Apache Qpid Broker-J vs HiveMQ MQTT Broker

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.

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.