Compare Apache Kafka and IBM MQ 
At a Glance
Market Segments
Enterprise (47.9% of reviews)
Enterprise (63.5% of reviews)
Entry-Level Pricing
No pricing available
No pricing available
Apache Kafka
Star Rating
(122)4.5 out of 5
Market Segments
Enterprise (47.9% of reviews)
Entry-Level Pricing
No pricing available
Learn more about Apache KafkaIBM MQ
Star Rating
(164)4.3 out of 5
Market Segments
Enterprise (63.5% of reviews)
Entry-Level Pricing
No pricing available
Free Trial is available
Browse all 4 pricing plansSummary
AI Generated Summary
AI-generated. Powered by real user reviews.
- Users report that IBM MQ excels in real-time processing with a score of 9.1, which is crucial for applications requiring immediate data delivery. In contrast, Apache Kafka also scores well in this area, but IBM MQ's higher rating indicates a more robust performance in time-sensitive environments.
- Reviewers mention that IBM MQ has a slight edge in ease of use with a score of 8.2 compared to Apache Kafka's 8.6. This suggests that users find IBM MQ more intuitive, which can be a significant factor for teams with less technical expertise.
- G2 users highlight that IBM MQ's quality of support is rated at 8.3, while Apache Kafka's support is rated lower at 7.7. This difference indicates that users may have a better experience with IBM MQ when it comes to resolving issues and receiving assistance.
- Users on G2 report that both products perform well in asynchronous messaging, each scoring 9.0. However, the consistency in performance across different use cases may make IBM MQ a more reliable choice for businesses that prioritize message delivery without immediate response requirements.
- Reviewers mention that IBM MQ's disaster recovery capabilities are rated at 7.9, which is slightly lower than Apache Kafka's performance in this area. This could be a consideration for organizations that need robust recovery options in case of system failures.
- Users say that while both platforms offer application integration capabilities, IBM MQ scores 8.6 compared to Apache Kafka's 8.7. This suggests that Apache Kafka may have a slight advantage in integrating with various applications, which could be beneficial for organizations with diverse software ecosystems.
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Pricing
Entry-Level Pricing
Apache Kafka
No pricing availableIBM MQ
No pricing availableFree Trial
Apache Kafka
No trial information availableIBM MQ
Free Trial is available
Ratings
Meets Requirements
9.0
87
8.8
113
Ease of Use
8.6
87
8.2
115
Ease of Setup
7.9
25
8.1
82
Ease of Admin
7.7
22
8.0
80
Quality of Support
7.8
78
8.3
109
Has the product been a good partner in doing business?
8.3
18
8.5
78
Product Direction (% positive)
8.8
84
7.9
106
Features by Category
Data
8.9
30
Not enough data
8.7
32
Not enough data
8.9
32
Not enough data
9.1
32
Not enough data
Analytics
8.3
28
Not enough data
Functionality
9.0
49
9.0
68
8.5
46
8.4
60
8.4
42
8.4
49
8.1
46
8.0
63
Integration
8.8
48
8.6
65
8.4
44
8.5
61
8.1
43
8.0
58
Management
8.2
39
8.3
59
8.0
39
8.5
56
8.3
40
8.4
56
Risk
Not enough data
8.2
13
Not enough data
Feature Not Available
Not enough data
7.8
10
Recovery
Not enough data
7.9
13
Not enough data
8.2
12
Not enough data
8.0
11
Building Reports
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Platform
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Not enough data
Categories
Categories
Shared Categories
Apache Kafka and IBM MQ are categorized as Message Queue (MQ)
Unique Categories
Apache Kafka is categorized as Event Stream Processing and Stream Analytics
IBM MQ is categorized as Business Activity Monitoring
Reviews
Reviewers' Company Size
Apache Kafka
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
IBM MQ
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
Small-Business
(50 or fewer emp.)
Mid-Market
(51-1000 emp.)
Enterprise
(> 1000 emp.)
Reviewers' Industry
Computer Software
23.9%
Information Technology and Services
17.9%
Financial Services
8.5%
Banking
6.0%
Retail
4.3%
Other
39.3%
Banking
18.2%
Information Technology and Services
16.2%
Financial Services
10.8%
Insurance
6.8%
Hospital & Health Care
5.4%
Other
42.6%
Most Helpful Reviews
Apache Kafka
Most Helpful Favorable Review
Verified User in Information Technology and Services
Multiple subscribers is better option which is not available in many messaging services. It combines messaging, storage, stream processing,etc
Most Helpful Critical Review
Sahil M.
Verified User in Real Estate
The official sink and source connectors, from debezium have issues with some advanced data types, especially arrays and son, when reading from postgres WAL files.
IBM MQ
Most Helpful Favorable Review
Verified User in Tobacco
MQ and message queuing is not the most sexy of applications. Few will have a need for it, but when you do, you'll realise how critical this can be. If you build a system that needs to support hundreds/thousands of transactions per hour, the biggest worry is...
Most Helpful Critical Review
Verified User in Biotechnology
The interface is not the most user friendly and at times is hard to navigate
Verified User in Information Technology and Services
Multiple subscribers is better option which is not available in many messaging services. It combines messaging, storage, stream processing,etc
Verified User in Tobacco
MQ and message queuing is not the most sexy of applications. Few will have a need for it, but when you do, you'll realise how critical this can be. If you build a system that needs to support hundreds/thousands of transactions per hour, the biggest worry is...
Sahil M.
Verified User in Real Estate
The official sink and source connectors, from debezium have issues with some advanced data types, especially arrays and son, when reading from postgres WAL files.
Verified User in Biotechnology
The interface is not the most user friendly and at times is hard to navigate
Alternatives
Discussions
What is Apache Kafka used for?
2 comments
RS
I am using Apache Kafka for event Processing. We use it to capture the new events generated by our application in our database. Currently, Kafka streams is...Read more
What is the maximum limit of the number of partitions in a Kafka topic?
1 comment
CT
The answer is closely related to the version of the Kafka broker that you are running. A reasonably up to date cluster can hold up to 4,000 partitions per...Read more
What is Apache Kafka used for?
1 comment
DV
It used this Mnemonic to remember what kafka is and what it is used for -
S - Stream Data in Real-Time:
Handles and processes live data (e.g., Uber car...Read more
What is IBM MQ used for?
2 comments
AS
The text "Messaging and monitoring" is already in English. It refers to the processes of sending messages and observing or tracking activities or systems.Read more
Is IBM MQ free?
1 comment
DA
IBM offers both server and client packages.
The clients are free and readily available to download from https://ibm.com, but are not usable on their own,...Read more
IBM MQ has no more discussions with answers
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