List of the Top 22 Real-Time Data Streaming Tools for Apache Kafka in 2025

StarTree Cloud functions as a fully-managed platform for real-time analytics, optimized for online analytical processing (OLAP) with exceptional speed and scalability tailored for user-facing applications. Leveraging the capabilities of Apache Pinot, it offers enterprise-level reliability along with advanced features such as tiered storage, scalable upserts, and a variety of additional indexes and connectors. The platform seamlessly integrates with transactional databases and event streaming technologies, enabling the ingestion of millions of events per second while indexing them for rapid query performance. Available on popular public clouds or for private SaaS deployment, StarTree Cloud caters to diverse organizational needs. Included within StarTree Cloud is the StarTree Data Manager, which facilitates the ingestion of data from both real-time sources—such as Amazon Kinesis, Apache Kafka, Apache Pulsar, or Redpanda—and batch data sources like Snowflake, Delta Lake, Google BigQuery, or object storage solutions like Amazon S3, Apache Flink, Apache Hadoop, and Apache Spark. Moreover, the system is enhanced by StarTree ThirdEye, an anomaly detection feature that monitors vital business metrics, sends alerts, and supports real-time root-cause analysis, ensuring that organizations can respond swiftly to any emerging issues. This comprehensive suite of tools not only streamlines data management but also empowers organizations to maintain optimal performance and make informed decisions based on their analytics.

Aiven takes charge of your open-source data infrastructure in the cloud, enabling you to devote your attention to what you do best: building applications. While you invest your efforts in innovation, we proficiently manage the intricacies of cloud data infrastructure for you. Our offerings are fully open source, granting you the ability to move data seamlessly between different clouds or set up multi-cloud environments. You will have complete transparency regarding your expenses, with a comprehensive breakdown of costs as we merge networking, storage, and essential support fees. Our commitment to keeping your Aiven software running smoothly is steadfast; if any issues arise, you can rely on our swift resolution. You can initiate a service on the Aiven platform in a mere 10 minutes, and the sign-up process doesn't require a credit card. Just choose your preferred open-source service along with the cloud and region for deployment, select a plan that includes $300 in free credits, and press "Create service" to start configuring your data sources. This approach allows you to maintain control over your data while utilizing powerful open-source services customized to fit your requirements. With Aiven, you can enhance your cloud operations and concentrate on propelling your projects ahead, ensuring that your team can innovate without the burden of managing infrastructure.

Materialize is a cutting-edge reactive database that facilitates the incremental updating of views, making it easier for developers to engage with streaming data using familiar SQL syntax. This platform stands out due to its capability to directly interface with various external data sources without necessitating extensive pre-processing steps. Users can connect to live streaming sources like Kafka and Postgres databases, as well as utilize change data capture (CDC) mechanisms, while also having the option to access historical data from files or S3 storage. Materialize allows for the execution of queries, the performance of joins, and the transformation of diverse data sources through standard SQL, resulting in dynamically updated Materialized views. As new data flows in, queries remain active and are consistently refreshed, empowering developers to easily create real-time applications or data visualizations. Additionally, the process of building applications that leverage streaming data is simplified, often requiring minimal SQL code, which greatly boosts development efficiency. Ultimately, with Materialize, developers can dedicate their efforts to crafting innovative solutions instead of getting overwhelmed by intricate data management challenges, thus unlocking new possibilities in data-driven projects.

Leverage Pipes to effortlessly query and manipulate your data, presenting a fresh technique for connecting SQL queries inspired by the functionality of Python Notebooks. This innovative strategy is designed to reduce complexity while ensuring top-notch performance. By segmenting your query into multiple nodes, you significantly improve both the development and upkeep of your data processes. With a single click, you can deploy your API endpoints, making them production-ready in no time. Transformations occur in real-time, guaranteeing that you always have access to the latest data available. You can easily and securely share data access with just one click, yielding prompt and reliable results. Tinybird not only provides monitoring tools but is also built to scale with ease, alleviating concerns about sudden increases in traffic. Visualize the capability to convert any Data Stream or CSV file into a fully secured real-time analytics API endpoint within minutes. We support high-frequency decision-making across various industries, including retail, manufacturing, telecommunications, government, advertising, entertainment, healthcare, and financial services, thereby making data-driven insights available to diverse organizations. Our mission is to enable businesses to make quick and informed decisions, ensuring they remain competitive in a rapidly changing environment while fostering innovation and growth.

Enables efficient data interchange among various elements within microservice frameworks. When employed as a communication strategy for microservices, it not only simplifies integration processes but also boosts both reliability and scalability. This system facilitates almost instantaneous data reading and writing while allowing users to adjust data throughput and retention periods based on unique requirements. Users have the ability to meticulously tailor resources for processing data streams, which can range from small streams of 100 KB/s to larger ones reaching 100 MB/s. Moreover, Yandex Data Transfer supports the distribution of a single stream to multiple destinations, each with its own retention policies. The architecture guarantees that data is automatically replicated across numerous geographically diverse availability zones, providing both redundancy and easy access. After the setup phase, users can centrally manage data streams via the management console or API, ensuring streamlined oversight. The platform also accommodates ongoing data collection from a wide range of sources, such as browsing histories and application logs, which makes it an adaptable solution for real-time analytics. In summary, Yandex Data Streams excels in its ability to meet diverse data ingestion requirements across a variety of platforms, making it an essential tool for modern data-driven applications. Additionally, its capacity for real-time processing and seamless integration further solidifies its position as a leader in the field of data management solutions.

Timeplus is a robust and user-friendly stream processing platform that combines power with affordability. Packaged as a single binary, it allows for easy deployment across multiple environments. Targeted at data teams in various industries, it facilitates the rapid and intuitive processing of both streaming and historical data. With a streamlined design that eliminates the need for external dependencies, Timeplus provides extensive analytical capabilities for both types of data. Its pricing structure is remarkably economical, costing just a tenth of what comparable open-source solutions demand. Users can effortlessly transform real-time market and transaction data into actionable insights. The platform adeptly supports both append-only and key-value streams, making it particularly suited for financial information monitoring. Moreover, Timeplus simplifies the creation of real-time feature pipelines, enhancing its functionality. It serves as a comprehensive hub for managing all infrastructure logs, metrics, and traces, which are vital for ensuring observability. The user-friendly web console UI accommodates a wide range of data sources, while also allowing data to be pushed via REST API or to create external streams without data duplication. Overall, Timeplus stands out as a versatile and thorough solution for data processing, making it an excellent choice for organizations striving to improve their operational efficiency. Its innovative features set a new standard in stream processing technology.

WarpStream is a cutting-edge data streaming service that seamlessly integrates with Apache Kafka, utilizing object storage to remove the costs associated with inter-AZ networking and disk management, while also providing limitless scalability within your VPC. The installation of WarpStream relies on a stateless, auto-scaling agent binary that functions independently of local disk management requirements. This novel method enables agents to transmit data directly to and from object storage, effectively sidestepping local disk buffering and mitigating any issues related to data tiering. Users have the option to effortlessly establish new "virtual clusters" via our control plane, which can cater to different environments, teams, or projects without the complexities tied to dedicated infrastructure. With its flawless protocol compatibility with Apache Kafka, WarpStream enables you to maintain the use of your favorite tools and software without necessitating application rewrites or proprietary SDKs. By simply modifying the URL in your Kafka client library, you can start streaming right away, ensuring that you no longer need to choose between reliability and cost-effectiveness. This adaptability not only enhances operational efficiency but also cultivates a space where creativity and innovation can flourish without the limitations imposed by conventional infrastructure. Ultimately, WarpStream empowers businesses to fully leverage their data while maintaining optimal performance and flexibility.

Streamkap is an innovative streaming ETL platform that leverages Apache Kafka and Flink, aiming to swiftly transition from batch ETL processes to streaming within minutes. It facilitates the transfer of data with a latency of mere seconds, utilizing change data capture to minimize disruptions to source databases while providing real-time updates. The platform boasts numerous pre-built, no-code connectors for various data sources, automatic management of schema changes, updates, normalization of data, and efficient high-performance CDC for seamless data movement with minimal impact. With the aid of streaming transformations, it enables the creation of faster, more cost-effective, and richer data pipelines, allowing for Python and SQL transformations that cater to prevalent tasks such as hashing, masking, aggregating, joining, and unnesting JSON data. Furthermore, Streamkap empowers users to effortlessly connect their data sources and transfer data to desired destinations through a reliable, automated, and scalable data movement framework, and it accommodates a wide array of event and database sources to enhance versatility. As a result, Streamkap stands out as a robust solution tailored for modern data engineering needs.

Lightstreamer serves as a highly specialized event broker tailored for the internet, ensuring a seamless and rapid exchange of data across various online platforms. Unlike traditional brokers, it skillfully addresses the complexities of proxies, firewalls, network disruptions, congestion, and the unpredictable nature of web connectivity. Its cutting-edge streaming technology guarantees the continuous and prompt delivery of real-time data, consistently identifying efficient and reliable routes for your information. Lightstreamer's innovative capabilities are not only well-established but also continuously evolve, affirming its status as a leader in technological advancement. With a rich history and vast practical expertise, it promises safe and effective data transmission. Users can rely on Lightstreamer for unparalleled reliability in any scenario, solidifying its role as an essential asset for real-time communication requirements. In the dynamic realm of digital transformation, Lightstreamer emerges as a dependable ally for facilitating seamless data delivery while adapting to emerging trends. This adaptability positions Lightstreamer as a forward-thinking solution in a fast-paced environment.

Aerospike stands out as a leading provider of cutting-edge, real-time NoSQL data solutions that effectively handle vast amounts of data. By addressing complex data challenges, Aerospike enables enterprises to remain competitive while significantly reducing costs and simplifying the processes that legacy NoSQL databases typically present. Their innovative Hybrid Memory Architecture™ is a patented advancement that maximizes the capabilities of contemporary hardware, allowing businesses to derive exceptional value from extensive data across various environments, including edge, core, and cloud settings. With Aerospike, clients can swiftly tackle issues like fraud, enhance shopping experiences with larger cart sizes, establish global digital payment systems, and deliver personalized experiences to millions in real-time. Notable clients include Airtel, Banca d'Italia, Snap, Verizon Media, Wayfair, PayPal, and Nielsen. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, with additional offices in London, Bengaluru, and Tel Aviv, ensuring a global presence to support its diverse clientele.

In the realm of IoT stream processing and analytics, SQLstream has been recognized as the leading solution by ABI Research. Our technology, utilized by major corporations such as Verizon, Walmart, Cisco, and Amazon, facilitates applications across various environments, including on-premises, cloud, and edge computing. SQLstream's capabilities allow for the generation of urgent alerts, dynamic dashboards, and immediate responses with latency measured in sub-milliseconds. This enables smart cities to efficiently redirect emergency services and optimize traffic signal operations based on current conditions. Additionally, security frameworks can swiftly identify and neutralize cyber threats, ensuring safety and integrity. Furthermore, AI and machine learning models, developed using streaming sensor inputs, are capable of forecasting potential equipment malfunctions. Due to SQLstream's remarkable speed — accommodating up to 13 million rows per second for each CPU core — organizations have significantly minimized their operational costs and physical infrastructure. Our advanced in-memory processing fosters capabilities at the edge that would typically be unfeasible. Users can acquire, prepare, analyze, and take action on data across various formats and sources seamlessly. With StreamLab, our user-friendly, low-code development environment, creating data pipelines becomes a task that can be accomplished in minutes rather than months. Instant script editing and real-time result visualization without the need for compilation streamline the development process further. Deployment is made easier with robust support for Kubernetes, simplifying integration into existing workflows. The installation process is user-friendly and compatible with a variety of platforms, including Docker, AWS, Azure, Linux, VMWare, and others, ensuring flexibility for diverse operational needs.

The Streaming service is a cutting-edge, serverless event streaming platform that operates in real-time and is fully compatible with Apache Kafka, catering specifically to the needs of developers and data scientists. This platform is seamlessly connected with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Database, GoldenGate, and Integration Cloud, ensuring a smooth user experience. Moreover, it comes with pre-built integrations for numerous third-party applications across a variety of sectors, including DevOps, databases, big data, and software as a service (SaaS). Data engineers can easily create and oversee large-scale big data pipelines without hassle. Oracle manages all facets of infrastructure and platform maintenance for event streaming, which includes provisioning resources, scaling operations, and implementing security updates. Additionally, the service supports consumer groups that efficiently handle state for thousands of consumers, simplifying the process for developers to build scalable applications. This holistic approach not only accelerates the development workflow but also significantly boosts operational efficiency, providing a robust solution for modern data challenges. With its user-friendly features and comprehensive management, the Streaming service empowers teams to innovate without the burden of infrastructure concerns.

DeltaStream serves as a comprehensive serverless streaming processing platform that works effortlessly with various streaming storage solutions. Envision it as a computational layer that enhances your streaming storage capabilities. The platform delivers both streaming databases and analytics, along with a suite of tools that facilitate the management, processing, safeguarding, and sharing of streaming data in a cohesive manner. Equipped with a SQL-based interface, DeltaStream simplifies the creation of stream processing applications, such as streaming pipelines, and harnesses the power of Apache Flink, a versatile stream processing engine. However, DeltaStream transcends being merely a query-processing layer above systems like Kafka or Kinesis; it introduces relational database principles into the realm of data streaming, incorporating features like namespacing and role-based access control. This enables users to securely access and manipulate their streaming data, irrespective of its storage location, thereby enhancing the overall data management experience. With its robust architecture, DeltaStream not only streamlines data workflows but also fosters a more secure and efficient environment for handling real-time data streams.

A live data platform utilizing Change Data Capture (CDC) enables the replication of various databases, enhances real-time data integration, and aids in the development of a real-time data warehouse. Through the application of CDC for synchronizing production line data held in DB2 and Oracle with a contemporary database, TapData has enabled the creation of an AI-driven real-time dispatch application that optimizes the semiconductor manufacturing workflow. The access to real-time data allows for rapid decision-making within the RTD application, leading to faster turnaround times and improved production yields. The client, a prominent telecommunications provider, manages numerous regional systems aimed at effectively serving local customers. By merging and unifying data from diverse sources and locations into one centralized data repository, the client has successfully created an order center that compiles orders from multiple applications. Furthermore, TapData integrates inventory information from over 500 stores, providing real-time insights into stock levels and customer preferences, which significantly enhances supply chain effectiveness. This cutting-edge strategy not only boosts operational performance but also equips the client to swiftly adapt to shifting market conditions, ensuring they remain competitive in a dynamic landscape. With this approach, the client positions themselves as a leader in leveraging data for strategic advantage.

The Databricks Data Intelligence Platform empowers every individual within your organization to effectively utilize data and artificial intelligence. Built on a lakehouse architecture, it creates a unified and transparent foundation for comprehensive data management and governance, further enhanced by a Data Intelligence Engine that identifies the unique attributes of your data. Organizations that thrive across various industries will be those that effectively harness the potential of data and AI. Spanning a wide range of functions from ETL processes to data warehousing and generative AI, Databricks simplifies and accelerates the achievement of your data and AI aspirations. By integrating generative AI with the synergistic benefits of a lakehouse, Databricks energizes a Data Intelligence Engine that understands the specific semantics of your data. This capability allows the platform to automatically optimize performance and manage infrastructure in a way that is customized to the requirements of your organization. Moreover, the Data Intelligence Engine is designed to recognize the unique terminology of your business, making the search and exploration of new data as easy as asking a question to a peer, thereby enhancing collaboration and efficiency. This progressive approach not only reshapes how organizations engage with their data but also cultivates a culture of informed decision-making and deeper insights, ultimately leading to sustained competitive advantages.

Data integration for hybrid cloud environments ensures efficient and dependable synchronization between your private and public cloud infrastructures. This process occurs in real-time and employs change data capture along with streaming capabilities. Striim, created by a seasoned team from GoldenGate Software, boasts extensive expertise in managing essential enterprise tasks. It can be deployed as a distributed platform within your infrastructure or hosted entirely in the cloud. The scalability of Striim can be easily modified to meet your team's requirements. It adheres to stringent security standards, including HIPAA and GDPR compliance, ensuring data protection. Designed from its inception to cater to contemporary enterprise demands, Striim effectively handles workloads whether they reside on-premise or in the cloud. Users can effortlessly create data flows between various sources and targets using a simple drag-and-drop interface. Additionally, real-time SQL queries empower you to process, enrich, and analyze streaming data seamlessly, enhancing your operational efficiency. This flexibility fosters a more responsive approach to data management across diverse platforms.

Apache Storm is a robust open-source framework designed for distributed real-time computations, enabling the reliable handling of endless streams of data, much like how Hadoop transformed the landscape of batch processing. This platform boasts a user-friendly interface, supports multiple programming languages, and offers an enjoyable user experience. Its wide-ranging applications encompass real-time analytics, ongoing computations, online machine learning, distributed remote procedure calls, and the processes of extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL). Notably, performance tests indicate that Apache Storm can achieve processing speeds exceeding one million tuples per second per node, highlighting its remarkable efficiency. Furthermore, the system is built to be both scalable and fault-tolerant, guaranteeing uninterrupted data processing while remaining easy to install and manage. Apache Storm also integrates smoothly with existing queuing systems and various database technologies, enhancing its versatility. Within a typical setup, data streams are managed and processed through a topology capable of complex operations, which facilitates the flexible repartitioning of data at different computation stages. For further insights, a detailed tutorial is accessible online, making it an invaluable resource for users. Consequently, Apache Storm stands out as an exceptional option for organizations eager to harness the power of real-time data processing capabilities effectively.

IBM Event Streams is a robust event streaming solution based on Apache Kafka that helps organizations manage and respond to data in real time. It includes features like machine learning integration, high availability, and secure cloud deployment, allowing businesses to create intelligent applications that react promptly to events. The service is tailored to support multi-cloud environments, offers disaster recovery capabilities, and enables geo-replication, making it an ideal choice for mission-critical operations. By enabling the development and scaling of real-time, event-driven applications, IBM Event Streams ensures efficient and fast data processing, which significantly boosts organizational agility and responsiveness. Consequently, companies can leverage real-time data to foster innovation and enhance their decision-making strategies while navigating complex market dynamics. This adaptability positions them favorably in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Unveiling groundbreaking data streaming functionalities that transform customer interactions, the Kafka API integrates seamlessly with Redpanda, which is engineered for consistent low latencies while guaranteeing no data loss. Redpanda claims to surpass Kafka's performance by as much as tenfold, delivering enterprise-grade support along with prompt hotfixes. The platform features automated backups to S3 or GCS, liberating users from the tedious management tasks typically linked to Kafka. Furthermore, it accommodates both AWS and GCP environments, making it an adaptable option for a variety of cloud infrastructures. Designed for straightforward installation, Redpanda facilitates the quick launch of streaming services. Once you experience its remarkable performance, you will be ready to leverage its sophisticated features in live environments with confidence. We handle the provisioning, monitoring, and upgrades without needing your cloud credentials, thus protecting your sensitive information within your own environment. Your streaming setup will be efficiently provisioned, managed, and maintained, with options for customizable instance types tailored to meet your unique demands. As your needs change, expanding your cluster is both easy and effective, ensuring you can grow sustainably while maintaining high performance. With Redpanda, businesses can fully focus on innovation without the burden of complex infrastructure management.

Samza facilitates the creation of applications that maintain state while processing real-time data from diverse sources like Apache Kafka. Demonstrating its efficiency at large scales, it provides various deployment options, enabling execution on YARN or as a standalone library. With its ability to achieve exceptionally low latencies and high throughput, Samza enables rapid data analysis. The system can efficiently manage several terabytes of state through features such as incremental checkpoints and host-affinity, ensuring optimal data management. Moreover, the ease of operation is bolstered by its ability to run on YARN, Kubernetes, or in standalone mode, granting users flexibility. Developers can utilize the same codebase for seamless batch and streaming data processing, thereby simplifying their development processes. Additionally, Samza's compatibility with an extensive array of data sources, including Kafka, HDFS, AWS Kinesis, Azure Event Hubs, key-value stores, and ElasticSearch, underscores its versatility as a modern data processing solution. Overall, this adaptability positions Samza as an essential tool for businesses looking to harness the power of real-time data.

VeloDB, powered by Apache Doris, is an innovative data warehouse tailored for swift analytics on extensive real-time data streams. It incorporates both push-based micro-batch and pull-based streaming data ingestion processes that occur in just seconds, along with a storage engine that supports real-time upserts, appends, and pre-aggregations, resulting in outstanding performance for serving real-time data and enabling dynamic interactive ad-hoc queries. VeloDB is versatile, handling not only structured data but also semi-structured formats, and it offers capabilities for both real-time analytics and batch processing, catering to diverse data needs. Additionally, it serves as a federated query engine, facilitating easy access to external data lakes and databases while integrating seamlessly with internal data sources. Designed with distribution in mind, the system guarantees linear scalability, allowing users to deploy it either on-premises or as a cloud service, which ensures flexible resource allocation according to workload requirements, whether through the separation or integration of storage and computation components. By capitalizing on the benefits of the open-source Apache Doris, VeloDB is compatible with the MySQL protocol and various functions, simplifying integration with a broad array of data tools and promoting flexibility and compatibility across a multitude of environments. This adaptability makes VeloDB an excellent choice for organizations looking to enhance their data analytics capabilities without compromising on performance or scalability.

Scale from zero to millions of events each second with Arroyo, which is provided as a single, efficient binary. It can be executed locally on MacOS or Linux for development needs and can be seamlessly deployed into production via Docker or Kubernetes. Arroyo offers a groundbreaking approach to stream processing that prioritizes the ease of real-time operations over conventional batch processing methods. Designed from the ground up, Arroyo enables anyone with a basic knowledge of SQL to construct reliable, efficient, and precise streaming pipelines. This capability allows data scientists and engineers to build robust real-time applications, models, and dashboards without requiring a specialized team focused on streaming. Users can easily perform operations such as transformations, filtering, aggregation, and data stream joining merely by writing SQL, achieving results in less than a second. Additionally, your streaming pipelines are insulated from triggering alerts simply due to Kubernetes deciding to reschedule your pods. With its ability to function in modern, elastic cloud environments, Arroyo caters to a range of setups from simple container runtimes like Fargate to large-scale distributed systems managed with Kubernetes. This adaptability makes Arroyo the perfect option for organizations aiming to refine their streaming data workflows, ensuring that they can efficiently handle the complexities of real-time data processing. Moreover, Arroyo’s user-friendly design helps organizations streamline their operations significantly, leading to an overall increase in productivity and innovation.