Amazon SQS vs NATS
Amazon SQS
aws.amazon.comNATS
nats.ioSide by side
| Figure | Amazon SQS | NATS |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 1 |
| Spec score · Message Broker Software | 8.7 (#5) | 7.4 (#29) |
| Spec score · Message Queue (MQ) Software | 8.7 (#5) | 7.5 (#19) |
| Integrations | AWS lists integrations with Redshift, DynamoDB, RDS, EC2, ECS, Lambda, and S3, and describes fanout with SNS. | The download page lists connectors and utilities for Apache Flink, Apache Spark, AWS, Elasticsearch, Fluent Bit, MongoDB, Prometheus, and other tools. |
| Intended users | AWS describes SQS use for organizations building microservices, distributed systems, and serverless applications, including startups, enterprises, nonprofits, and governments. | NATS is aimed at teams building distributed systems with dynamic, loosely coupled services, including deployments on low-resource edge devices. |
| Purpose | Amazon SQS is a fully managed message queuing service for microservices, distributed systems, and serverless applications. | NATS is an open-source messaging system for building distributed systems across clouds and user-defined edge environments. |
| Security | Server-side encryption uses AWS KMS keys to encrypt messages when SQS receives them and decrypt them for authorized consumers. | NATS documents authentication, subject-level authorization, TLS encryption, and isolated accounts for multitenancy. |
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.