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Apache Kafka vs Redis comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.3
Apache Kafka users experience improved profitability, scalability, and efficiency, benefiting from cost-effectiveness and customization for timely decision-making.
Sentiment score
7.3
Redis boosts performance and reduces costs, enhancing API latency and productivity while allowing focus on feature development.
We reduced the database read load by around 30 to 40 percent and improved API response time by 20 to 30 percent, specifically for frequently accessed endpoints.
SDE 2 at Virtusa
We have seen a positive return on investment from using Redis, mainly through improved application performance, reduced database load, and lower operational overhead.
Senior Software Engineer at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.0
Apache Kafka support is community-driven, supplemented by third-party services, with quick responses and extensive online resources available.
Sentiment score
6.4
Redis users rarely need support due to stability, relying on documentation and community, with mixed experiences reported.
The Apache community provides support for the open-source version.
Technology Leader at eTCaaS
There is plenty of community support available online.
With Microsoft, expectations are higher because we pay for a license and have a contract.
Senior Manager at Timestamp, SA
By simply referring to their documentation, we have been able to fix our bugs and general issues.
Senior Software Engineer at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Since Redis is quite stable and well-documented, we have not needed much support, but when required, the response has been helpful.
SDE 2 at Virtusa
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Apache Kafka is favored for its impressive scalability, efficient data handling, and seamless integration with Kubernetes and distributed environments.
Sentiment score
7.8
Redis excels in scalability and efficiency, handling high traffic with clustering and sharding, benefiting enterprise application demands.
Customers have not faced issues with user growth or data streaming needs.
Technology Leader at eTCaaS
Apache Kafka is highly scalable and supports horizontal scaling by allowing you to add more brokers to the cluster and increase the number of partitions for a topic.
Senior Engineer at Airy Software Technologies Private Limited
I need to enable my solution with high availability and scalability.
Data Architect at Ascendion
The in-memory architecture provides consistently low-latency access even as data access patterns and request volume increase.
Senior Software Engineer at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Data migration and changes to application-side configurations are challenging due to the lack of automatic migration tools in a non-clustered legacy system.
Data Engineer at a photography company with 1,001-5,000 employees
With features such as clustering and replication, it can handle high traffic and a large database very effectively.
SDE 2 at Virtusa
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Apache Kafka is stable and reliable, though proper configuration is crucial; users experience few stability issues despite evolving APIs.
Sentiment score
7.9
Redis is lauded for its stability, reliable caching performance, and robust architecture, supported by strong community and managed services.
Apache Kafka is stable.
Technology Leader at eTCaaS
This feature of Apache Kafka has helped enhance our system stability when handling high volume data.
DevOps Engineer
Apache Kafka is more stable and is very good technology for asynchronous programming.
Senior Engineer at Airy Software Technologies Private Limited
Redis has consistently provided fast and predictable performance, particularly for caching and high-frequency data access scenarios.
Senior Software Engineer at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Redis is fairly stable.
Data Engineer at a photography company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Users desire enhancements in Kafka's operational complexity, scalability, monitoring, debugging, and management tools for better user experience.
Redis users seek improvements in cache management, user interface, observability, scalability, security setup, and cloud integrations for enhanced usability.
Operating an Apache Kafka cluster requires expertise in partitioning, application monitoring, and capacity planning.
Senior Engineer at Airy Software Technologies Private Limited
The performance angle is critical, and while it works in milliseconds, the goal is to move towards microseconds.
Technology Leader at eTCaaS
Apache Kafka groups could introduce themes or profiles of configuration to help manage this complexity without needing expertise.
Senior Principal Architect at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Making security features and enterprise governance capabilities easier to configure out of the box would help organizations adopt Redis more confidently for larger and more critical workloads.
Senior Software Engineer at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Data persistence and recovery face issues with compatibility across major versions, making upgrades possible but downgrades not active.
Data Engineer at a photography company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Redis is very reliable, but it could be improved in areas such as monitoring, debugging, and feasibility into memory use.
SDE 2 at Virtusa
 

Setup Cost

Enterprises favor Apache Kafka for its free open-source model, despite potential costs from managed services and infrastructure.
Enterprise Redis costs vary by deployment model, with self-managed being cost-effective and cloud services charging for memory usage.
From a price perspective, if you are asking about Apache Kafka, I would rate it a nine.
Senior Principal Architect at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
The open-source version of Apache Kafka results in minimal costs, mainly linked to accessing documentation and limited support.
Technology Leader at eTCaaS
Apache Kafka itself is open source and free to use.
Senior Engineer at Airy Software Technologies Private Limited
The main value comes from the performance improvements, reduced database load, and increased scalability that Redis provides.
Senior Software Engineer at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Since we use an open-source version of Redis, we do not experience any setup costs or licensing expenses.
Data Engineer at a photography company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The pricing is reasonable for the performance provided.
SDE 2 at Virtusa
 

Valuable Features

Apache Kafka excels in real-time processing, scalability, and integration, offering robust support for high-volume, event-driven architectures.
Redis is preferred for speed and reliability, offering low latency, high throughput, and efficient scaling with minimal configuration.
Apache Kafka is effective when dealing with large volumes of data flowing at high speeds, requiring real-time processing.
Apache Kafka is particularly valuable for managing high levels of transactions.
Senior Manager at Timestamp, SA
The best features include high throughput with low latency and support for horizontal scaling.
Senior Engineer at Airy Software Technologies Private Limited
It functions similarly to a foundational building block in a larger system, enabling native integration and high functionality in core data processes.
Data Engineer at a photography company with 1,001-5,000 employees
By offloading frequent reads from the database and enabling fast in-memory cache access, it reduced latency, improved throughput, and helped maintain stability during peak loads.
SDE 2 at Virtusa
The most valuable features include high-speed in-memory data access, flexible data structures, caching capabilities, data expiration and time-to-live management, high availability and scalability, and atomic operations.
Senior Software Engineer at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Apache Kafka
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
92
Ranking in other categories
Streaming Analytics (3rd)
Redis
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
NoSQL Databases (3rd), Managed NoSQL Databases (5th), In-Memory Data Store Services (1st), Vector Databases (3rd), AI Software Development (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Apache Kafka and Redis aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Apache Kafka is designed for Streaming Analytics and holds a mindshare of 3.8%, up 3.5% compared to last year.
Redis, on the other hand, focuses on In-Memory Data Store Services, holds 22.0% mindshare, up 20.1% since last year.
Streaming Analytics Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Apache Kafka3.8%
Databricks7.5%
Apache Flink7.5%
Other81.2%
Streaming Analytics
In-Memory Data Store Services Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Redis22.0%
Amazon ElastiCache15.3%
Google Cloud Memorystore11.9%
Other50.800000000000004%
In-Memory Data Store Services
 

Featured Reviews

Amandeep Pawar - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Engineer at Airy Software Technologies Private Limited
Event-driven architecture has improved asynchronous communication and supports high throughput
We can improve the high throughput because there are some limitations. We could add something to improve Apache Kafka. Based on my daily usage and analysis, there is a complex setup and management, which is one area requiring improvement. Apache Kafka does not have built-in message delay or scheduling capabilities. Apache Kafka cannot natively schedule messages. Limited message prioritization is also an area requiring improvement. Ordering is limited to a single partition. Large messages affect performance. Apache Kafka is optimized for many small to medium-sized messages, but large payloads increase network usage, increase disk usage, and slow down producers and consumers. I rate Apache Kafka eight out of ten instead of ten out of ten because operating an Apache Kafka cluster requires expertise in partitioning, application monitoring, and capacity planning. Self-managed deployment can become complex as the cluster grows. Pro-managed Apache Kafka services significantly reduce the operational overhead.
RituRaj - PeerSpot reviewer
SDE 2 at Virtusa
Caching has improved response times and reduces database load for high-traffic applications
Redis is very reliable, but it could be improved in areas such as monitoring, debugging, and feasibility into memory use. Better built-in tools for observability would help teams manage it more effectively at scale. Managing memory efficiently and troubleshooting issues can sometimes require additional tooling, so these areas can also be improved.One practical challenge I experienced is managing memory efficiently. Since Redis is in-memory, we need to carefully configure eviction policies and monitor usage. Debugging cache-related issues such as stale data or cache invalidation can sometimes be tricky. Additionally, tuning memory usage and eviction policies needs to be planned very carefully.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
23%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business33
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise51
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise10
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Kafka?
Based on my understanding for the setup and cost to set up Apache Kafka, I was not responsible for the pricing or licensing decisions. Apache Kafka itself is open source and free to use. Infrastruc...
What needs improvement with Apache Kafka?
We can improve the high throughput because there are some limitations. We could add something to improve Apache Kafka. Based on my daily usage and analysis, there is a complex setup and management,...
What needs improvement with Redis?
Making management easier, especially for teams operating large Redis clusters, would be helpful. More advanced built-in observability, performance insights, and automated recommendations would help...
What is your primary use case for Redis?
Redis is used primarily as a caching layer to provide a high-performance caching solution that improves application response times and reduces load on backend services and databases. We use it main...
What advice do you have for others considering Redis?
There are a couple of things to consider when using Redis. It is a supporting layer, not a main database. Identifying specific use cases where Redis can provide the most value, such as caching, ses...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Redis Enterprise
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Uber, Netflix, Activision, Spotify, Slack, Pinterest
1. Twitter 2. GitHub 3. StackOverflow 4. Pinterest 5. Snapchat 6. Craigslist 7. Digg 8. Weibo 9. Airbnb 10. Uber 11. Slack 12. Trello 13. Shopify 14. Coursera 15. Medium 16. Twitch 17. Foursquare 18. Meetup 19. Kickstarter 20. Docker 21. Heroku 22. Bitbucket 23. Groupon 24. Flipboard 25. SoundCloud 26. BuzzFeed 27. Disqus 28. The New York Times 29. Walmart 30. Nike 31. Sony 32. Philips
Find out what your peers are saying about Databricks, Microsoft, Apache and others in Streaming Analytics. Updated: August 2026.
910,454 professionals have used our research since 2012.