Apache Kafka vs Esper
| Apache Kafka | Esper | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Free trial | No | No |
| Paid from | — | Free |
| Open source | No | No |
| Platforms | — | api, Linux, self-hosted, Windows |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment model | self-hosted | self-hosted |
| SQL processing | No | Yes |
| Stateful processing | Yes | Yes |
| Event-time windows | Yes | Yes |
| Supported languages | Java, Scala | Java, C# |
Both are listed in Best Stream Processing Software. On Freedom251, Esper scores higher on our published basis.