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Part 6 - LavinMQ streams vs Kafka vs RabbitMQ streams

LavinMQ Streams, Kafka, and RabbitMQ Streams were all built for a similar use-case: high-throughput message streaming. But how do they compare?

In this part of the series, we’ll wrap things up by covering the key similarities between these three technologies. Lastly, we’ll look at the differences, first comparing LavinMQ Streams vs. Kafka, and then LavinMQ Streams vs. RabbitMQ Streams.

What do they have in common?

LavinMQ Streams, Kafka, and RabbitMQ Streams share several core characteristics that make them well-suited for message streaming:

1. Non-destructive reads

All three technologies treat messages as immutable, meaning once a message is written to a stream, it isn’t deleted—it can be read over and over again. Under the hood, they all use an append-only log to store messages, ensuring that multiple consumers can process the same data.

2. Flexible message consumption

LavinMQ streams Kafka and RabbitMQ streams, support offsets, allowing consumers to rewind messages or jump to and read messages from specific points in the stream. Additionally, all three technologies allow consumers to track their last known offset. Consequently:

  • Crashed consumers could resume from the last committed offset without missing messages.
  • Consumers can also replay historical data.

3. High throughput

All three systems are designed to handle millions of messages per second:

  • LavinMQ Streams and Kafka both exceed 1 million messages per second.
  • RabbitMQ Streams, when used with the dedicated stream protocol, also supports similar high-throughput workloads.

How are they different?

While these technologies share common ground, there are key differences that sets them apart.

LavinMQ Streams vs. Kafka: The differences

LavinMQ Streams is a lighter, simpler alternative to Kafka, but if you’re considering a migration from Kafka to LavinMQ, here are some features you’d lose:

  1. Log Compaction – Kafka allows old messages to be cleaned up based on keys, keeping only the latest value for a given key. LavinMQ Streams does not support this.
  2. Kafka Streams API – Kafka has a built-in API for stream processing, while LavinMQ does not have an equivalent.
  3. Partitioning Strategies – Kafka allows custom strategies for routing messages to partitions. LavinMQ does not support stream partitioning.
  4. Schema Registry Support – Kafka integrates with schema registries for enforcing structured message formats. LavinMQ does not.
  5. Client Compatibility – Switching from Kafka to LavinMQ requires using LavinMQ-specific clients instead of Kafka clients.

Overall, If you rely heavily on log compaction, stream processing, or Kafka’s partitioning model, LavinMQ Streams may not be a direct replacement. However, if you’re looking for a simpler, AMQP-friendly alternative with strong streaming capabilities, LavinMQ Streams is a solid choice.

LavinMQ Streams vs. RabbitMQ Streams: The differences

LavinMQ Streams and RabbitMQ Streams share many similarities since they both(more or less) extend AMQP with streaming capabilities, but there are still key differences:

  1. Protocol Support
    • LavinMQ Streams use AMQP 0.9.1, making it compatible with many existing AMQP based applications
    • RabbitMQ Streams also work with the AMQP protocol, but for the best performance results, the dedicated stream protocol is recommended - this makes integrating RabbitMQ streams in to existing AMQP based applications a bit more intrusive.

Final Thoughts

LavinMQ Streams, Kafka, and RabbitMQ Streams all offer high-throughput, flexible event streaming, but each comes with trade-offs.

  • Kafka is the go-to for large-scale, distributed stream processing but comes with added complexity.
  • RabbitMQ Streams offers high throughput with its dedicated stream protocol but moves away from AMQP.
  • LavinMQ Streams strikes a balance — providing AMQP-based streaming making it a great fit for teams already using AMQP messaging.

What’s next?

Previous

Ready to take the next steps? Here are some things you should keep in mind:

Managed LavinMQ instance on CloudAMQP

LavinMQ has been built with performance and ease of use in mind - we've benchmarked a throughput of about 1,000,000 messages/sec. You can try LavinMQ without any installation hassle by creating a free instance on CloudAMQP. Signing up is a breeze.

Help and feedback

We welcome your feedback and are eager to address any questions you may have about this piece or using LavinMQ. Join our Slack channel to connect with us directly. You can also find LavinMQ on GitHub.