# activemq vs RabbitMQ

> Two self-hosted [Message Broker projects](https://selfhost.directory/message-broker), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | activemq | RabbitMQ |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 64/100 | 77/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #7 of 12 in Message Broker | #3 of 12 in Message Broker |
| GitHub stars | 2 462 | 13 949 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 | +78 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 24 ✓ | 14 |
| Latest release | activemq-5.19.12 · 22 Oct 2026 ✓ | v4.3.7 · 20 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Other |
| Main language | Java | JavaScript |

## Which one should you pick?

RabbitMQ scores 77/100 against 64/100 for activemq, so it is the safer default.

activemq ships more often: 24 stable releases in the past year, against 14 for RabbitMQ.

RabbitMQ is growing faster right now (+78 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [activemq](https://selfhost.directory/project/activemq) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/activemq.md)
- [RabbitMQ](https://selfhost.directory/project/rabbitmq) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/rabbitmq.md)

---
Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/activemq-vs-rabbitmq