Aiven for Apache Kafka vs HiveMQ MQTT Broker

Aiven for Apache Kafka is a managed Kafka service that handles provisioning, patching, backups, security, and high availability. It runs on AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, DigitalOcean, OVH, and UpCloud, with cloud availability varying by plan. Tiered storage and diskless topics can keep topic data in cloud object storage so storage and compute scale independently. A managed Schema Registry powered by the open-source Karapace project is included, alongside predictive consumer-lag monitoring, Kafka Connect compatibility, and a REST proxy. Aiven describes clusters with automatic node recovery and multi-node deployment across availability zones, and lists a 99.99% uptime SLA for Professional. Connections can use mTLS and/or SASL authentication with ACL authorization; stored data is encrypted. The Free plan costs nothing and is capped at 250 KiB/s throughput, three days of retention, and five topics with two partitions each. Developer costs $35 a month, while Professional costs $180 a month. A free 30-day trial is listed for more memory or advanced features.

HiveMQ MQTT Broker provides event-driven messaging between connected devices and enterprise systems. It supports MQTT 3.1.1 and MQTT 5.0, with persistent messages stored to disk, offline queuing, and quality-of-service support. Dynamic clustering lets operators add or remove broker nodes while the cluster runs. Extensions connect to streaming services, databases, data warehouses, and security services, with Kafka, Amazon Kinesis, and Google Pub/Sub listed as examples. Security options include TLS 1.2/1.3, mutual TLS, fine-grained access controls, pluggable authentication such as OAuth 2.0 and LDAP, and audit logging. The self-managed broker can run on private, hybrid, and public clouds, with images for Kubernetes, OpenShift, and DC/OS. In evaluation mode without a valid license, it supports up to 25 client connections. HiveMQ describes the broker as intended for large-scale IoT deployments and mission-critical enterprise operations. Plans include a free option; Launch is $299 a month and Run is $499 a month. Other listed plans have no price listed.