As we move into 2022, the Apache PulsarTM versus Apache KafkaⓇ debate continues. Organizations often make comparisons based on features, capabilities, size of the community, and a number of other metrics of varying importance. This report focuses purely on comparing the technical performance based on benchmark tests.

The last widely published Pulsar versus Kafka benchmark was performed in 2020, and a lot has happened since then. In 2021, Pulsar ranked as a Top 5 Apache Software Foundation project and surpassed Apache Kafka in monthly active contributors as shown in the chart below. Pulsar also averaged more monthly active contributors than Kafka for most of the past 18 months.

These contributions led to major performance improvements for Pulsar. To measure the impact of the improvements, the engineering team at StreamNative, led by Matteo Merli, one of the original creators of Apache Pulsar, and Apache Puls