Best Esper Alternatives in 2026

Updated October 2026

20 tools from stream processing software ranked against Esper on the same published basis.

1
Timeplus Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb $199/mo7.7
Esper vs Timeplus
2
Materialize Free plan apiLinuxself-hostedWeb $0.13/mo7.6
Esper vs Materialize
3
Confluent Cloud Free plan apiLinuxWeb $385/mo7.5
Esper vs Confluent Cloud
4
Feldera Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb Free7.5
Esper vs Feldera
5
AFL++ Free plan AndroidLinuxMacself-hostedWin €1666.67/mo7.4
Esper vs AFL++
6
Apache Storm Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb Free7.4
Esper vs Apache Storm
7
Apache Beam Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb Free7.3
Esper vs Apache Beam
8
Apache NiFi Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb Free7.3
Esper vs Apache NiFi
9
Arroyo Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb Free7.3
Esper vs Arroyo
10
Kafka Streams Free plan LinuxMacself-hostedWin Free7.3
Esper vs Kafka Streams
12
RisingWave Free trial apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb $0.23/mo7.2
Esper vs RisingWave
13
Hazelcast Platform Free trial apiLinuxMacself-hostedWin 7.1
Esper vs Hazelcast Platform
14
Siddhi apiLinuxMacself-hostedWin 7.1
Esper vs Siddhi
15
Apache Spark Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWin Free7.0
Esper vs Apache Spark
16
Apache Samza Free plan apiLinuxself-hosted Free6.9
Esper vs Apache Samza
17
Pathway Live Data Framework Free plan apiself-hosted Free6.9
Esper vs Pathway Live Data Framework
18
Apache Flink Free plan apiLinuxself-hosted Free6.8
Esper vs Apache Flink
19
Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink apiWeb 6.3
Esper vs Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink
20
Apache Heron Linuxself-hosted 6.1
Esper vs Apache Heron
21
Timely Dataflow self-hosted 6.1
Esper vs Timely Dataflow

Esper alternatives compared

#	Tool	Score	Free plan	From	Runs on
1	Timeplus	7.7	Free plan	$199/mo	API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
2	Materialize	7.6	Free plan	$0.13/mo	API, Linux, self-hosted, Web
3	Confluent Cloud	7.5	Free plan	$385/mo	API, Linux, Web
4	Feldera	7.5	Free plan	Free	API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
5	AFL++	7.4	Free plan	€1666.67/mo	Android, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
6	Apache Storm	7.4	Free plan	Free	API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
7	Apache Beam	7.3	Free plan	Free	API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
8	Apache NiFi	7.3	Free plan	Free	API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
9	Arroyo	7.3	Free plan	Free	API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web
10	Kafka Streams	7.3	Free plan	Free	Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
12	RisingWave	7.2	No	$0.23/mo	API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web
13	Hazelcast Platform	7.1	No	—	API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
14	Siddhi	7.1	No	—	API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
15	Apache Spark	7.0	Free plan	Free	API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
16	Apache Samza	6.9	Free plan	Free	API, Linux, self-hosted
17	Pathway Live Data Framework	6.9	Free plan	Free	API, self-hosted
18	Apache Flink	6.8	Free plan	Free	API, Linux, self-hosted
19	Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink	6.3	No	—	API, Web
20	Apache Heron	6.1	No	—	Linux, self-hosted
21	Timely Dataflow	6.1	No	—	self-hosted

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Questions about Esper alternatives

What is the best alternative to Esper?

Timeplus, number 1 in stream processing software with a score of 7.7 out of 10. The others here: Materialize, Confluent Cloud, Feldera and 16 more.

What is the best free alternative to Esper?

Timeplus is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 14 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.

How are these alternatives ranked?

Ranked on what each maker publishes, the fullest spec sheet first: how deeply the product is documented, the platforms it runs on, a free tier or trial to test it, and its standing.