| Source Language | Java | C++ |
| Zookeeper Dependency | No dependency. ZooKeeper was replaced by KRaft since version 3.3+ | No dependency. ZooKeeper-free and uses the Raft consensus algorithm. |
| Storage Pattern | Kafka has a purpose-built log and replication layer optimized for sequential IO | Redpanda can demonstrate low latency and high throughput on simple workloads. However, because it’s optimized for random IO, its performance can significantly degrade over time. |
| Tiered Storage | Released in Kafka 3.6 as early access through KIP-405 | Requires Enterprise License. Redpanda’s tiered storage requires the purchase of an enterprise license. |
| Replication Protocol | Replication is synchronous but data is written to disk asynchronously by design. Brokers don’t need to fsync for correctness and have in-built data recovery and repair. | Both replication and writing to disk are synchronous. Data must be written (fsynced) to disk synchronously, otherwise, it is possible to lose data during an election of a new leader. |
| Contribution model and Adaption | Actively managed and maintained by 1,000+ full-time contributors at over a dozen companies | Solely developed and maintained by Redpanda, with restrictive commercial support from other vendors due to BSL license agreement. |
| Operations and Scalability | Automated and fully-managed Kafka clusters with no sizing, provisioning, scaling, or maintenance burdens. | Infrastructure operations and maintenance considerations shared between customer, Redpanda, and cloud provider. |
| Availability | 99.95 for multi zone | 99.99 for multi zone |
| Upgrades and Patches | Zero intervention as part of non-disruptive rolling upgrades to latest stable Kafka version. | May take time for platform to catch up on latest Kafka version as it has a different source than Apache Kafka |
| Productivity | No-code Low-code stream processing, pipeline builder and custom transforms framework to build, deploy and manage proprietary services | No no-code / low-code stream processing or data pipelines solution. |
| Core cloud providers | Full support for AWS, GCP, and Azure | Fully available on AWS and GCP. Azure BYOC has some constraints and needs Redpanda Support's intervention. |