What users are saying about
97 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 9.1 out of 100
Based on 97 reviews and ratings
82 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 8.2 out of 100
Based on 82 reviews and ratings
Feature Set Ratings
Cloud Data Integration

Apache Kafka
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A

9.2
Anypoint Platform
92%
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform ranks higher in 6/6 features
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform ranks higher in 6/6 features
Pre-built connectors
N/A
0 Ratings

9.0
90%
7 Ratings
Connector modification
N/A
0 Ratings

7.9
79%
7 Ratings
Support for real-time and batch integration
N/A
0 Ratings

9.9
99%
7 Ratings
Data quality services
N/A
0 Ratings

9.5
95%
7 Ratings
Data security features
N/A
0 Ratings

9.5
95%
7 Ratings
Monitoring console
N/A
0 Ratings

9.5
95%
7 Ratings
Attribute Ratings
- Apache Kafka is rated higher in 3 areas: Likelihood to Recommend, Usability, Support Rating
- Apache Kafka and MuleSoft Anypoint Platform are tied in 1 area: Likelihood to Renew
Likelihood to Recommend

9.3
Apache Kafka
93%
13 Ratings

9.0
Anypoint Platform
90%
17 Ratings
Likelihood to Renew

9.0
Apache Kafka
90%
1 Rating

9.0
Anypoint Platform
90%
1 Rating
Usability

10.0
Apache Kafka
100%
1 Rating

8.0
Anypoint Platform
80%
1 Rating
Support Rating

8.6
Apache Kafka
86%
7 Ratings

6.8
Anypoint Platform
68%
8 Ratings
Likelihood to Recommend
Apache Kafka
Despite the disadvantages I list, I really believe that Kafka is the right choice whenever you need a queueing or message broker system. Kafka is way too battle-tested and scales too well to ever not consider it. The only exception is if your use case requires many, many small topics. Also, Kafka doesn't support delay queues out of the box and so you will need to "hack" it through special code on the consumer side.

Verified User
Engineer in Engineering
Internet Company, 201-500 employeesAnypoint Platform
[MuleSoft] Anypoint Platform fits for an enterprise company that wants to gain time with environment configuration. The deployment environment - pre-prod and prod - is ready to use once you access Anypoint Platform. It's true you can customize all configurations for your environment based on your requirements and needs, but if you don't, just deploy and run your APIs.For small business, Mule doesn't have a low-cost subscription which can attend small companies. The subscription and license prices are too high for a startup with limited financial resources.

Verified User
Consultant in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 1001-5000 employeesPros
Apache Kafka
- Apache Kafka is able to handle a large number of I/Os (writes) using 3-4 cheap servers.
- It scales very well over large workloads and can handle extreme-scale deployments (eg. Linkedin with 300 billion user events each day).
- The same Kafka setup can be used as a messaging bus, storage system or a log aggregator making it easy to maintain as one system feeding multiple applications.

Verified User
Analyst in Information Technology
Airlines/Aviation Company, 51-200 employeesAnypoint Platform
- API Manager provides easy API Policy Governance. You do not have to manage multiple platforms for managing the policies.
- Supports hybrid Mule EBS environments. You can configure both CouldHub-based and on-premise-based API using Mulesoft API manager in a similar manner.
- It's very easy to implement API proxy.
- User friendly UI.
- Single platform to manage all.
Tech Arch Sr. Analyst
Accenture AustraliaInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employees
Cons
Apache Kafka
- The Kafka Tool is a community-made Java application that looks and feels from the past century.
- Logging can be confusing. This certainly shows when we have to do troubleshooting.
- Hybrid scenarios - pub/sub, but there are services in and outside a Kubernetes cluster. Then there are a ~3 options, but only 2 (the harder ones) are production-safe.
DevOps Team Leader
CognyteInformation Technology & Services, 1001-5000 employees
Anypoint Platform
- Has more features than what we really need so we're paying for more than we use. Sort of like paying for an Abrams tank when all we really need is a Toyota Corolla.
- Not a value product, tends to be expensive.
- Takes a while for developers to learn to use Mulesoft Anypoint.
Cloud Solutions Administrator
Chartered BankFinancial Services, 201-500 employees
Pricing Details
Apache Kafka
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
—Anypoint Platform
General
Free Trial
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
—Likelihood to Renew
Apache Kafka
Apache Kafka 9.0
Based on 1 answer
Kafka is quickly becoming core product of the organization, indeed it is replacing older messaging systems. No better alternatives found yet
Global Technology Centre - Middleware
ProdubanFinancial Services, 10,001+ employees
Anypoint Platform
Anypoint Platform 9.0
Based on 1 answer
No answer on this topic is available.
Usability
Apache Kafka
Apache Kafka 10.0
Based on 1 answer
Apache Kafka is highly recommended to develop loosely coupled, real-time processing applications. Also, Apache Kafka provides property based configuration. Producer, Consumer and broker contain their own separate property file
Senior Software Engineer
Accion LabsInformation Technology & Services, 1001-5000 employees
Anypoint Platform
Anypoint Platform 8.0
Based on 1 answer
simple and easy graphics and containers helps developers to write complex flows
Integration architect
NTT DATA ItaliaInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employees
Support Rating
Apache Kafka
Apache Kafka 8.6
Based on 7 answers
Support for Apache Kafka (if willing to pay) is available from Confluent that includes the same time that created Kafka at Linkedin so they know this software in and out. Moreover, Apache Kafka is well known and best practices documents and deployment scenarios are easily available for download. For example, from eBay, Linkedin, Uber, and NYTimes.

Verified User
Analyst in Information Technology
Airlines/Aviation Company, 51-200 employeesAnypoint Platform
Anypoint Platform 6.8
Based on 8 answers
Anypoint Platform support is very responsive. There is also a huge knowledge base and an active online forum where answers to most questions can be found. When needed support engages the engineering group so adequate solutions or workarounds are always provided.

Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology
Computer Software Company, 201-500 employeesAlternatives Considered
Apache Kafka
We really needed to get away from using a SQL database to act as a queue for processing records, so a new solution was needed. Kafka is a leading software application initially designed for queuing messages which is essentially what we were looking for. It has a great user community and is used across the industry. We also use and trust several other products from Confluent which helped seal the decision.
Senior System Engineer
NetDocumentsComputer Software, 201-500 employees
Anypoint Platform
The main problem with this software is the different connector type that is used for different protocols except for a different SAP connector. There is only one connector called SAP. It will be great if there will have a different connectors like idoc, RFC, proxy, etc.
Service Delivery Lead
StrykerMedical Devices, 10,001+ employees
Return on Investment
Apache Kafka
- Kafka makes the messaging itself more reliable (as it has the distributed storage by itself and the message doesn't disappear even after it has been consumed).
- Kafka can support a much higher volume use case, without too much extra pressure on the existed hardware.

Verified User
Strategist in Information Technology
Package/Freight Delivery Company, 10,001+ employeesAnypoint Platform
- If you are a big size organization that heavily uses API's and SaaS-based integration, Anypoint platform is great. However, if your API implementations are not in Mulesoft, hosting just API specs is not worth it in terms of ROI.
- Mulesoft uses propitiatory language which makes it difficult to write custom code when required, some other iPaaS platforms like Webmethods.io uses nodeJS which makes it easier to write custom code. In short, when you need to write custom code, building and supporting is a challenge.

Verified User
Team Lead in Information Technology
Financial Services Company, 10,001+ employees