Apache RocketMQ vs EMQX
Apache RocketMQ
rocketmq.apache.org
EMQX
emqx.comSide by side
| Figure | Apache RocketMQ | EMQX |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $234/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 5 |
| Spec score · Message Broker Software | 8.9 (#4) | 9.1 (#2) |
| Spec score · Message Queue (MQ) Software | 8.8 (#4) | 9.1 (#2) |
| Deployment | RocketMQ 5.x separates stateless Proxy from storage and compute so those layers can scale independently. | EMQX can run in Docker, through a Kubernetes Operator, or from packages on Red Hat, CentOS, Rocky Linux, Amazon Linux, Ubuntu, Debian, macOS and Linux. |
| Documentation | The documentation includes concepts, quick start, deployment, best practices, SDK references, security guidance, FAQs and release notes. | The documentation site covers Cloud, Enterprise, clustering, installation and migration, data integration, security, APIs and troubleshooting guides. |
| Protocols | The project supports gRPC, MQTT, AMQP, HTTP/REST, JMS and OpenMessaging interfaces across its components and clients. | The platform supports MQTT 3.1.1 and 5.0, MQTT over WebSocket and QUIC, plus NATS, CoAP and LwM2M gateways. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.5 out of 5 from 19 reviews | 4.6 out of 5 from 23 reviews |
| Scale | The project site describes million-level LiteTopics per cluster and says RocketMQ has demonstrated 10M+ TPS throughput. | EMQX Enterprise documentation says a cluster can support up to 100 million concurrent MQTT connections and millions of messages per second with millisecond-level latency. |
| Security | RocketMQ provides ACL and TLS, but operators must configure ACL or restrict access to trusted networks; the security guide warns that ACL is not enabled by default. | Security features include TLS/mTLS, X.509 certificate authentication, access controls, and audit logs. |
| Security controls | Official security documentation describes ACL authentication and authorization plus TLS-encrypted client-server communication. | Security features include TLS/mTLS, X.509 certificates, JWT authentication, fine-grained ACL/RBAC authorization and audit logs. |
| Support | The site links to community email groups, GitHub issues, and contribution guidance for help and participation. | The pricing page lists 8/5 support for Serverless and 24/7 premium support for Dedicated Flex. |
| What it does | Apache RocketMQ is a distributed messaging and streaming platform designed for low latency, high throughput, reliability and very large scale. | EMQX is a unified MQTT platform for connecting, processing and streaming real-time IoT data to cloud, AI and analytics systems. |
Plans
Apache RocketMQ
- Apache RocketMQFree
- Apache RocketMQ open-source distributionFree
EMQX
- ServerlessFree
- Dedicated Flex$234 a month
- BYOCPriced on request
- ServerlessFree
- EnterprisePrice not published
In their own words
Apache RocketMQ
Apache RocketMQ is distributed middleware for asynchronous communication and publish/subscribe messaging. Its asynchronous model can separate systems and shift loads between upstream and downstream services. Messaging options include publish/subscribe, request/reply, streaming, transactional messages, FIFO ordering, filtering, and push or pull consumption. The project lists durable persistence, replication, failover, fault tolerance, high-availability options, and cross-region disaster recovery. Its site describes million-level LiteTopics per cluster and says RocketMQ has demonstrated 10M+ TPS throughput. It can run locally, in Docker, or Kubernetes, with source and binary packages available. The ecosystem includes EventBridge, MQTT, RocketMQ Connect, RocketMQ Streams, Spring, Flink, Prometheus Exporter, and a Kubernetes Operator; AI options include native MCP support, A2A compatibility, and integrations with LangChain, CrewAI, AutoGen, AgentScope, Dify, and Coze. The project lists gRPC SDKs for Java, Go, Python, C++, and Rust, plus gRPC, MQTT, JMS, and OpenMessaging protocols. It is free under Apache License 2.0. ACL is not enabled by default.
EMQX
EMQX is an MQTT messaging platform for connecting, moving, and processing IoT business data in real time. EMQX Enterprise combines publish/subscribe messaging with durable message queuing, while a SQL-based Rule Engine and visual Flow Designer support filtering, transforming, enriching, and routing data. The platform supports MQTT and protocols or gateways including QUIC, CoAP, STOMP, and LwM2M; its listed protocols also include MQTT-SN, OCPP, GB/T 32960, JT/T 808, and NATS. EMQX says a cluster can handle up to 100 million concurrent MQTT connections and lists more than 50 native integrations. Security features include TLS/mTLS, X.509 authentication, access controls, and audit logs. Deployment options include Docker, a Kubernetes Operator, and installation packages, with macOS and Linux packages listed. Plans include free Serverless and Dedicated Flex starting at $234 per month, with a 14-day trial listed for Dedicated Flex. Serverless has limits including 1,000 sessions, 1,000 TPS, and a 1 MB message size.