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Apache Kafka vs MuleSoft Anypoint Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Apache Kafka
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
82
Ranking in other categories
Streaming Analytics (7th)
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Message Queue (MQ) Software (3rd), Business-to-Business Middleware (2nd), Workload Automation (9th), Cloud Data Integration (4th), Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Apache Kafka and MuleSoft Anypoint Platform aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Apache Kafka is designed for Streaming Analytics and holds a mindshare of 0.2%, up 0.0% compared to last year.
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform, on the other hand, focuses on Business-to-Business Middleware, holds 14.3% mindshare, up 13.9% since last year.
Streaming Analytics
Business-to-Business Middleware
 

Featured Reviews

Eyob Alemu - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 2, 2024
Significant cost savings with real-time processing and fast recovery
We use Kafka for a stage event-driven process from a process perspective. Our platform is an ID platform, so after registration data is received, it has to be stored from various registration locations. The process includes stages like quality checking, consistency, format, biometric data checking…
Corydon Hinton - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 19, 2024
Can seamlessly translate protocols and produce fairly quick results
Using the solution was great. It was part of the project that we didn't worry that much about. What I also liked about it was that even though I'm not that technical, I could go in and look at thoughts and events and confirm that the information we were looking for was making it across. I could check at the interface level and lessen the burden on validation within the application. The instrumentation within the solution is important. The ease of implementation is very important. Our partner development team had little trouble dealing with these diverse systems, with JSON on the one hand and SOAP on the other. The product’s ability to seamlessly translate protocols is great. The API-led connectivity is great. The reason that we took on the product was that we wanted to learn about it. We wanted to figure out how to use it. A big payoff for this will be in EHR integrations. These systems are all alike, yet they are all different. They all use EPIC, and each installation is a little bit different. It’s a challenge when we go to different hospitals. MuleSoft has made a name for itself in using the integrations.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Apache Kafka is scalable. It is easy to add brokers."
"It eases our current data flow and framework."
"It is a stable solution...A lot of my experience indicates that Apache Kafka is scalable."
"We get amazing throughput. We don't get any delay."
"The main advantage is increased reliability, particularly with regard to data and the speed with which messages are published to the other side."
"Resiliency is great and also the fact that it handles different data formats."
"The use of Kafka's logging mechanism has been extremely beneficial for us, as it allows us to sequence messages, track pointers, and manage memory without having to create multiple copies."
"A great streaming platform."
"This is the easiest and best tool available."
"The initial setup is quite easy because the solution has a good interface through which the configuration, mapping, and so on can be done."
"The most valuable features of the Mule Anypoint Platform are the Flex Gateway, API management, easy-to-use, and connectors. Additionally, they are coming out with improvements to the solution when required."
"When we talk about the APIs, there are multiple policies one can apply on APIs, like rate limiting policies, OWASP policies, and OWASP security policies, that can be easily configured in Mule Anypoint Platform."
"API management."
"The solution's deployment and proxy processes are very good."
"Initially, we faced challenges managing numerous scheduled jobs and duplicate entries in our SAP system. To address this, we developed a reusable component in Mule that all applications could use to interact with SAP."
"The most valuable feature of Anypoint MQ is it comes with MuleSoft so we don't have to maintain separate components."
 

Cons

"We cannot apply all of our security requirements because it is hard to upload them."
"Apache Kafka has performance issues that cause it to lag."
"One complexity that I faced with the tool stems from the fact that since it is not kind of a stand-alone application, it won't integrate with native cloud, like AWS or Azure."
"The GUI tools for monitoring and support are still very basic and not very rich. There is no help in determining a shard key for performance."
"Kafka is complex and there is a little bit of a learning curve."
"They need to have a proper portal to do everything because, at this moment, Kafka is lagging in this regard."
"The solution could always add a few more features to enhance its usage."
"The repository isn't working very well. It's not user friendly."
"Anypoint MQ could improve the user interface."
"Mule should have better B2B integration."
"The solution's licensing methodologies could be improved."
"The product is expensive."
"There are so many solutions like this, but this is not as mature as those products. The other MQ products have the capability of reprocessing and maintaining the persistence of the data. They can handle large volumes and large messages, but Anypoint MQ doesn't have those capabilities."
"The product does not provide a priority level for the message."
"Adding connectors for new upcoming applications would add extra value to this product."
"Better documentation, in particular with respect to the initial setup, would be helpful."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing issues are not applicable. Apache licensing makes it simple with almost zero cost for the software itself."
"We are using the free version of Apache Kafka."
"It is approximately $600,000 USD."
"I rate Apache Kafka's pricing a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive. There are no additional costs apart from the licensing fees for Apache Kafka."
"The price for the enterprise version is quite high. For on-premise, there is an annual fee, which starts at 60,000 euros, but it is usually higher than 100,000 euros. The cost for a project including the subscription is usually between 100,000 to 200,000 euros. The cost also depends on the level of support. There are two different levels of support."
"Kafka is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs."
"Apache Kafka is an open-source solution and there are no fees, but there are fees associated with confluence, which are based on subscription."
"It's a premium product, so it is not price-effective for us."
"Price-wise, it is a good product since it is reasonably priced."
"The tool is heavily bundle-priced. I rate the solution’s pricing five on a scale of ten, where one is expensive, and ten is cheap."
"I can't give you a straightforward answer because sometimes it depends on the usage. If you're going to have fewer than 5 million messages, it is free of cost. If you're going to have more than 5 million messages, they're going to charge $100 per month"
"The product is still very expensive."
"The solution's pricing, as per the old approach, is expensive."
"MuleSoft Anypoint Platform really needs to work on its pricing model because it's very complicated."
"The tool's pricing is cheaper than other RPAs' since it is execution-based. Other RPAs charge based on subscriptions."
"Regarding pricing, I believe there could be room for improvement to align with user expectations."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
31%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Retailer
5%
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What are the differences between Apache Kafka and IBM MQ?
Apache Kafka is open source and can be used for free. It has very good log management and has a way to store the data used for analytics. Apache Kafka is very good if you have a high number of user...
What do you like most about Apache Kafka?
Apache Kafka is an open-source solution that can be used for messaging or event processing.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Kafka?
I would rate the overall cost of using Kafka as a three out of ten, indicating that it is rather affordable, considering the benefits and savings it provides.
What advice do you have for others considering Mule Anypoint Platform?
I architected solutions using Oracle SOA/OSB, Spring Boot, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform on cloud / on-premises and hybrid modes; What I see is though if you are an enterprise and have enough money th...
How does TIBCO BusinessWorks compare with Mule Anypoint Platform?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether TIBCO BusinessWorks or Mule Anypoint platform integration and connectivity software was the better fit for us. We decided to go with Mule...
What can Mule Anypoint Platform be used for and what do you use it for most often?
This is a very flexible solution that comes with multiple uses. My organization mostly uses Mule Anypoint Platform for API management, as it lets us build new APIs easily and design new interfaces...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Data Integrator, Anypoint MQ
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Uber, Netflix, Activision, Spotify, Slack, Pinterest
VMware, Gucci, MasterCard, Target, Time Inc, Hershey's, Tesla, Spotify, Office Depot, Intuit, CBS, Amtrak, Salesforce, Gap, Ralph Lauren
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