Confluent vs Instaclustr Managed Apache Kafka comparison

Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Confluent and Instaclustr Managed Apache Kafka based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Databricks, Amazon, Confluent and others in Streaming Analytics.
To learn more, read our detailed Streaming Analytics Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Confluent is expensive, I would prefer, Apache Kafka over Confluent because of the high cost of maintenance."
  • "You have to pay additional for one or two features."
  • "The pricing model of Confluent could improve because if you have a classic use case where you're going to use all the features there is no plan to reduce the features. You should be able to pick and choose basic services at a reduced price. The pricing was high for our needs. We should not have to pay for features we do not use."
  • "On a scale from one to ten, where one is low pricing and ten is high pricing, I would rate Confluent's pricing at five. I have not encountered any additional costs."
  • "Confluence's pricing is quite reasonable, with a cost of around $10 per user that decreases as the number of users increases. Additionally, it's worth noting that for teams of up to 10 users, the solution is completely free."
  • "Confluent has a yearly license, which is a bit high because it's on a per-user basis."
  • "It comes with a high cost."
  • "Confluent is highly priced."
  • More Confluent Pricing and Cost Advice →

    Information Not Available
    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Streaming Analytics solutions are best for your needs.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Implementing Confluent's schema registry has significantly enhanced our organization's data quality assurance.
    Top Answer:Confluent has a higher price than MSK. However, it delivers better features for tech stack requirements. For instance, its superior integration capabilities have proven essential, particularly in… more »
    Top Answer:Confluent's price needs improvement.
    Ask a question

    Earn 20 points

    Ranking
    3rd
    out of 38 in Streaming Analytics
    Views
    10,449
    Comparisons
    8,119
    Reviews
    10
    Average Words per Review
    396
    Rating
    8.5
    23rd
    out of 38 in Streaming Analytics
    Views
    403
    Comparisons
    369
    Reviews
    0
    Average Words per Review
    0
    Rating
    N/A
    Comparisons
    Learn More
    Overview

    Confluent is an enterprise-ready, full-scale streaming platform that enhances Apache Kafka. 

    Confluent has integrated cutting-edge features that are designed to enhance these tasks: 

    • Speed up application development and connectivity
    • Enable transformations through stream processing
    • Streamline business operations at scale
    • Adhere to strict architectural standards

    Confluent is a more complete distribution of Kafka in that it enhances the integration possibilities of Kafka by introducing tools for managing and optimizing Kafka clusters while providing methods for making sure the streams are secure. Confluent supports publish-and-subscribe as well as the storing and processing of data within the streams. Kafka is easier to operate and build thanks to Confluent.

    Confluent's software is available in three different varieties: 

    1. A free, open-source streaming platform that makes it simple to start using real-time data streams
    2. An enterprise-grade version of the product with more administrative, ops, and monitoring tools
    3. A premium cloud-based version.

    Confluent Advantage Features

    Confluent has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Multi-language

      • Clients: C++, Python, Go, and .NET
      • REST proxy: Can connect to Kafka from any connected network device
      • Admin REST APIs: RESTful interface for performing administrator operations
    • Pre-built ecosystem

      • Connectors: More than 100 supported connectors, including S3, Elastic, HDFS, JDBC
      • MQTT proxy: Gain access to Kafka from MQTT gateways and devices
      • Schema registry: Centralized database to guarantee data compatibility
    • Streaming database

      • ksqlDB: Materialized views and real-time stream processing
    • GUI management 

      • Control panel: GUI for scalable Kafka management and monitoring
      • Health+: Smart alerts and cloud-based control centers
    • DevOps automation that is flexible

      • Confluent for Kubernetes: Complete API to deploy on Kubernetes
      • Automated Ansible deployment on non-containerized environments
    • Dynamic performance 

      • Self-balancing clusters: Automated partition re-balancing across brokers in the cluster
      • Tiered storage: Older Kafka data offloading to object storage with transparent access
    • Security that is enterprise-grade 

      • Role-based access control: Granular user/group access authorization
      • Audit logs that are structured: Logs of user actions kept in dedicated Kafka topics
      • Secret protection: Sensitive information is encrypted
    • Global resilience

      • Linking clusters: A real-time, highly reliable, and consistent bridge across on-premises and cloud environments
      • Multiple-region clusters: Single Kafka cluster with automated client failover distributed across multiple data centers
      • Replicator: Asynchronous replication that is based on the Kafka Connect framework
    • Support

      • Round the clock enterprise support from Kafka experts

    Reviews from Real Users

    Confluent stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its robust enterprise support and its open source option. PeerSpot users take note of the advantages of these features in their reviews: 

    Ravi B., a solutions architect at a tech services company, writes of the solution, “KSQL is a valuable feature, as is the Kafka Connect framework for connecting to the various source systems where you need not write the code. We get great support from Confluent because we're using the enterprise version and whenever there's a problem, they support us with fine-tuning and finding the root cause.”

    Amit S., an IT consultant, notes, “The biggest benefit is that it is open source. You have the flexibility of opting or not opting for enterprise support, even though the tool itself is open source.” He adds, “The second benefit is it's very modern and built on Java and Scala. You can extend the features very well, and it doesn't take a lot of effort to do so.”

    Managed Apache Kafka
    Instaclustr provides a fully managed service for Apache Kafka®—SOC 2 certified and hosted on AWS, Azure, GCP, or on-prem.

    We customize and optimize the configuration of your cluster so you can focus on your applications.

    Sample Customers
    ING, Priceline.com, Nordea, Target, RBC, Tivo, Capital One, Chartboost
    Information Not Available
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company31%
    Retailer15%
    Non Tech Company8%
    Government8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Computer Software Company17%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Retailer6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Manufacturing Company20%
    Financial Services Firm16%
    Logistics Company9%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise53%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise70%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business12%
    Midsize Enterprise9%
    Large Enterprise79%
    Buyer's Guide
    Streaming Analytics
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Databricks, Amazon, Confluent and others in Streaming Analytics. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Confluent is ranked 3rd in Streaming Analytics with 18 reviews while Instaclustr Managed Apache Kafka is ranked 23rd in Streaming Analytics. Confluent is rated 8.4, while Instaclustr Managed Apache Kafka is rated 0.0. The top reviewer of Confluent writes "Has good technical support services and a valuable feature for real-time data streaming ". On the other hand, Confluent is most compared with Amazon MSK, Amazon Kinesis, AWS Glue, Databricks and Oracle GoldenGate, whereas Instaclustr Managed Apache Kafka is most compared with Azure Stream Analytics, Amazon MSK, Google Cloud Dataflow, Databricks and Aiven for Apache Kafka.

    See our list of best Streaming Analytics vendors.

    We monitor all Streaming Analytics reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.