head to head · open source
nats-server vs AutoMQ
nats-server has 20,745 GitHub stars, 1,962 forks, 472 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AutoMQ has 10,789 stars, 771 forks, 60 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nats-server leads on adoption by 92% (20,745 vs 10,789 stars). nats-server is written in Go under Apache-2.0; AutoMQ is written in Java under Apache-2.0. nats-server has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, AutoMQ 7%. 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
| nats-server | AutoMQ | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 11K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 771 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick nats-server if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick AutoMQ if
- You want the AutoMQ feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and AutoMQ fits your workflow better
About nats-server
nats server is the Go based, Apache 2.0 licensed server at the heart of NATS, a simple, secure and performant communications system for digital systems, services and devices, aimed at teams building distributed systems, microservices, and cloud, edge or connected vehicle deployments that need messaging without running heavyweight broker infrastructure.
read the full nats-server overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is nats-server or AutoMQ more popular?
nats-server has 20,745 GitHub stars and AutoMQ has 10,789. nats-server has the larger community by that measure.
Are nats-server and AutoMQ free?
Both are open source. nats-server is licensed under Apache-2.0 and AutoMQ under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nats-server and AutoMQ?
nats-server is written in Go and AutoMQ in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, nats-server or AutoMQ?
Choose nats-server if you want the larger community (20,745 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose AutoMQ if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.