head to head · open source
kafka vs routr
kafka has 34,117 GitHub stars, 15,657 forks, 574 open issues and last shipped yesterday. routr has 1,725 stars, 184 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. kafka leads on adoption by 1,878% (34,117 vs 1,725 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 | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 16K | ⑂ 184 |
| 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 used by thousands of companies for high performance data pipelines, streaming analytics, data integration, and mission critical applications. You need to have Java installed. We build and test Apache Kafka with Java versions 17 and 25. The release parameter in javac is set to 11 for the clients and streams modules, and 17 for the rest, ensuring compatibility with their respective minimum Java versions. Similarly, the release parameter in scalac is set to 11 for the streams modules and 17 for the rest. Scala 2.13 is the only supported version in…
read the full kafka overview →
About routr
Routr is a lightweight sip proxy, location server, and registrar that provides a reliable and scalable SIP infrastructure for telephony carriers, communication service providers, and integrators. Content Community Should you try Routr? Contact us Features The official handbook Deployment Docker Kubernetes Gitpod Getting started with the CTL First steps with the NodeSDK Custom Processors and Middleware Documentation Bugs and feedback Sponsors Contributing License Community We are building Routr in the open. The best to communicate with us is via GitHub Discussions. Special Announcement: We now have a Discord…
read the full routr overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is kafka or routr more popular?
kafka has 34,117 GitHub stars and routr has 1,725. 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 (34,117 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose routr if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.