# Apache Pulsar alternatives: what AI models name instead, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. 225 of the 252 answers in the 1 category where Apache Pulsar holds a standing named it neither first nor as an alternative; these are the first choices those answers made. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/apache-pulsar/alternatives/

## Named instead, most often (every category and segment added)

- Confluent Cloud: 73
- Redpanda: 38
- Apache Kafka: 11
- Aiven for Apache Kafka: 8
- Amazon Kinesis Data Streams: 6
- Google Cloud Pub/Sub: 6

## Streaming platforms

**Small business**: 83 of 84 answers did not name Apache Pulsar (Apache Pulsar is #16 of 16 at 0%).

- Redpanda: first choice in 21 of those 83
- Confluent Cloud: first choice in 18 of those 83
- Google Cloud Pub/Sub: first choice in 6 of those 83
- Upstash Kafka: first choice in 6 of those 83
- Amazon Kinesis Data Streams: first choice in 5 of those 83
- NATS JetStream: first choice in 5 of those 83
- StreamYard: first choice in 4 of those 83
- Aiven for Apache Kafka: first choice in 3 of those 83

**Mid-market**: 70 of 84 answers did not name Apache Pulsar (Apache Pulsar is #7 of 11 at 2%).

- Confluent Cloud: first choice in 20 of those 70
- Redpanda: first choice in 12 of those 70
- Apache Kafka: first choice in 2 of those 70
- Dacast: first choice in 2 of those 70
- YouTube Live: first choice in 2 of those 70
- Aiven for Apache Kafka: first choice in 1 of those 70
- Amazon Kinesis Data Streams: first choice in 1 of those 70
- Amazon MSK: first choice in 1 of those 70

**Enterprise**: 72 of 84 answers did not name Apache Pulsar (Apache Pulsar is #9 of 10 at 0%).

- Confluent Cloud: first choice in 35 of those 72
- Apache Kafka: first choice in 9 of those 72
- Redpanda: first choice in 5 of those 72
- Aiven for Apache Kafka: first choice in 4 of those 72
- Amazon MSK: first choice in 3 of those 72
- Amazon MSK Provisioned: first choice in 1 of those 72
- Azure Event Hubs: first choice in 1 of those 72
- Bizzabo: first choice in 1 of those 72

Published under CC BY 4.0. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.