head to head · open source
kafka vs routr
kafka has 33,759 GitHub stars, 15,524 forks, 574 open issues and last shipped today. routr has 1,709 stars, 180 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. kafka leads on adoption by 1,875% (33,759 vs 1,709 stars). kafka is written in Java under Apache-2.0; routr is written in TypeScript under MIT. kafka has attracted 46% as many forks as stars, routr 11%. kafka 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
| kafka | routr | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 34K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 16K | ⑂ 180 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick kafka if
- You weight community size — 34K 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 routr if
- You want the routr feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and routr fits your workflow better
About kafka
Apache Kafka is an open source distributed event streaming platform, written in Java and Scala, for organizations that need high performance data pipelines, streaming analytics, data integration, and mission critical applications.
read the full kafka overview →
About routr
Routr is an MIT licensed, TypeScript based SIP proxy, location server and registrar that gives telephony carriers, communication service providers and integrators a reliable, scalable and programmable SIP infrastructure deployable with Docker, Compose or a Kubernetes Helm chart.
read the full routr overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is kafka or routr more popular?
kafka has 33,759 GitHub stars and routr has 1,709. kafka has the larger community by that measure.
Are kafka and routr free?
Both are open source. kafka is licensed under Apache-2.0 and routr under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between kafka and routr?
kafka is written in Java and routr in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, kafka or routr?
Choose kafka if you want the larger community (33,759 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose routr if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.