--- title: Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) Reviews meta_title: 'Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 24 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.0 review_count: 24 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-08-07' parent_category: name: Big Data url: https://www.g2.com/categories/big-data --- # Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) Reviews **Vendor:** Amazon Web Services (AWS) **Category:** [Event Stream Processing Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/event-stream-processing) **Average Rating:** 4.0/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 24 ## About Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) is an AWS streaming data service that manages Apache Kafka infrastructure and operations, making it easy for developers and DevOps managers to run Apache Kafka applications and Kafka Connect connectors on AWS, without the need to become experts in operating Apache Kafka. Amazon MSK operates, maintains, and scales Apache Kafka clusters, provides enterprise-grade security features out of the box, and has built-in AWS integrations that accelerate development of streaming data applications. To get started, you can migrate existing Apache Kafka workloads and Kafka Connect connectors into Amazon MSK, or with a few clicks, you can build new ones from scratch. There are no data transfer charges for in-cluster traffic, and no commitments or upfront payments required. You only pay for the resources that you use. ## Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users appreciate the **effortless management** of Kafka with Amazon MSK, enjoying seamless scaling, maintenance, and availability. (1 reviews) - Users value the **maintenance ease** of Amazon MSK, which simplifies Kafka management and integrates well with AWS. (1 reviews) - Users value the **management ease** of Amazon MSK, appreciating its automation of scaling and maintenance tasks. (1 reviews) - Users appreciate the **reliability** of Amazon MSK, which simplifies Kafka management and ensures smooth operations with AWS. (1 reviews) - Users appreciate the **seamless scalability** of Amazon MSK, which simplifies Kafka management and integrates well with AWS. (1 reviews) - Scaling (1 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users find the service **expensive** , particularly for smaller workloads or early-stage projects, affecting accessibility. (1 reviews) - Users find the **high cost** of Amazon MSK challenging for smaller workloads and early-stage projects. (1 reviews) - Users find **limited control** with Amazon MSK, especially for smaller projects, impacting flexibility compared to self-managed Kafka. (1 reviews) ## Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) Reviews ### 1. Kafka is very fast and secure messaging que rather than others **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** MUHAMMAD W. | Senior Software Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 14, 2023 **What do you like best about Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK)?** It's easy to manageable producers and consumers, we can handle every topic with a lot of producers, and it's a very fast broker. **What do you dislike about Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK)?** Nothing yet but some little bit dead log conditions managing is very tough as compared to others. **What problems is Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) solving and how is that benefiting you?** The microservices concept efficiently manages multiple services. ### 2. Manages services for you. **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Krishan K. | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 12, 2020 **What do you like best about Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK)?** Amazon mask manages services for you like configure clusters (if one cluster fail or stop working immediately control transfer to another cluster), storage management (manages space for your application on EC2 ). **What do you dislike about Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK)?** You have to pay more for amazon MSK services, **Recommendations to others considering Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK):** It manages all clusters for you. **What problems is Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) solving and how is that benefiting you?** If you not using amazon MSK you have to configure cluster and storage management of Kafka on your own but when you used MSK it will manage all services for you. You do not have to focus on storage and cluster management. After using MSK your focus completely on the development not on managing complex clusters. ### 3. AWS kafka **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Software | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 20, 2020 **What do you like best about Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK)?** Its compatible with Kafka its elastic has ZooKeeper managed for you **What do you dislike about Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK)?** Almost like every AWS tool the UI needs some work. **Recommendations to others considering Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK):** To be honest i don't have enough experience to make recommendations. I like that Amazon has started doing this and has addressed the pain of managing Kafka clusters. If one needs to do this quickly I would say use Amazon MSK than starting from scratch **What problems is Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) solving and how is that benefiting you?** Streams with a guaranty of uniqueness as deduping becomes problematic in other tools. ## Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) Discussions - [How does AWS MSK work?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-does-aws-msk-work) - [Does AWS MSK support Kafka streams?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/does-aws-msk-support-kafka-streams) - [What is managed streaming for Apache Kafka?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-managed-streaming-for-apache-kafka) - [What are the broader platform for Apache Kafka?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/35218-what-are-the-broader-platform-for-apache-kafka) - 1 upvote - [What is the best product software you can offer to us or other service to improve our customer service? Is there any additional tips or advice you can offer to us? What are the best system?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/31377-what-is-the-best-product-software-you-can-offer-to-us-or-other-service-to-improve-our-customer-service-is-there-any-additional-tips-or-advice-you-can-offer-to-us-what-are-the-best-system) - 1 upvote - [View Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-managed-streaming-for-apache-kafka-amazon-msk/reviews?filters%5Bnps_score%5D%5B%5D=3§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-13+10%3A54%3A06+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=51d79c59-7e61-43d0-8b1c-90682935d580&secure%5Btoken%5D=5696b09420d198909516943144494a2179e5a5fe4094d8ac50c8ea45ac96837e&format=llm_user) ## Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) Integrations - [Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS)](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-elastic-container-service-amazon-ecs/reviews) - [Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS)](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-elastic-kubernetes-service-amazon-eks/reviews) - [Amazon Redshift](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-redshift/reviews) - [Apache Kafka](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews) ## Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) Features **Data** - Data Processing - Data Sources - Integration - Real-Time Processing **Analytics** - Reporting & Analytics **Building Reports** - Data Transformation - Data Modeling - WYSIWYG Report Design - Integration APIs - Real-Time Data - Real-Time Data - Third-Party Integrations - Third-Party Integrations **Platform** - Mobile User Support - Customization - User, Role, and Access Management - Internationalization - Sandbox / Test Environments - Performance and Reliability - Breadth of Partner Applications - Mobile Access - Metadata Management ## Top Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) Alternatives - [Confluent](https://www.g2.com/products/confluent/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (111 reviews) - [Aiven for Apache Kafka](https://www.g2.com/products/aiven-for-apache-kafka/reviews) - 4.3/5.0 (242 reviews) - [Tealium](https://www.g2.com/products/tealium-2026-08-12/reviews) - 4.3/5.0 (445 reviews)