# Apache Kafka alternatives: what AI models name instead, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. 198 of the 252 answers in the 1 category where Apache Kafka holds a standing named it neither first nor as an alternative; these are the first choices those answers made. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/apache-kafka/alternatives

## Named instead, most often (every category and segment added)

- Confluent Cloud: 72
- Redpanda: 25
- Aiven for Apache Kafka: 7
- NATS JetStream: 5
- Dacast: 4
- Amazon MSK: 3

## Streaming platforms

**Small business**: 78 of 84 answers did not name Apache Kafka (Apache Kafka is #9 of 13 at 2%).

- Redpanda: first choice in 21 of those 78
- Confluent Cloud: first choice in 18 of those 78
- Aiven for Apache Kafka: first choice in 4 of those 78
- Dacast: first choice in 4 of those 78
- Google Cloud Pub/Sub: first choice in 3 of those 78
- Livestorm: first choice in 3 of those 78
- NATS JetStream: first choice in 3 of those 78
- StreamYard: first choice in 3 of those 78

**Mid-market**: 60 of 84 answers did not name Apache Kafka (Apache Kafka is #3 of 12 at 7%).

- Confluent Cloud: first choice in 24 of those 60
- Redpanda: first choice in 4 of those 60
- Aiven for Apache Kafka: first choice in 2 of those 60
- Facebook Live: first choice in 2 of those 60
- NATS JetStream: first choice in 2 of those 60
- YouTube Live: first choice in 2 of those 60
- Airmeet: first choice in 1 of those 60
- Amazon MSK: first choice in 1 of those 60

**Enterprise**: 60 of 84 answers did not name Apache Kafka (Apache Kafka is #2 of 9 at 8%).

- Confluent Cloud: first choice in 30 of those 60
- Amazon MSK: first choice in 2 of those 60
- Aiven for Apache Kafka: first choice in 1 of those 60
- Amazon Kinesis Data Streams: first choice in 1 of those 60
- Amazon MSK Provisioned on AWS: first choice in 1 of those 60
- Azure Event Hubs: first choice in 1 of those 60
- Azure Event Hubs Dedicated: first choice in 1 of those 60
- Cvent: first choice in 1 of those 60

Published under CC BY 4.0. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.