--- title: Apache Kafka Reviews meta\_title: 'Apache Kafka Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta\_description: Filter 132 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Apache Kafka works for a business like yours. aggregate\_rating: rating\_value: 4.5 review\_count: 132 scale: '5' date\_modified: '2026-08-09' parent\_category: name: Big Data url: https://www.g2.com/categories/big-data --- ### Apache Kafka Pros and Cons: Top 5 Advantages and Disadvantages #### Quick AI Summary Based on G2 Reviews Generated from real user reviews Users highlight the **high scalability** of Apache Kafka, making it perfect for growing data volumes in enterprises. [(5 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1607356&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Users value the **real-time data processing** of Apache Kafka, appreciating its speed, scalability, and reliability across systems. [(3 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1607701&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Users appreciate the **easy integrations** of Apache Kafka, enjoying seamless connections with their Java applications. [(2 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1607769&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Users praise the **high scalability and performance** of Apache Kafka, making it perfect for handling large data volumes. [(2 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1607741&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Users value the **high scalability and performance** of Apache Kafka, making it perfect for handling growing data volumes. [(2 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1607949&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Users struggle with the **operational complexity** of Apache Kafka, which increases resource consumption and limits message queuing capabilities. [(1 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2314620&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Users find the **data management issues** overwhelming, especially smaller teams needing dedicated expertise for maintenance and scaling. [(1 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2446024&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Users find that **debugging issues** in Apache Kafka can be challenging and requires significant effort to resolve. [(1 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1607592&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Users find the **difficult learning curve** of Apache Kafka overwhelming, especially for smaller teams needing dedicated expertise. [(1 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2446055&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) Users find the **limited customization** in Apache Kafka challenging, particularly during initial setup and management tasks. [(1 mentions)](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2184783&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) ### 5 Pros or Advantages of Apache Kafka ##### 1. Scalability Users highlight the **high scalability** of Apache Kafka, making it perfect for growing data volumes in enterprises. [ See 5 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1607356&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Dakalo M.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Dakalo M.") DM Dakalo M. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 5.0/5 "Unmatched Scalability and Performance for Enterprise Data Growth" What do you like about Apache Kafka? High scalability and performance making it ideal for growing data volumes in enterprises. ![Priyanka R.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Priyanka R.") PR Priyanka R. Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 4.5/5 "Apache Kafka: Real-Time Data Streaming" What do you like about Apache Kafka? High throughput and low latency, scalability ,Durability & Fault Tolerance ,replay ability & Retention Kafka retains messages for a configu ##### 2. Real-time Data Users value the **real-time data processing** of Apache Kafka, appreciating its speed, scalability, and reliability across systems. [ See 3 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1607701&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Priyanka R.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Priyanka R.") PR Priyanka R. Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 4.5/5 "Apache Kafka: Real-Time Data Streaming" What do you like about Apache Kafka? High throughput and low latency, scalability ,Durability & Fault Tolerance ,replay ability & Retention Kafka retains messages for a configu ![Akshat J.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Akshat J.") AJ Akshat J. Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 4.5/5 "A strong and reliable tool for real-time data streaming" What do you like about Apache Kafka? Kafka handles large volumes of data really well and is very reliable once set up properly. We use it for real-time data processing between different p ##### 3. Easy Integrations Users appreciate the **easy integrations** of Apache Kafka, enjoying seamless connections with their Java applications. [ See 2 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1607769&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Akshat J.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Akshat J.") AJ Akshat J. Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 4.5/5 "A strong and reliable tool for real-time data streaming" What do you like about Apache Kafka? Kafka handles large volumes of data really well and is very reliable once set up properly. We use it for real-time data processing between different p ![Mohit G.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Mohit G.") MG Mohit G. Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 4.5/5 "Great tool for event processing" What do you like about Apache Kafka? Kafka is highly scalable and easy to manage. Its disctributed architecture makes it handy for big organisation like ours. Easy to integrate with our ##### 4. Performance Users praise the **high scalability and performance** of Apache Kafka, making it perfect for handling large data volumes. [ See 2 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1607741&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Dakalo M.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Dakalo M.") DM Dakalo M. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 5.0/5 "Unmatched Scalability and Performance for Enterprise Data Growth" What do you like about Apache Kafka? High scalability and performance making it ideal for growing data volumes in enterprises. ![Abdullah H.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Abdullah H.") AH Abdullah H. Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 4.5/5 "Impressive High Performance" What do you like about Apache Kafka? High Performance and easy to use as event driven in Microservices ##### 5. Performance Efficiency Users value the **high scalability and performance** of Apache Kafka, making it perfect for handling growing data volumes. [ See 2 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1607949&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Dakalo M.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Dakalo M.") DM Dakalo M. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 5.0/5 "Unmatched Scalability and Performance for Enterprise Data Growth" What do you like about Apache Kafka? High scalability and performance making it ideal for growing data volumes in enterprises. ![Abdullah H.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Abdullah H.") AH Abdullah H. Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 4.5/5 "Impressive High Performance" What do you like about Apache Kafka? High Performance and easy to use as event driven in Microservices ### 5 Cons or Disadvantages of Apache Kafka ##### 1. Complexity Users struggle with the **operational complexity** of Apache Kafka, which increases resource consumption and limits message queuing capabilities. [ See 1 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2314620&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Priyanka R.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Priyanka R.") PR Priyanka R. Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 4.5/5 "Apache Kafka: Real-Time Data Streaming" What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? Operational complexity, High resource consumption, limited Message Queuing Features ##### 2. Data Management Issues Users find the **data management issues** overwhelming, especially smaller teams needing dedicated expertise for maintenance and scaling. [ See 1 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2446024&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Dakalo M.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Dakalo M.") DM Dakalo M. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 5.0/5 "Unmatched Scalability and Performance for Enterprise Data Growth" What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? It requires dedicated expertise for monitoring, scaling, and maintenance. Smaller teams often find this overwhelming. ##### 3. Debugging Issues Users find that **debugging issues** in Apache Kafka can be challenging and requires significant effort to resolve. [ See 1 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1607592&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Akshat J.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Akshat J.") AJ Akshat J. Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 4.5/5 "A strong and reliable tool for real-time data streaming" What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? Initial setup and configuration can be a bit tricky, especially if you’re new to distributed systems. Managing brokers and zookeepers manually can get ##### 4. Difficult Learning Users find the **difficult learning curve** of Apache Kafka overwhelming, especially for smaller teams needing dedicated expertise. [ See 1 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2446055&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Dakalo M.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Dakalo M.") DM Dakalo M. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 5.0/5 "Unmatched Scalability and Performance for Enterprise Data Growth" What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? It requires dedicated expertise for monitoring, scaling, and maintenance. Smaller teams often find this overwhelming. ##### 5. Limited Customization Users find the **limited customization** in Apache Kafka challenging, particularly during initial setup and management tasks. [ See 1 mentions ](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=2184783&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews) See Related User Reviews ![Akshat J.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Akshat J.") AJ Akshat J. Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 4.5/5 "A strong and reliable tool for real-time data streaming" What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? Initial setup and configuration can be a bit tricky, especially if you’re new to distributed systems. Managing brokers and zookeepers manually can get ## Top-Rated Alternatives [ ![Confluent](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_b087379a1153e7d513f37c83481c8ced/confluent.png "Confluent") Confluent 4.4/5(114) ](https://www.g2.com/products/confluent/reviews) [ ![Google Cloud Pub/Sub](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_aeae116c52945fdecd7ed16d621cb315/google-cloud-pub-sub.png "Google Cloud Pub/Sub") Google Cloud Pub/Sub 4.5/5(39) ](https://www.g2.com/products/google-cloud-pub-sub/reviews) [ ![MuleSoft Anypoint Platform](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/d763ac0221fcc0848182458b48016e06/mulesoft-anypoint-platform%282%29.svg "MuleSoft Anypoint Platform") MuleSoft Anypoint Platform 4.5/5(775) ](https://www.g2.com/products/mulesoft-anypoint-platform/reviews) [ View All Alternatives ](https://www.g2.com/products/apache-kafka/competitors/alternatives) ![Verified User in Computer Software](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Computer Software") UC Verified User in Computer Software Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 11/4/2022 "Amazing product" 4.5/5 What do you like best about Apache Kafka? Kafka is particularly valuable in scenarios requiring real-time data processing and application activity tracking, as well as for monitoring purposes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? Apache Kafka does not contain a complete set of monitoring as well as managing tools. Thus, new startups or enterprises fear to work with Kafka. Message tweaking issues: The Kafka broker uses system calls to deliver messages to the consumer. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Apache Kafka solving and how is that benefiting you? Kafka is particularly valuable in scenarios requiring real-time data processing and application activity tracking, as well as for monitoring purposes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Sarthak A.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Sarthak A.") SA Sarthak A. Software QA Engineer Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 11/7/2022 "Best open-source processing platform" 4.5/5 What do you like best about Apache Kafka? Open Source so its reliable and I can customise it to meet my org's requirements Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? The UI and initial setup is a bit tedious compared to the other paid platforms Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Apache Kafka solving and how is that benefiting you? Processing times can be variable depending on the data loads Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Rahul S.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Rahul S.") RS Rahul S. Software Engineer Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 7/11/2022 "Event Processing using Kafka" 4.5/5 What do you like best about Apache Kafka? Easily able to integrate with python and Java Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? I don't see community page of Kafka that strong. Sometimes if you are struck, you need to solve on own. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Apache Kafka: Apache Kafka is really good to capture events in db in almost real time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Apache Kafka solving and how is that benefiting you? It helps me in event Processing as well creating analytics platform. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 7/21/2022 Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Samyog G.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Samyog G.") SG Samyog G. Associate Lead Engineer Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 10/18/2022 "By using apache Kayla we were able to achieve the functionality we were looking for." 3/5 What do you like best about Apache Kafka? Smooth communication between the microservices by using the kafka service. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? In ability to have persistent message in case of breakage of communication between the services in my usecase. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Apache Kafka solving and how is that benefiting you? By using apache Kayla we were able to achieve the functionality we were looking for. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Shiva Shankara V.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Shiva Shankara V.") SV Shiva Shankara V. Advanced Application Engineering Senior Analyst Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 10/30/2022 "Good one" 4.5/5 What do you like best about Apache Kafka? Scalable,fault-tolerant,publish-subscribe messaging which helps us building distributed applications Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? I don't see any as of now. Will surely let you know if I find any Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Apache Kafka solving and how is that benefiting you? Activity tracking, real time data processing, messaging,log aggregation Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Computer Software](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Computer Software") UC Verified User in Computer Software Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 7/4/2022 "Distributed Messaging tool" 5/5 What do you like best about Apache Kafka? The best part is the architecture. It is really easy to understand how Kafka works. Also the support with multiple frameworks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? Might it will be easy if Kafka provides some UI-based tool that can help to debug data inside the Kafka topic. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Apache Kafka: If you have a very large amount of data and you need some message broker then you can easily go ahead with Kafka. It is really easy to understand and also has mature APIs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Apache Kafka solving and how is that benefiting you? We were building one near real-time data lake for that we were getting transaction data. So those messages come to Kafka and we wrote one consumer application that processes the data. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Verified User in Banking](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Banking") CB Verified User in Banking Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 10/30/2022 "Apache kafka is very stable and ver useful in day to day software engineering" 5/5 What do you like best about Apache Kafka? Message queuing is the best and most used features which ensures message loss are not there. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? Lack of monitoring tool makes kafka sometimes frustating. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Apache Kafka solving and how is that benefiting you? It is solving many problems like safety and surety of my message delivery, breaking large treads into pieces. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Information Technology and Services](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Information Technology and Services") UI Verified User in Information Technology and Services Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 8/12/2022 "Inter api communication.." 4.5/5 What do you like best about Apache Kafka? Easy to use interface and ability to communicate across multiple api's fulfilling many business requirements. Topic creation is made easy and very much efficient. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? Topicd could have been birectional which can help communicate both frontwards and backwards. Much more friendly ui expected though the current ui is good and does the job. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Apache Kafka solving and how is that benefiting you? Helps with cross communication among multiple api's to handle events and send responses necessary to deal with the events. Error or application breakdown prevented with recorded events. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite DT Deep T. Senior Legal Recruiter Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 6/15/2022 "Review for Apache Kafka" 4/5 What do you like best about Apache Kafka? As an open-source real-time event streaming platform, I liked that it is very efficient and with the right training easy to set up and use. Specifically designed to handle a high volume of data so it is reliable and stable. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? For a small volume of data, it is not recommended to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Apache Kafka solving and how is that benefiting you? It increases productivity. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Information Technology and Services](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Information Technology and Services") UI Verified User in Information Technology and Services Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 6/30/2022 "One of the best open source distributed event streaming platform" 4.5/5 What do you like best about Apache Kafka? Multiple subscribers is better option which is not available in many messaging services. It combines messaging, storage, stream processing,etc Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Apache Kafka? More reliable on command line. UI based are not that much easier. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Apache Kafka: Nothing Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Apache Kafka solving and how is that benefiting you? Build real time streaming data pipelines. Easy to configure with other platforms like java Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ## Work at The Apache Software Foundation? Claim this profile to respond to reviews, update product info, and reach in-market buyers. 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