Amazon SQS vs Mosquitto: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will discuss the key differences between Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS) and Mosquitto, focusing on their unique features and capabilities.

1. Message Protocols and Standards: One of the primary differences between Amazon SQS and Mosquitto is the messaging protocol they use. Amazon SQS is based on HTTP/HTTPS protocols, making it easy to integrate with a variety of applications over the internet. On the other hand, Mosquitto is based on the MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) protocol, which is lightweight and specifically designed for IoT devices and low-bandwidth networks.

2. Scalability and Managed Service: Amazon SQS is a fully managed service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), which means it handles most of the operational tasks such as scaling, monitoring, and maintaining the infrastructure. It can scale seamlessly to handle a large number of messages and provides high availability and durability. Conversely, Mosquitto is an open-source message broker that can be self-hosted, requiring manual scaling and maintenance.

3. Supported Environments: Amazon SQS is a cloud-based messaging service that can be used in any environment, including web applications, mobile apps, and serverless architectures, regardless of the underlying infrastructure. Mosquitto, being an open-source project, can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud but requires more configuration and setup.

4. Message Delivery Semantics: Amazon SQS guarantees at-least-once message delivery, where each message is delivered to the consumer at least once, ensuring that no message is lost. It provides features like visibility timeout and message retention to ensure reliable message processing. Mosquitto, on the other hand, provides three different levels of message delivery: "at most once," "at least once," and "exactly once," allowing users to choose the appropriate level of reliability based on their requirements.

5. Message Filtering and Routing: Amazon SQS provides a feature called "message filtering," allowing consumers to selectively receive only the messages that match specific filter conditions. This helps in reducing the overhead of processing unwanted messages. Mosquitto, being an MQTT broker, supports its own set of filtering mechanisms such as topic-based filtering, which enables subscribers to subscribe to specific topics and receive relevant messages only.

6. Integration with Other AWS Services: As part of the AWS ecosystem, Amazon SQS seamlessly integrates with other services like AWS Lambda, Amazon S3, and Amazon DynamoDB. This enables developers to easily build complex, scalable architectures using these services in conjunction with SQS. Mosquitto, being a standalone message broker, does not have native integrations with other AWS services and requires additional custom development for integration.

In summary, Amazon SQS is a managed messaging service that offers scalable and reliable messaging over HTTP/HTTPS, while Mosquitto is an open-source MQTT broker specifically designed for IoT devices. SQS provides ease of use, scalability, and integration with other AWS services, whereas Mosquitto offers lightweight messaging and is ideal for low-bandwidth networks and IoT use cases.