Confluent vs Kafka: What are the differences?

Introduction

This Markdown code provides a comparison between Confluent and Kafka, highlighting key differences between the two.

1. Architecture: Confluent is a platform built on top of Apache Kafka, providing additional features and capabilities. It includes a distributed streaming platform, multi-datacenter replication, and a schema registry. Kafka, on the other hand, is a distributed streaming platform that focuses on high-throughput, fault-tolerant, and scalable messaging.

2. Management: Confluent provides an extensive set of management tools for Kafka, including the Control Center, which provides a GUI for monitoring, managing, and troubleshooting Kafka clusters. It also offers features like auto data balancing, automated alerts, and cluster expansion. Kafka, however, requires manual management of Kafka clusters through command-line tools and configuration files.

3. Integration: Confluent integrates several additional components into the Kafka ecosystem, such as Kafka Connect, Kafka Streams, and the Confluent Schema Registry. These components enable easy data integration with external systems, stream processing, and schema management. Kafka, on the other hand, focuses primarily on stream processing and high-throughput data messaging.

4. Enterprise Features: Confluent offers additional enterprise-level features, such as access control lists (ACLs), user authentication, advanced monitoring and alerting, and multi-datacenter replication. These features are not available in the core Kafka distribution, making Confluent a better choice for organizations with stringent security and compliance requirements. Kafka, however, provides a solid foundation for building scalable and fault-tolerant streaming applications.

5. Ecosystem: The Confluent platform includes not only Kafka but also a rich ecosystem of connectors, tools, and libraries that are maintained and supported by Confluent. This ecosystem makes it easier for developers to build streaming applications using Kafka. In contrast, the Kafka ecosystem primarily consists of supported and contributed connectors and libraries, which may vary in terms of community support and maintenance.

6. Support and Documentation: Confluent offers commercial support, consulting services, and training for Kafka, providing organizations with a higher level of support for their streaming applications. They also maintain comprehensive documentation and online resources for developers. Kafka, on the other hand, has a strong open-source community with active forums, mailing lists, and documentation, but commercial support may be limited to specific vendors.

In summary, Confluent is a platform built on top of Kafka, offering additional features, management tools, enterprise-level capabilities, and an extensive ecosystem. Kafka, on the other hand, provides a solid foundation for building scalable and fault-tolerant streaming applications, with a focus on high-throughput messaging and stream processing.