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Apache ActiveMQ vs Apache Qpid Broker-J

Apache ActiveMQ

activemq.apache.org

Apache Qpid Broker-J

qpid.apache.org

Side by side

FigureApache ActiveMQApache Qpid Broker-J
Price fromFreeFree
Free planYesYes
Free trial——
Open sourceYes—
WebYes—
WindowsYesYes
macOSYesYes
LinuxYesYes
APIYesYes
Self-hostedYesYes
Plans published11
Spec score · Message Broker Software9.0 (#3)8.2 (#10)
Spec score · Message Queue (MQ) Software9.0 (#3)8.2 (#9)
Current releaseActiveMQ 6.3.2 was released on September 2, 2026 as a maintenance release.The listed current release is Qpid Broker-J 10.1.1.
PersistenceKahaDB and JDBC are supported persistence choices, with a high-performance journal option.Pluggable persistence supports Derby, SQL, and BDB stores.
SecurityThe security documentation describes pluggable providers, JAAS authentication, and XML-configured authorization.The feature list includes access control lists and secure connections via SSL.

Plans

Apache ActiveMQ

  • Apache ActiveMQ ClassicFree

Apache ActiveMQ pricing →

Apache Qpid Broker-J

  • Apache Qpid Broker-JFree

Apache Qpid Broker-J pricing →

In their own words

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.

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Apache Qpid Broker-J

Apache Qpid Broker-J is free, open-source Java message-broker software for self-hosted deployments. It stores, routes and forwards messages using AMQP, supporting versions 0-8, 0-9, 0-9-1, 0-10 and 1.0, plus AMQP over WebSockets. Administration is available through REST, AMQP Management and a web console. Routing and queue features include header-based routing, message groups, server-side selectors, dead-letter queues, and last-value, priority and sorted queues. Pluggable persistence supports Derby, SQL and BDB stores. Listed operational features include high availability, producer flow control and flow to disk. Authentication can use LDAP, Kerberos, OAuth2 or SSL client certificates; access control lists and SSL secure connections are supported. The listed current release is 10.1.1, with source archives and tar.gz or zip binaries. Installation documentation covers Windows and UNIX systems. The project uses Apache License 2.0.

Visit qpid.apache.org