Apache Kafka Pricing

open sourceopen source · Apache-2.0last verified September 6, 2026official site ↗

At a glance

100% free and open source under the Apache-2.0 License ($0 software cost). Apache Kafka is a distributed event streaming platform with zero software licensing fees for self-hosted clusters on Kubernetes or bare metal.

Self-hosting cost

Apache Kafka is open source under the Apache-2.0 license. Self-hosting does not add a software license fee, but you still pay for infrastructure, operations, and any external model or API usage.

Free & cheaper DevOps & Deployment

same category, free plan or open-source license

Ciliumopen sourceFree and 100% open source under the Apache-2.0 license (with dual GPL-2.0/BSD-2-Clause BPF datapath templates) as a CNCF Graduated project. Cilium has no software licensing fees for self-hosted or cloud Kubernetes deployments (including GKE Dataplane V2 and Azure CNI Powered by Cilium); organizations pay only for their compute infrastructure. For mission-critical enterprise environments, Isovalent Enterprise for Cilium (by Cisco) provides quote-based annual subscriptions (per-node/environment) with 24/7 SLA support, hardened LTS builds, Customer Testing Environments (CuTEs), enterprise BGP/EVPN, and advanced multi-cluster security and observability retention.OrbStackFree for personal and non-commercial use, educational studies, and open-source development. Commercial and business use (or individuals generating >$10,000/year) requires a paid Pro license at $8/user/month billed annually ($96/year) or $10/month monthly, covering up to 5 devices per user with priority support and a 30-day trial. Enterprise plans provide custom volume pricing, centralized billing, MDM/SSO directory integration, and 99.9% uptime SLAs.Rayopen sourceRay is a free and open-source distributed computing framework governed by the PyTorch Foundation under the Apache 2.0 license. It can be self-hosted on any cloud or on-prem cluster with zero licensing costs, while managed execution is available via cloud providers like Anyscale.Actopen sourceFree and 100% open source under the MIT license. Act has no licensing costs or subscription tiers; it runs locally via Docker and saves billable GitHub Actions runner minutes.

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FAQ

How much does Apache Kafka cost?

Does Apache Kafka have a free plan?

Yes — Apache Kafka is open source and free to use.

Can you self-host Apache Kafka for free?

Apache Kafka is open source under the Apache-2.0 license. Self-hosting does not add a software license fee, but you still pay for infrastructure, operations, and any external model or API usage.

What are free or cheaper Apache Kafka alternatives?

Cilium, OrbStack, Ray are in the same category with a free plan or open-source license.

pricing is editorial catalog data (last verified September 6, 2026) — vendors change plans; confirm on the official site before you buy. Reuse this data under CC-BY 4.0 via /data.