Amazon MSK Reviews

Name: Amazon MSK
Brand: Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Rating: 3.7 (10 reviews)

3.7 out of 5

10 reviews
90% willing to recommend

What is Amazon MSK?

Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK) is a fully managed service that enables you to build and run applications that use Apache Kafka to process streaming data. Amazon MSK provides the control-plane operations, such as those for creating, updating, and deleting clusters.

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Amazon MSK is the #6 ranked solution in Streaming Analytics tools. PeerSpot users give Amazon MSK an average rating of 7.4 out of 10. Amazon MSK is most commonly compared to Databricks: Amazon MSK vs Databricks. Amazon MSK is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 69% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a financial services firm, accounting for 22% of all views.

Helped 831,071 peers since 2012

Featured reviews

FNU AKSHANSH

Senior Data Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

We don't have many use cases involving ingesting large amounts of data and scaling up and down. We have a clear understanding of our data volume, which remains relatively constant throughout the week. While we're aware of other features Amazon MSK offers, we feel confident in our current setup. If our requirements change significantly in the future, we'll reassess our needs and consider adopting Amazon MSK.

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Gustavo-Barbosa Dos Santos

Software Architect at C&A Brasil

We use the software to facilitate building integrations between systems Amazon MSK has significantly improved our organization by building seamless integration between systems. The product's schema support needs enhancement. It will help enhance integration with many kinds of languages of…

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Aniruddh Kurundkar

Lead Consultant at Neutrino Tech Systems

Using Exabeam has provided one valuable aspect, which is the availability of separate agents for Windows and Linux. However, there is a difference when it comes to Linux. On Linux, we need to perform certain command line operations, whereas, for Windows, we have the convenience of an MSI package. One thing I personally feel is that it would be beneficial to have command line installation for Windows as well. Additionally, we have to install the package one by one on each server. It would be really helpful if Amazon MSK could provide a single installation that covers all the servers. If there are multiple servers, I would otherwise need to perform individual installations on each one. All of my servers are either VDI or virtual machines, so I have to log in to each virtual machine, copy the necessary files, and then initiate the installation. In future releases, I would like to see if there a probability of having a one-click installation that can be applied to all servers.

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Amazon MSK mindshare

As of January 2025, the mindshare of Amazon MSK in the Streaming Analytics category stands at 8.9%, down from 10.0% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Streaming Analytics

PeerAnalyst reports

Type	Title	Date
Category	Streaming Analytics	Jan 18, 2025	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Jan 18, 2025	Download
Comparison	Amazon MSK vs Databricks	Jan 18, 2025	Download
Comparison	Amazon MSK vs Amazon Kinesis	Jan 18, 2025	Download
Comparison	Amazon MSK vs Confluent	Jan 18, 2025	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
Databricks	4.1	14.6%	96%	85 interviews Add to research
Confluent	4.1	8.8%	100%	22 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

Amazon MSK's most valuable features include seamless integration within AWS, cost-effectiveness compared to Kinesis Data, and simplified processes without needing to configure VPCs. It excels in separating concerns, enabling easy creation and deployment of new features. Users benefit from automatic setup, efficient data workflow, and direct access to messages for feature development. Companies use it for CDC pipelines, optimizing asynchronous data collection across databases and systems.

"Amazon MSK's scalability is very good."
"The solution's technical support was helpful."
"Amazon MSK's separation of concerns and ease of creating and deploying new features are highly valuable. It just requires to assign them to the topic, and then anyone who needs to consume these messages can do so directly from Amazon MSK. This separation of concerns makes it very convenient, especially for new feature development, as developers can easily access the messages they need without having to deal with complex server communications or protocol setups."

Room for Improvement

Amazon MSK requires easier integration and enhanced flexibility. Public data handling needs streamlining due to network constraints. Advanced features lag behind competitors. Pricing and auto-scaling need refinement. Installation across servers should be simplified with a one-click method. Configuration and documentation present challenges, while schema support for languages like .NET needs enhancement. Users find initial setup challenging due to updated naming conventions and inadequate materials. Horizontal scaling and message size limitations require improvement.

"One of the reasons why we prefer Kafka is because the support is a little bit difficult to manage with Amazon MSK."
"Horizontal scale-out is actually not easy, making it an area where improvements are required."
"In my opinion, there are areas in Amazon MSK that could be improved, particularly in terms of configuration. Initially setting it up and getting it connected was quite challenging. The naming conventions for policies were updated by AWS, and some were undocumented, leading to confusion with outdated materials. It took us weeks of trial and error before discovering new methods through hidden tutorials and official documentation."

Pricing

Amazon MSK offers competitive pricing, often less than some alternatives like Confluent. Costs vary by use case; small workloads may find it expensive, while larger ones see reasonable value compared to Kinesis. Licensing incurs a monthly fee of fifty dollars. Many users report that MSK is expensive, yet more economical than some rivals. When deploying enterprise-scale architectures, prices align closely with Confluent Platform.

"When you create a complete enterprise-driven architecture that is deployable on an enterprise scale, I would say that the prices of Amazon MSK and Confluent Platform become comparable."
"The platform has better pricing than one of its competitors."
"The price of Amazon MSK is less than some competitor solutions, such as Confluence."

Popular Use Cases

Users primarily utilize Amazon MSK for data streaming in various domains such as banking, retail, and e-commerce. They employ it for real-time transaction tracking, custom order analysis, CDC processes, and facilitating system integrations. In retail, it helps analyze customer preferences for personalized products. Additionally, companies leverage it for communication and notifications, managing large data volumes, database extraction, and event-driven processes, enhancing customer support and system operations.

Service and Support

Amazon MSK support receives mixed feedback. Some users find the support knowledgeable and helpful, with quick response times, while others notice a decline in expertise compared to the past. Support experiences vary based on subscription plans. Some users rate support ten out of ten without facing issues, while others suggest areas for improvement, giving scores between six and seven. The technical support for configuration issues has been praised by some users as excellent.

Deployment

Amazon MSK's initial setup is often described as straightforward, especially for those familiar with Kafka. Deployment, sometimes involving three nodes, can be done quickly, occasionally requiring only one engineer. For others, it might be complex, needing technical expertise and involving multiple departments, taking six to eight weeks. Familiarity with AWS commands eases integration. Experiences may vary concerning simplicity based on prior knowledge and organizational collaboration.

Scalability

Amazon MSK offers strong scalability, with users noting easy expansion due to its cluster-based architecture. While manual adjustments are necessary, users appreciate its reliability. Some report operational overhead compared to Kinesis due to lack of autoscaling. It is seen as effective by different organizations, even with variable ratings. Recognized for supporting multiple users, it's highlighted for its serverless option on AWS and the flexibility of defining instances without managing infrastructure.

Stability

Amazon MSK is perceived as stable. Many view it as offering good stability, with ratings frequently between eight and nine out of ten. Some experience specific compatibility challenges, particularly with older Windows versions. Although it is relatively new, users find the tool reliable, with a reported 99.9 percent availability. Not everyone has used it extensively, so some cannot fully comment on its long-term consistency.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

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