Redpanda vs Kafka: Key differences explained
Apache Kafka® compatibility without the Kafka complexity. See why more companies are choosing Redpanda as their reliable, cost-efficient, and scalable streaming data platform that works out of the box.
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Why Redpanda?
Redpanda makes real-time data processing easy. Streamlined architecture, great performance, and developer-friendly tools—all without external dependencies. Build more, spend less, and be agile with the unified platform that simplifies building real-time applications.
Single Binary Architecture
Redpanda’s streamlined, single-binary architecture eliminates the need for multiple specialized components, seamlessly providing native Kafka functionality without the usual complexity.
Exceptional Latency & Scale
With Redpanda, experience 10x lower average latencies and a reduced hardware footprint, delivering the power to scale effortlessly to GB/s throughput.
Cost-Effective Solution
Redpanda provides 3-6x greater cost efficiency compared to traditional Kafka infrastructure, lowering both infrastructure and operational costs for your team.
24x7 Expert Support
Enjoy round-the-clock support from dedicated account managers, a direct Slack channel, helpdesk access, and solutions experts always ready to assist.
Key feature breakdown
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Streamlined Components |  Single-binary deployment: brokers, schema registry, HTTP proxy, Raft consensus all built in |  External dependencies on ZooKeeper/KRaft, JVM, schema registry, and HTTP proxy |
| Engine Configurations | Dynamically optimize topics for availability, consistency, latency, safety, and networking costs | Less flexible, unsafe ISR replication strategy creates potential for data loss |
| Cloud Storage Options | Production-proven tiered storage. Cloud Topics roadmap (mid 2025) for direct-to-object-storage persistence | Unproven tiered storage: production-ready as of 3.9.0 (fall 2024). No option to use object storage directly. |
| Provision | ||
| Cluster Sizing | Consultative guidance on sizing & deployment included | DIY effort |
| Automation | Continuous data and partition balancing built in | Requires separate Cruise Control system |
| Monitoring | Available natively via Prometheus | Requires 3rd-party tools |
| Ecosystem | ||
| Data Connectors | Redpanda Connect: 300+ data & AI connectors, config-based & stateless for ease of use | Kafka Connect: 200+ integrations, no AI, mix of stateful/stateless connectors |
| Kafka API | Redpanda natively supports the Kafka API | The industry standard for data streaming |
| UI | Redpanda Console is open source and works with Apache Kafka | Requires 3rd-party tools (like Redpanda Console) |
| Schema Registry | Built into the Redpanda binary | Requires separate infrastructure |
| Transactions | Part of Redpanda's Kafka compatibility | The industry standard for data streaming |
| Support | ||
| Access Experts 24/7 | 24/7/365 coverage for production outages | Community-based best-effort support |
| Security | Enterprise-grade features like SSO, RBAC, audit-logging & more | DIY effort, often requires 3rd-party tools |
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Nov 12, 2025
Nov 12, 2025
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Streaming with Amazon S3 + Redpanda: Best Practices, Architectures & Real-Time Pipelines
Join Redpanda and AWS experts to learn how to build streaming data pipelines between Redpanda and Amazon S3. Discover ingestion, export, and analytics patterns for real-time architectures.
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