Why Compare Confluent Kafka On-Premises, Confluent Kafka on Azure, and Azure Event Hubs?
When it comes to event streaming, choosing the right platform isn’t just a technical decision — it’s a strategic one. The wrong choice could leave you battling performance bottlenecks, spiraling costs, or operational headaches.
So, what’s the challenge?
Each solution — Confluent Kafka On-Prem, Confluent Kafka on Azure, and Azure Event Hubs — brings distinct strengths to the table. Understanding those differences is crucial to finding the perfect fit for your architecture.
Confluent Kafka On-premises
· Complete control over hardware, network, and security configurations
· Requires a dedicated infrastructure team for maintenance
· Supports multi-datacenter deployments
· Fully customizable retention and scaling policies
· Can be deployed in air-gapped environments
Confluent Kafka on Azure
· Managed by Confluent while running on Azure infrastructure
· Seamless integration with other Azure services
· Private link support for secure connectivity
· Auto-scaling and self-balancing clusters
· 99.95% uptime SLA
· Automatic updates and maintenance handled by Confluent
Azure Event Hubs
· Native Azure PaaS solution
· Supports Azure Private Link
· Auto-inflate for automatic scaling
· 99.95% availability SLA for standard tier, 99.99% for premium
· Native integration with Azure Monitor and Log Analytic
Overview Comparison:
ASP.NET Client Library Support:
Pricing Comparison (as of February 2025)
| Platform | Pricing Model | Key Details | Estimated Monthly Cost |
| Confluent Kafka On-Prem | License: ~$10,000-$15,000/broker/year | Requires additional costs for hardware, network, and personnel | $100,000+ (3+ brokers with support) |
| Infrastructure | Data center, network, and hardware costs | ||
| Operations | Personnel costs for maintenance | ||
| Confluent Kafka on Azure | Basic: $0.09/hour per CKU | 1 CKU = 250 MBps throughput + 100 GB storage included | $2,500 – $10,000 (scale-dependent) |
| Standard: $0.12/hour per CKU | Enhanced networking and improved SLA | ||
| Dedicated: Starting at $15,000/month | Custom sizing available | ||
| Additional Storage: $0.10/GB/month | Extra storage beyond included capacity | ||
| Connect/KSQL DB: $0.39/CCU/hour | Confluent Compute Unit pricing | ||
| Schema Registry: $0.08/SR/hour | Schema Registry unit pricing | ||
| Azure Event Hubs | Basic Tier: $0.015/million operations | Limited features, no publisher policies | $750 – $6,000 (scale-dependent) |
| Standard Tier: $0.03/TU/hour | 1 TU = 1 MB/s ingress, 2 MB/s egress | ||
| Retention: $0.03/GB/day | Beyond 84 GB included | ||
| Premium Tier: $0.13/PU/hour | 1 PU = 1 MB/s ingress, 2 MB/s egress | ||
| Event Hubs Dedicated: Starting at $4,000/month | Custom CUs based on requirements |
Ideal Use Cases
Confluent Kafka On-premises:
- Stringent data locality requirements
- Air-gapped environments
- Complete infrastructure control needed
- Existing large investment in on-premises infrastructure
Confluent Kafka on Azure:
- Full Kafka ecosystem required (Connect, KSQL, etc.)
- Hybrid cloud architectures with Kafka
- Advanced streaming features needed
- Desire for Kafka-native tools and interfaces
- Need for longer message retention
Azure Event Hubs:
- Native Azure integration is a priority
- Simpler event ingestion requirements
- Cost-sensitive implementations
- Azure-centric architectures
- Integration with Azure Functions and Logic Apps
- Quick startup with minimal configuration
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