Confluent

Use it when

• You want Kafka with the platform pieces already assembled: connectors, Schema Registry, Flink SQL and ksqlDB, security, and management tooling from one vendor.
• A managed service must span clouds; Confluent Cloud runs the same surface on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, with Cluster Linking between clusters.
• Enterprise support and compliance weigh more than license cost; this is the commercial default, now backed by IBM since the March 2026 acquisition.
• You need the whole spectrum: self-managed Platform, fully managed Cloud, and BYOC through WarpStream under one roof.

Think twice when

• Cost sensitivity dominates: eCKU/CKU hours plus ingress, egress, replicated storage, and separately billed processing add up against self-managed Kafka or a leaner compatible.
• You only need a small cluster; the platform's value concentrates at organizational scale.
• Vendor independence is a goal in itself; the convenience deepens the relationship.

How it runs

Two shapes: Confluent Platform, a self-managed distribution you run and license, and Confluent Cloud, a managed service where eCKUs autoscale and Dedicated CKUs pin capacity. Managed connectors, tiered storage, and Stream Governance are platform features; Flink SQL and ksqlDB are billed separately from the cluster.