Amazon SQS vs IBM MQ
Amazon SQS
aws.amazon.com
IBM MQ
ibm.comSide by side
| Figure | Amazon SQS | IBM MQ |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $1.02/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 5 | 5 |
| Spec score · Message Broker Software | 8.7 (#5) | 6.7 (#36) |
| Spec score · Message Queue (MQ) Software | 8.7 (#5) | 6.6 (#26) |
Plans
Amazon SQS
- Free TierFree
- Standard queuesPriced on request
- FIFO queuesPriced on request
- Amazon SQS Free TierFree
- Pay-as-you-goPrice not published
IBM MQ
- IBM MQ Virtual Processor Core Subscription License$312 a month
- IBM MQ Advanced with AI Agents Virtual Processor Core Subscr$583 a month
- IBM MQ SaaS$727 a month
- IBM MQ SaaS pay-as-you-go$1.02 a month
- IBM MQ SaaS LitePriced on request
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.