head to head · open source
AutoMQ vs ess-helm
AutoMQ has 10,830 GitHub stars, 774 forks, 60 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ess-helm has 957 stars, 145 forks, 24 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AutoMQ leads on adoption by 1,032% (10,830 vs 957 stars). AutoMQ is written in Java under Apache-2.0; ess-helm is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. AutoMQ has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, ess-helm 15%. AutoMQ was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| AutoMQ | ess-helm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 11K | ★ 957 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-21 | 2026-09-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 774 | ⑂ 145 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AutoMQ if
- You weight community size — 11K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ess-helm if
- You want the ess-helm feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and ess-helm fits your workflow better
About AutoMQ
AutoMQ is an Apache 2.0 licensed, Java based diskless distribution of Kafka that keeps stream data on S3 instead of broker local disks, aimed at platform and infrastructure teams running event streaming at cloud scale.
read the full AutoMQ overview →
About ess-helm
ess helm is the official Element Matrix stack packaged as Helm charts — Element Server Suite Community Edition (ESS Community) — and it is aimed at non commercial community operators who want a solid Matrix deployment on Kubernetes without deep Kubernetes knowledge.
read the full ess-helm overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AutoMQ or ess-helm more popular?
AutoMQ has 10,830 GitHub stars and ess-helm has 957. AutoMQ has the larger community by that measure.
Are AutoMQ and ess-helm free?
Both are open source. AutoMQ is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ess-helm under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AutoMQ and ess-helm?
AutoMQ is written in Java and ess-helm in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, AutoMQ or ess-helm?
Choose AutoMQ if you want the larger community (10,830 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose ess-helm if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.