Redpanda vs Confluent: A detailed comparison
Simpler operations, lower costs, and responsive support. Learn why companies are choosing Redpanda Streaming over Confluent to power mission-critical data streams with confidence.
Customers that made the switch
Key feature breakdown
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Single Binary |  Brokers, schema registry, HTTP proxy, Raft consensus all built in |  External dependencies on ZooKeeper/KRaft, JVM, schema registry, and HTTP proxy |
| Unified Platform | Redpanda One (R1) engine allows one cluster to support diverse workloads. Optimize per topic for availability, consistency, latency, safety, networking costs, etc. |  Requires multiple clusters to support different workload types in different deployment scenarios: Kora, WarpStream, Freight, Confluent Platform |
| Cloud Storage Options | Tiered Storage production-proven. Cloud Topics GA early 2026 (BYOC, self-managed) for direct-to-object-storage persistence | Tiered storage support. Diskless options for Freight (serverless) and WarpStream (BYOC), both requiring standalone clusters |
| Enterprise BYOC | Production-proven BYOC. Control plane & data plane are both fully managed and resilient to failure | Immature BYOC offering. WarpStream control plane (Confluent-managed) & data plane (customer-managed) are split and less resistant to failure |
| Performance | Designed for modern hardware; supports high throughput & low latency on less infrastructure and flexible engine configurations | Fewer options to optimize performance; struggles with demanding throughput and latency |
| Ecosystem | ||
| Data Connectors | Redpanda Connect: 300+ data, CDC & AI connectors, simple & composable, config-based & stateless | Kafka Connect: 200+ integrations, no AI, distributed systems complexity, inefficient compute |
| Apache Kafka API | Redpanda natively supports the Kafka API | Confluent natively supports the Kafka API, with some exceptions for WarpStream |
| UI | Redpanda Console is free, lightweight and designed to work across the Kafka ecosystem | More restrictive licensing for Confluent Control Center, with certain features designed only for Confluent Platform customers |
| Apache Flink Integration | Flink compatible, but Flink infrastructure & support are not managed by Redpanda Cloud | Fully managed Flink service available as part of Confluent Cloud |
| Simplified Stream Processing | Simplified stream processing using Redpanda Connect for stateless data transformations, light aggregations, and more | Kafka Connect or Flink adds costs/complexity that is overkill for the majority of streaming ETL use cases |
| Support | ||
| Access Experts 24/7 | Industry-leading support comes included. 24/7/365 coverage for production outages, with access to the experts who write the code | Support sold separately. Tiered support model adds delays that can hinder root cause analysis |
| Cloud Provider Availability | AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, including private connectivity across all 3 (PrivateLink, Private Service Connect, Private Link) | AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, including private connectivity across all 3 (PrivateLink, Private Service Connect, Private Link) |
| Security | Enterprise-grade features like SSO, RBAC, audit-logging & more | Enterprise-grade features like SSO, RBAC, audit-logging & more |
| SLAs | 99.99% for Redpanda Cloud Streaming only (does not include Redpanda Connect) | 99.99% for Confluent Cloud, covers a wider mix of the ecosystem, including Flink & Kafka Connect |
| TCO | Up to 60% cost reduction for fan-in architectures and up to 58% cost reduction for fan-out, according to McKnight benchmark report | Cloud CKU pricing model translates to higher costs; "Component" licenses for Platform drive up cost on top of base enterprise license |
Why Redpanda Streaming?
Redpanda is the high-performance alternative built for the modern era. By replacing the JVM with a C++ engine, we deliver 10x lower tail latencies and 6x lower TCO. No fragmented sidecars, no bolted-on compute silos, and no merger-related distractions. Just one simple, unified platform that stays out of your way so you can build.
Zero Merger Distractions, Focused on Innovation
True Zero-ETL Lakehouse Integration
Cost-Effective Solution
24/7 Expert Support
Benchmarking the Best: Redpanda’s Cost Advantage Over Confluent
Download this free report to learn:
- How Redpanda delivers high-performance streaming at lower costs compared to Confluent, empowering data-driven decisions and AI/ML capabilities
- Key benchmarks on cost and latency that reveal significant savings and scalability benefits for high-throughput applications
- Three use cases for real-time streaming, including observability, fraud detection, and AI-driven data processing
Customer success stories
What customers say, from startups to Enterprise
Run the numbers yourself
Frequently Asked Questions
Teams typically point existing Kafka producers, consumers, and connectors at Redpanda with no code changes, since Redpanda uses the native Kafka API. Zafin, a fintech running 800M events per day, describes the migration directly: "I dropped Redpanda in and changed nothing and that's when I was completely sold." Most switches focus on validating throughput and latency at your specific scale rather than rewriting client code.
Redpanda is the closest fit on both counts. It's Kafka-API-compatible, so it works as a drop-in replacement, and its Community Edition is free and source-available under the Redpanda BSL (converting to Apache 2.0 four years after each release), not a paid enterprise license like Confluent Platform. On cost, independent McKnight benchmarks show up to 60% lower TCO for fan-in workloads and 58% for fan-out versus Confluent's CKU-based pricing.
Redpanda runs as a single C++ binary with brokers, schema registry, and HTTP proxy built in. Confluent's platform depends on external components — ZooKeeper or KRaft, the JVM, and a separate schema registry and requires multiple clusters (Kora, WarpStream, Freight, Confluent Platform) to cover different workload types.
Redpanda Connect offers 300+ data, CDC, and AI connectors through a config-based, stateless setup. Confluent's Kafka Connect offers around 200+ integrations but has no native AI connectors and carries more distributed-systems overhead to run.
Redpanda Connect has three connector tiers. Community and Certified connectors — about 90% of all connectors — are free to use under the Apache 2.0 License. Enterprise connectors (including CDC inputs, Snowflake Streaming, Iceberg output, Salesforce components, and others) are available either as managed pipelines on Redpanda Cloud on a pay-as-you-go basis, or via a paid self-managed Redpanda Connect plan.
Contact Redpanda sales for more information on the self-managed option. See the full list of Redpanda Connect components for self-managed deployments, as well as the subset of components available on Redpanda Cloud as managed pipelines. Managed pipelines are priced by compute units (CUs) on Redpanda Cloud. See our price estimator for CU pricing, which varies by cloud provider and region.
Redpanda Connect has three tiers of components for self-managed deployments. Community and Certified connectors are completely free under the Apache 2.0 license:
- Community connectors are open source with best-effort support via the Redpanda Community Slack.
- Certified connectors are tested for high performance and observability with Redpanda Enterprise, and include expert support as part of a paid Redpanda Connect plan.
- Enterprise connectors are a small portion of components that require either a paid self-managed Redpanda Connect plan, or are available as managed pipelines on Redpanda Cloud with pay-as-you-go pricing.
Note that Redpanda Cloud supports a subset of Community and Certified connectors — components that require local resources (filesystem, shell access, local model inference, raw sockets) or are self-managed-specific are not available as managed pipelines. See the full list of components available on Redpanda Cloud.
Redpanda Connect is a complete alternative to Kafka Connect. It is an ecosystem of 300+ pre-built connectors, readily available. It can also be used as an SDK for advanced users. Based on the May 2024 acquisition of Benthos, Redpanda Connect connectors are optimized for performance when used with Redpanda Enterprise Edition, and paid plans unlock support and additional observability and security features.
Redpanda Console will soon include an updated Benthos Studio UI, the visual config builder and collaboration tool that makes it easy for data teams to assemble and monitor pipelines. Be on the lookout for a new Studio section, coming soon to a Redpanda Console near you!