Apache KafkavsNGINX
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Apache Kafka | NGINX | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 84/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 12 in Message Broker | #2 of 12 in Web Servers |
| GitHub stars | 34 152 | 32 000 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +327 | +276 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 0 | 21 |
| Latest release | — | release-1.31.8 · 21 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Main language | Java | C |
Which one should you pick?
NGINX scores 84/100 against 83/100 for Apache Kafka, so it is the safer default.
NGINX ships more often: 21 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Apache Kafka.
If you want the quickest setup, NGINX is easier to run; Apache Kafka needs more configuration.
Apache Kafka details →NGINX details →