Side by side

Aiven for Apache Kafka vs Apache ActiveMQ

Both stand on message queue (mq) software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Aiven for Apache Kafka

Free plan Open source APILinuxSelf-hosted+1

Aiven for Apache Kafka combines managed operations with storage, monitoring, and integration features. Check the plan limits and cloud availability against your workload before choosing a tier.

Visit Aiven for Apache Kafka

ActiveMQ offers broad protocol, client, transport, and persistence choices for self-hosted messaging. Its documented support is full for JMS 1.1 and J2EE 1.4+, but partial for newer listed messaging standards.

Visit Apache ActiveMQ

The facts

	Aiven for Apache Kafka	Apache ActiveMQ
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Yes	Yes
Runs on	API, Linux, Self-hosted, Web	API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows
Lowest paid plan	Developer: $35 a month	Free or on request
Plans published	3	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	aiven.io	activemq.apache.org
On message queue (mq) software	#1 of 29	#2 of 29

Aiven for Apache Kafka: what it does well

Managed provisioning, patching, backups, and security
Runs on six listed cloud providers
Includes Schema Registry and REST proxy
Predictive consumer-lag monitoring
Free plan and 30-day trial

What to know first

Free throughput capped at 250 KiB/s
Free retention limited to three days
Free plan limited to five topics
Developer starts at $35 a month

Apache ActiveMQ: what it does well

Supports four listed messaging protocols.
Client options span eight programming languages.
Includes JDBC persistence and a high-performance journal.
Offers destination read, write, and admin permissions.
Free under the Apache License 2.0.

What to know first

Jakarta Messaging 3.1 support is partial.
JMS 2.0 support is partial.
Requires self-hosted deployment.

Alternatives to Aiven for Apache Kafka Alternatives to Apache ActiveMQ The whole list