Amazon SQS vs Apache ActiveMQ
Amazon SQS
aws.amazon.com
Apache ActiveMQ
activemq.apache.orgSide by side
| Figure | Amazon SQS | Apache ActiveMQ |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 1 |
| Spec score · Message Broker Software | 8.7 (#5) | 9.0 (#3) |
| Spec score · Message Queue (MQ) Software | 8.7 (#5) | 9.0 (#3) |
| Integrations | AWS lists integrations with Redshift, DynamoDB, RDS, EC2, ECS, Lambda, and S3, and describes fanout with SNS. | The site lists Spring support, JCA 1.5 resource adaptors, and testing in TomEE, Geronimo, JBoss, GlassFish, and WebLogic. |
| Licence | Amazon SQS is proprietary software rather than an open-source product. | ActiveMQ is open source under the Apache License 2.0. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.3 out of 5 from 143 reviews. | 4.3 out of 5 from 16 reviews |
| Security | Server-side encryption uses AWS KMS keys to encrypt messages when SQS receives them and decrypt them for authorized consumers. | The security documentation describes pluggable providers, JAAS authentication, and XML-configured authorization. |
| Self-hosting | SQS is delivered as an AWS managed service; the product pages describe console, API and SDK access rather than a self-hosted edition. | Users can download binary or source archives, run the broker as a standalone process, or embed it in an application. |
| What it does | Amazon SQS is a fully managed queue service for moving messages between distributed application components, microservices and serverless workloads. | Apache ActiveMQ is a Java-based, open-source message broker for asynchronous application communication. |
Plans
Amazon SQS
- Free TierFree
- Standard queuesPriced on request
- FIFO queuesPriced on request
- Amazon SQS Free TierFree
- Pay-as-you-goPrice not published
In their own words
Amazon SQS
Amazon SQS is a cloud message queuing service for microservices, distributed systems, and serverless applications. It lets separate software components send, store, and receive messages, supporting decoupled and event-driven designs. Standard queues provide at-least-once delivery with best-effort ordering, while FIFO queues preserve order without introducing duplicates. Standard queues support nearly unlimited transactions per second for each API action; FIFO high-throughput mode supports up to 70,000 messages per second without batching. Messages can contain up to 256 KB, or larger payloads can use the Java Extended Client Library with Amazon S3. SQS accepts batches of up to 10 messages and retains messages for up to 14 days. Dead Letter Queues handle messages exceeding a configured receive count and must match the source queue type. Integrations include Redshift, DynamoDB, RDS, EC2, ECS, Lambda, S3, and SNS fanout. Server-side encryption uses AWS KMS keys. The Free Tier is free for 1 million requests; separate S3, KMS, and data-transfer charges may apply.
Apache ActiveMQ
Apache ActiveMQ is an open-source messaging and Integration Patterns server for applications that exchange messages. It is self-hosted and supports OpenWire, STOMP, AMQP 1.0, MQTT 3.1, and REST. Listed client languages include Java, C, C++, C#, Ruby, Perl, Python, and PHP. Messaging features include message groups, virtual and composite destinations, wildcards, and enterprise integration patterns. ActiveMQ fully supports JMS 1.1 and J2EE 1.4+ messaging, including transient, persistent, transactional, and XA modes; support for Jakarta Messaging 3.1 and JMS 2.0 is partial. Transport options include in-VM, TCP, SSL, NIO, UDP, multicast, JGroups, and JXTA, with JDBC persistence and a high-performance journal. Browser access is available through a REST API and Ajax web streaming. Security options include pluggable providers, JAAS authentication, XML-configured authorization, and user, group, and destination permissions. ActiveMQ Classic costs nothing under the Apache License 2.0.