Amazon IoT vs Amazon MQ: What are the differences?

Introduction

Amazon IoT and Amazon MQ are two services provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that offer different capabilities for messaging and communication within an application or system. While both services provide reliable messaging, there are key differences between Amazon IoT and Amazon MQ.

1. Message Protocols:

   • Amazon IoT supports several message protocols, including MQTT, HTTP, and WebSockets. This allows for flexible and efficient communication between devices and other systems.
   • On the other hand, Amazon MQ primarily uses the AMQP (Advanced Message Queuing Protocol) and MQTT protocols, enabling reliable and secure messaging between applications.

2. Focus on IoT Devices:

   • As the name suggests, Amazon IoT is designed specifically for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. It provides features such as device shadowing, which allows decoupled communication between devices and applications in a stateful manner.
   • Amazon MQ, on the other hand, is a managed message broker service that is not specific to IoT devices. It is designed for general message-oriented middleware use cases, providing support for various messaging patterns and protocols.

3. Message Persistence:

   • Amazon IoT primarily relies on device shadows to store and persist messages. Device shadows allow devices to synchronize their states and communicate with applications even if the device is offline.
   • In contrast, Amazon MQ provides durable message persistence by storing messages in message retention periods, ensuring that messages are not lost even in the event of system failures.

4. Scalability and Availability:

   • Amazon IoT provides automatic scaling capabilities, allowing it to handle large numbers of devices and deliver messages reliably. It also offers device management and monitoring features.
   • Amazon MQ is designed to be highly available and scalable, providing automatic infrastructure maintenance and scaling. It offers ActiveMQ as the underlying message broker, enabling it to handle high message volumes efficiently.

5. Pricing Model:

   • Amazon IoT pricing is primarily based on the number of messages processed by devices and the features used. This allows for flexible pricing based on the specific requirements of the IoT application.
   • Amazon MQ pricing is based on the instance size and message throughput, providing a pay-as-you-go model. This allows users to choose the appropriate instance size and pay only for the messaging capacity they need.

In summary, Amazon IoT focuses on IoT devices, supports multiple protocols, and provides features like device shadowing. On the other hand, Amazon MQ is a general message broker service, primarily using AMQP and MQTT protocols, with durable message persistence and high scalability.