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Best Kafka Streams Alternatives in 2026

Updated

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

  1. 1
    Timeplus Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb $199/mo7.7
    Kafka Streams vs Timeplus
  2. 2
    Materialize Free plan apiLinuxself-hostedWeb $0.13/mo7.6
    Kafka Streams vs Materialize
  3. 3
    Confluent Cloud Free plan apiLinuxWeb $385/mo7.5
    Kafka Streams vs Confluent Cloud
  4. 4
    Feldera Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb Free7.5
    Kafka Streams vs Feldera
  5. 5
    AFL++ Free plan AndroidLinuxMacself-hostedWin €1666.67/mo7.4
    Kafka Streams vs AFL++
  6. 6
    Apache Storm Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb Free7.4
    Kafka Streams vs Apache Storm
  7. 7
    Apache Beam Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb Free7.3
    Kafka Streams vs Apache Beam
  8. 8
    Apache NiFi Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb Free7.3
    Kafka Streams vs Apache NiFi
  9. 9
    Arroyo Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb Free7.3
    Kafka Streams vs Arroyo
  10. 11
    Esper Free plan apiLinuxself-hostedWin Free7.2
    Kafka Streams vs Esper
  11. 12
    RisingWave Free trial apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb $0.23/mo7.2
    Kafka Streams vs RisingWave
  12. 13
    Hazelcast Platform Free trial apiLinuxMacself-hostedWin 7.1
    Kafka Streams vs Hazelcast Platform
  13. 14
    Siddhi apiLinuxMacself-hostedWin 7.1
    Kafka Streams vs Siddhi
  14. 15
    Apache Spark Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWin Free7.0
    Kafka Streams vs Apache Spark
  15. 16
    Apache Samza Free plan apiLinuxself-hosted Free6.9
    Kafka Streams vs Apache Samza
  16. 17
    Pathway Live Data Framework Free plan apiself-hosted Free6.9
    Kafka Streams vs Pathway Live Data Framework
  17. 18
    Apache Flink Free plan apiLinuxself-hosted Free6.8
    Kafka Streams vs Apache Flink
  18. 19
    Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink apiWeb 6.3
    Kafka Streams vs Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink
  19. 20
    Apache Heron Linuxself-hosted 6.1
    Kafka Streams vs Apache Heron
  20. 21
    Timely Dataflow self-hosted 6.1
    Kafka Streams vs Timely Dataflow

Kafka Streams alternatives compared

#ToolScoreFree planFromRuns on
1Timeplus7.7Free plan$199/moAPI, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
2Materialize7.6Free plan$0.13/moAPI, Linux, self-hosted, Web
3Confluent Cloud7.5Free plan$385/moAPI, Linux, Web
4Feldera7.5Free planFreeAPI, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
5AFL++7.4Free plan€1666.67/moAndroid, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
6Apache Storm7.4Free planFreeAPI, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
7Apache Beam7.3Free planFreeAPI, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
8Apache NiFi7.3Free planFreeAPI, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
9Arroyo7.3Free planFreeAPI, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web
11Esper7.2Free planFreeAPI, Linux, self-hosted, Windows
12RisingWave7.2No$0.23/moAPI, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web
13Hazelcast Platform7.1No—API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
14Siddhi7.1No—API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
15Apache Spark7.0Free planFreeAPI, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
16Apache Samza6.9Free planFreeAPI, Linux, self-hosted
17Pathway Live Data Framework6.9Free planFreeAPI, self-hosted
18Apache Flink6.8Free planFreeAPI, Linux, self-hosted
19Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink6.3No—API, Web
20Apache Heron6.1No—Linux, self-hosted
21Timely Dataflow6.1No—self-hosted
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Questions about Kafka Streams alternatives

What is the best alternative to Kafka Streams?

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 Kafka Streams?

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.