Solace PubSub+ vs Kafka: The Basics
Tags: forarchitects, fordevelopers
Published: 2021-07-07 19:34:58

---
title: Solace PubSub+ vs Kafka: The Basics
published: true
date: 2021-05-31 18:16:51 UTC
tags: ForArchitects,ForDevelopers
canonical_url: https://solace.com/blog/solace-pubsub-vs-kafka-the-basics/
---

 ![](https://solace.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/blog-featured-image-kafka-1.jpg) 

This is the first in a series of blog posts in which we’ll compare Solace [PubSub+ Event Broker](https://solace.com/products/event-broker/) with Apache Kafka. Our goal is to help you understand the salient differences between the platforms, arming you with the knowledge you need to select the right [streaming platform](https://solace.com/blog/what-is-an-event-streaming-platform/) for your organization. For a quick 5-minute overview, [check out this video](https://solace.com/resources/solace-with-kafka/solace-vs-kafka-event-topics-video).

## About Apache Kafka

Apache Kafka is a distributed data-ingest and event streaming platform developed in 2011 by [engineers at LinkedIn](https://insidebigdata.com/2016/04/28/a-brief-history-of-kafka-linkedins-messaging-platform/) for consuming large volumes of log data. Although commonly called a _broker_, Kafka is more akin to a distributed data store than a traditional message broker. For example, Kafka only supports publish/subscribe messaging by default, and uses the concept of an ever-increasing commit log, where messages are generally retained indefinitely.  
 ![](https://solace.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/solace-v-kafka-blog-1-kafka-1024x574.png)

Operationally, Apache Kafka brokers run in a cluster coordinated by Apache Zookeeper. Producers publish records to consumers on named _topics_. Messages, termed _records_, are prepended to predefined topics and identified with an offset. Topics may be spread across multiple Kafka brokers using a strategy known as _topic partitioning_, wherein each broker stores a subset of records intended for a given topic. Consumers ingest messages from all partitions (i.e., the entire topic).

## About PubSub+ Event Broker

Solace PubSub+ Event Broker offers event streaming along with traditional message broker functionality. Initially developed in 2001 as a purpose-built messaging appliance for the capital markets, the broker has since been virtualized and implemented in both standalone software and SaaS form-factors.

Solace PubSub+ supports several messaging exchange patterns including publish/subscribe, FIFO queueing, and asynchronous request/reply, and  both persistent and non-persistent qualities of service. With persistent messaging, producers send events to consumers using queues; events arrive at the queue in FIFO order and are removed only once receipt is confirmed by the consumer. Non-persistent messaging supports pub/sub whereby one or more publishers send messages to multiple subscribers across topics. Unlike Apache Kafka, topics in Solace PubSub+ Event Broker are not partitioned or persistent — senders and receivers exchange messages across a single, reliable session that does not persist messages when consumers are offline.  
 ![](https://solace.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/solace-v-kafka-blog-1-Solace-1024x526.png)

To understand more about Solace topics vs Kafka topics, check out this popular video by Developer Advocate Aaron Lee or check out his blog post [Solace Topics vs. Kafka Topics: What’s the Difference?](https://solace.com/blog/solace-topics-vs-kafka-topics/)

## Conclusion

As you can see, Kafka and Solace PubSub+ have two very different internal architectures. In the [next post](https://solace.com/blog/solace-pubsub-vs-kafka-comparison-publish-subscribe-messaging-pattern/), my colleague Himanshu Gupta will compare each platform’s publish/subscribe functionality in greater detail. Meanwhile, you can visit our website to read more about [how Solace PubSub+ compares to Kafka](https://solace.com/differences/kafka/) or check out this handy [one-page datasheet](https://solace.com/resources/solace-with-kafka/solace-vs-kafka-comparison-datasheet).

The post [Solace PubSub+ vs Kafka: The Basics](https://solace.com/blog/solace-pubsub-vs-kafka-the-basics/) appeared first on [Solace](https://solace.com).