The Best Message Broker Software in 2026
We researched message broker software through official websites, including pricing pages, plan tables, and product documentation. Products are ranked on their core job—reliably routing and delivering messages—along with value for money and verified features, so buyers can compare brokers for application and system integration needs.
Our top picks
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Top ranked
RabbitMQ#1 of 399.4/10A broad, open-source broker for queues, routing, streaming, and hybrid deployments.
Free plan
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Runner-up
Solace PubSub+ Event Broker#2 of 399.2/10A broad hybrid event broker for teams connecting applications, services and devices.
Free plan · 30-day trial
-
Top-ranked free plan
Google Cloud Pub/Sub#3 of 399.1/10A managed cloud pub/sub service with strong delivery controls and usage-based pricing.
Free plan
Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.
The full ranking 39 tools, best first
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Best forGeneral-purpose open-source messaging
A broad, open-source broker for queues, routing, streaming, and hybrid deployments.
- Dead-letter queues
9.4/10★★★★★Visit RabbitMQ -
Best forHybrid event mesh deployments
A broad hybrid event broker for teams connecting applications, services and devices.
Free plan · 30-day trial Our Solace PubSub+ Event Broker verdict → Visit SolaceFor vendors Sponsor this spot · #2 · $99/mo →9.2/10★★★★★Visit Solace -
Best forManaged cloud pub/sub
A managed cloud pub/sub service with strong delivery controls and usage-based pricing.
- Dead-letter queues
9.1/10★★★★★Visit Google Cloud -
Best forEvent streaming and stream processing
A broad open-source foundation for event streaming, integration, and stream processing.
9.0/10★★★★☆Visit Apache Kafka -
Best forEnterprise transactional messaging
A broad enterprise messaging platform with strong reliability features and substantial pricing.
- Dead-letter queues
8.8/10★★★★☆Visit IBM MQ -
Best forSelf-hosted enterprise messaging
A capable self-hosted broker for durable, transactional, multi-protocol messaging.
- Dead-letter queues
8.7/10★★★★☆Visit Apache Artemis -
Best forOpen-source streaming and transactions
A broad, open-source broker for teams building self-hosted event-driven systems.
8.6/10★★★★☆Try Apache RocketMQ -
Best forManaged AWS queues
A managed AWS queue service with standard and FIFO delivery options.
- Dead-letter queues
8.5/10★★★★☆Visit Amazon SQS -
Best forLightweight pub/sub and streaming
A focused open-source broker for pub/sub, queues, and persistent streaming.
8.4/10★★★★☆Visit NATS -
Best forFree self-hosted broker deployments
A free self-hosted broker with broad protocol support and configurable delivery controls.
- Dead-letter queues
8.3/10★★★★☆Try Apache ActiveMQ -
Best forProtocol-bridging messaging platforms
A protocol-bridging broker for teams running queues, streams, events, and RPC across hybrid systems.
- Dead-letter queues
8.2/10★★★★☆Visit KubeMQ -
Best forMQTT with cloud integrations
A broad MQTT platform for real-time messaging, integrations, routing, and durable storage.
8.1/10★★★★☆Visit EMQX -
Best forManaged MQTT at scale
A flexible MQTT broker for teams managing connected devices and high-volume messaging.
- Dead-letter queues
8.0/10★★★★☆Visit HiveMQ -
Best forManaged ActiveMQ or RabbitMQ on AWS
A cloud-managed choice for AWS teams running ActiveMQ or RabbitMQ workloads.
- Dead-letter queues
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit Amazon MQ -
Best forAMQP-focused self-hosting
A self-hosted broker with broad AMQP support, persistence, and high availability.
- Dead-letter queues
7.8/10★★★★☆Visit Apache Qpid -
Best forServerless HTTP task delivery
A flexible HTTP message broker for scheduled, retried, and fan-out serverless tasks.
- Dead-letter queues
7.7/10★★★★☆Visit Upstash QStash -
Best forAWS fan-out and notifications
A flexible AWS message broker for fan-out, notifications, and FIFO delivery.
- Dead-letter queues
7.6/10★★★★☆Visit Amazon SNS -
Best forJMS and multi-language enterprise messaging
A flexible JMS broker for enterprise teams spanning languages, deployment models, and messaging patterns.
- Dead-letter queues
7.5/10★★★★☆Visit TIBCO -
Best forOpen-source MQTT and JMS deployments
A flexible open-source broker for MQTT, JMS, and configurable message delivery.
7.4/10★★★★☆Visit Eclipse Amlen -
Best forManaged RabbitMQ operations
A focused managed broker service for teams that want RabbitMQ operations handled in the cloud.
- Dead-letter queues
7.3/10★★★★☆Visit CloudAMQP -
Best forOpen-source MQTT clustering
A self-hosted MQTT broker for teams that need clustering, extensibility, and control.
7.2/10★★★★☆Visit VerneMQ -
Best forSimple distributed at-least-once queues
A focused self-hosted broker for simple at-least-once queues without message ordering.
7.1/10★★★★☆Visit NSQ -
Best forOpen-source JMS messaging
A self-hosted broker for Java teams needing JMS, clustering, persistence, and bridges.
- Dead-letter queues
7.0/10★★★★☆Visit JORAM -
Best forLow-level programmable messaging patterns
A programmable, brokerless messaging library for distributed and concurrent applications.
6.9/10★★★☆☆Visit ZeroMQ -
Best forLightweight multi-protocol MQTT
An open-source, self-hosted broker for MQTT and connected edge protocols.
6.8/10★★★☆☆Visit NanoMQ -
Best forStraightforward open-source MQTT
A focused, self-hosted MQTT broker with strong protocol coverage and core messaging controls.
6.7/10★★★☆☆Visit site -
Best forTeams building embeddable MQTT systems
A flexible self-hosted MQTT broker for IoT and publish/subscribe applications.
6.6/10★★★☆☆Visit Mochi MQTT -
Best forDevelopers embedding MQTT in Node.js applications
A flexible self-hosted MQTT broker for developers building Node.js messaging systems.
6.5/10★★★☆☆Visit Aedes -
Best forReal-time client data synchronization
A focused broker for synchronized, bidirectional real-time client data delivery.
6.4/10★★★☆☆Visit Lightstreamer -
Best forHTTP queues with on-premise support
A flexible HTTP message queue with on-premise deployment and a $399/month paid entry point.
- Dead-letter queues
6.3/10★★★☆☆Visit IronMQ -
Best forCommercial MQTT enterprise deployments
A distributed, self-hosted broker for commercial MQTT and enterprise messaging workloads.
6.2/10★★★☆☆Visit JoramMQ -
Best forStructured hybrid enterprise messaging
Structured hybrid messaging with durable subscriptions and broad transport support.
6.1/10★★★☆☆Visit TIBCO FTL -
Best forCompact MQTT 3 and 5 broker
A compact, free MQTT 3 and 5 broker for self-hosted Java and IoT deployments.
6.0/10★★★☆☆Visit Moquette -
Best forBasic producer-worker job queues
A focused, self-hosted queue for producer-worker job processing.
5.9/10★★★☆☆Visit beanstalkd -
Best forReal-time WebSocket application messaging
A strong self-hosted choice for WebSocket messaging, with narrower broker controls.
5.8/10★★★☆☆Visit SocketCluster -
Best forBrowser-oriented Bayeux messaging
A focused Bayeux messaging library for browser and server-side web applications.
5.7/10★★★☆☆Visit Faye -
Best forAlibaba Cloud MQTT deployments
A cloud MQTT broker for Alibaba Cloud deployments with tiered isolation and RocketMQ exchange.
- Dead-letter queues
5.6/10★★★☆☆Visit Alibaba Cloud -
Best forSupported enterprise AMQ deployments
A self-hosted broker for managed, persistent messaging across multiple protocols.
- Dead-letter queues
5.5/10★★★☆☆Visit Red Hat -
Best forWeb hosting, not message brokering
A capable web and API hosting service, but not a message broker.
4.0/10★★☆☆☆Visit site
No tools match those filters.
Compare at a glance
| # | Tool | Free plan | Paid from | Deployment model | Delivery guarantees | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RabbitMQ | Yes | Free | Hybrid | Configurable | 9.4 |
| 2 | Solace PubSub+ Event Broker | Yes | Hybrid | 9.2 | ||
| 3 | Google Cloud Pub/Sub | Yes | Cloud | Configurable | 9.1 | |
| 4 | Apache Kafka | Free | 9.0 | |||
| 5 | IBM MQ | Yes | $312/unit/mo | Hybrid | Configurable | 8.8 |
| 6 | Apache Artemis | Yes | Free | Self_hosted | Configurable | 8.7 |
| 7 | Apache RocketMQ | Free | 8.6 | |||
| 8 | Amazon SQS | Yes | Cloud | Configurable | 8.5 | |
| 9 | NATS | Free | Hybrid | Configurable | 8.4 | |
| 10 | Apache ActiveMQ | Yes | Free | Self_hosted | Configurable | 8.3 |
| 11 | KubeMQ | Hybrid | Configurable | 8.2 | ||
| 12 | EMQX | Yes | $234/mo | Hybrid | Configurable | 8.1 |
| 13 | HiveMQ MQTT Broker | Yes | $299/mo | Hybrid | Configurable | 8.0 |
| 14 | Amazon MQ | No | Cloud | Configurable | 7.9 | |
| 15 | Apache Qpid Broker-J | Free | Self_hosted | 7.8 | ||
| 16 | Upstash QStash | Yes | $180/mo | Cloud | At_least_once | 7.7 |
| 17 | Amazon SNS | Yes | $0.06/unit usage-based | Cloud | Configurable | 7.6 |
| 18 | TIBCO Enterprise Message Service | Yes | Hybrid | Configurable | 7.5 | |
| 19 | Eclipse Amlen | Yes | Free | Self_hosted | Configurable | 7.4 |
| 20 | CloudAMQP | Yes | Cloud | Configurable | 7.3 | |
| 21 | VerneMQ | No | Free | Self_hosted | Configurable | 7.2 |
| 22 | NSQ | Free | Self_hosted | At_least_once | 7.1 | |
| 23 | JORAM | Yes | Free | Self_hosted | Configurable | 7.0 |
| 24 | ZeroMQ | Free | Self_hosted | Configurable | 6.9 | |
| 25 | NanoMQ | Free | Self_hosted | Configurable | 6.8 | |
| 26 | Eclipse Mosquitto | Yes | Free | Self_hosted | Configurable | 6.7 |
| 27 | Mochi MQTT | Free | Self_hosted | Configurable | 6.6 | |
| 28 | Aedes | Free | Self_hosted | Configurable | 6.5 | |
| 29 | Lightstreamer | Yes | Hybrid | 6.4 | ||
| 30 | IronMQ | Yes | Hybrid | 6.3 | ||
| 31 | JoramMQ | No | Self_hosted | Configurable | 6.2 | |
| 32 | TIBCO FTL | Hybrid | Configurable | 6.1 | ||
| 33 | Moquette | Yes | Free | Self_hosted | Configurable | 6.0 |
| 34 | beanstalkd | Yes | Free | Self_hosted | 5.9 | |
| 35 | SocketCluster | Yes | Free | Self_hosted | 5.8 | |
| 36 | Faye | Free | Self_hosted | Configurable | 5.7 | |
| 37 | ApsaraMQ for MQTT | No | Cloud | Configurable | 5.6 | |
| 38 | Red Hat AMQ Broker | No | Self_hosted | 5.5 | ||
| 39 | Azure App Service | Yes | 4.0 |
Head-to-head All 27 comparisons →
- RabbitMQ vs Solace PubSub+ Event Broker
- RabbitMQ vs Google Cloud Pub/Sub
- RabbitMQ vs IBM MQ
- RabbitMQ vs Apache Artemis
- RabbitMQ vs Apache RocketMQ
- RabbitMQ vs Amazon SQS
- Solace PubSub+ Event Broker vs Google Cloud Pub/Sub
- Solace PubSub+ Event Broker vs Apache Kafka
- Solace PubSub+ Event Broker vs IBM MQ
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How we rank message broker software
Every tool on this page was researched by iTechGuides Editors from its official website — pricing pages, plan tables and product documentation. We rank on how well each one does this category's core job, what the free or entry plan includes, and where it falls short. Where we have enough verified facts, the score out of 10 is a rubric — job fit, value and how much we could verify — shown with its breakdown on every tool's page; a tool we have not verified enough to score yet shows its rank without a number. Scores are re-checked when a product changes its plans. Read the full editorial policy, or submit a tool we missed.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Last updated · How we research and update