How much does AutoMQ really save compared to Kafka?

AutoMQ claims up to 90% cost reduction by eliminating cross-AZ traffic and using cheaper S3 storage, with documented benchmarks showing significant savings on cloud bills like AWS.

Is AutoMQ fully compatible with all Kafka clients and tools?

It aims for 100% compatibility as a drop-in replacement, but being a fork, there might be edge cases with niche tools or custom Kafka configurations that require testing.

How to migrate from Kafka to AutoMQ without downtime?

Use the Kafka Linking feature in the enterprise edition for zero-downtime migration, or manually replicate data using compatible clients, though production deployments often need expert guidance.

What's the performance impact of using S3 instead of local disks?

AutoMQ optimizes with caching and parallel processing, but default latency is higher due to S3; the enterprise edition offers single-digit milliseconds for critical apps through enhanced features.

AutoMQ vs Confluent Cloud: which is better for managed streaming?

AutoMQ focuses on cost efficiency and self-management with S3, ideal for teams wanting control, while Confluent Cloud offers a fully managed service with broader support but at a premium cost.

AutoMQ

Apache-2.0Java1.6.6

AutoMQ is a cloud-native, diskless Kafka alternative that uses S3 for storage, offering 10x cost savings, autoscaling in seconds, and single-digit ms latency.

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What is AutoMQ?

AutoMQ is a cloud-native, diskless streaming platform that serves as a drop-in replacement for Apache Kafka. It solves the high costs and operational complexity of running Kafka in the cloud by using S3 for storage, enabling autoscaling in seconds and eliminating cross-AZ traffic fees. The project is designed to provide a 10x more cost-effective and scalable alternative while maintaining full Kafka compatibility.

Target Audience

DevOps engineers, data platform teams, and organizations running Apache Kafka in cloud environments who are seeking to reduce infrastructure costs, simplify operations, and achieve better elasticity for their streaming workloads.

Value Proposition

Developers choose AutoMQ because it dramatically lowers cloud bills, removes manual scaling and rebalancing work, and offers a truly serverless experience while being 100% compatible with existing Kafka clients and tools.

Overview

AutoMQ is a diskless Kafka® on S3. 10x Cost-Effective. No Cross-AZ Traffic Cost. Autoscale in seconds. Single-digit ms latency. Multi-AZ Availability.

Use Cases

Best For

Replacing Apache Kafka clusters to reduce cloud infrastructure costs by up to 90%

Related Projects

Community-curated · Updated weekly · 100% open source

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Building serverless streaming architectures that require automatic scaling in seconds

Eliminating cross-AZ traffic fees for Kafka deployments on AWS or GCP

Simplifying Kafka operations with automatic partition rebalancing and traffic management

Migrating from on-premise Kafka to cloud-native streaming with minimal code changes

Unifying streaming and analytical workloads with Table Topic and Apache Iceberg integration

Not Ideal For

On-premise deployments without access to S3-compatible object storage
Latency-sensitive applications that require sub-millisecond performance without purchasing the enterprise edition
Teams with extensive customizations to Apache Kafka that may not be fully compatible despite the 100% claim

Pros & Cons

Pros

Massive Cloud Cost Savings

Leverages S3 storage to eliminate cross-AZ traffic and reduce bills by up to 90%, as benchmarked in AWS cost comparisons.

Elastic, Serverless Scaling

Stateless brokers autoscale in or out within seconds based on workload, enabling a true pay-as-you-go model without manual intervention.

Automatic Operational Management

Built-in auto-balancer handles partition and traffic scheduling, removing complex manual reassignment tasks common in Kafka.

Seamless Kafka Migration

Acts as a drop-in replacement with full client and ecosystem compatibility, allowing existing Kafka applications to run unchanged.

Cons

Complex Production Deployment

The README admits production setup is challenging and only provides evaluation docker-compose files, requiring expert support for real-world use.

Latency Trade-offs in Open Source

Single-digit millisecond latency is exclusive to the enterprise edition; the open-source version defaults to S3 with higher latency, limiting performance for free users.

S3 Dependency and Vendor Lock-in

Core architecture relies on S3 or compatible storage, reducing flexibility for environments without cloud object services and introducing potential downtime risks.

Open Source Alternative To

AutoMQ is an open-source alternative to the following products:

A

Apache Kafka

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