpose Amazon S3 buckets in source format. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Free tier
- Amazon Kinesis Data Streams is not currently available in the AWS Free Tier. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Getting started
- Users can create a stream through the AWS Management Console or CreateStream API, configure producers, and build applications to read and process records. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- AWS lists integrations with Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon Aurora, AWS Database Migration Service, Amazon CloudWatch, AWS Lambda, Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink, and Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Latency
- Streaming data can be made available to multiple real-time analytics applications, Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink, or AWS Lambda within 70 milliseconds of collection. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Retention
- Kinesis Data Streams supports retention for up to 365 days. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Scale
- It can continuously capture gigabytes of data per second from hundreds of thousands of sources. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Security
- The service supports server-side encryption with AWS Key Management Service keys and private access through Amazon VPC. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Security model
- AWS states that security is a shared responsibility and provides guidance for data protection, IAM access control, compliance validation, resilience, and infrastructure security. · docs.aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- Use cases
- AWS describes use cases including log and event streaming, real-time analytics, event-driven applications, and real-time AI and machine-learning applications. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
- What it does
- Amazon Kinesis Data Streams is a serverless, real-time data streaming service for capturing, processing, and analyzing data streams at any scale. · aws.amazon.com, 1 Oct 2026
Where Amazon Kinesis Data Streams stands on Freedom251
- Event Streaming Platforms#15 of 27