Compare software

Apache ActiveMQ vs EMQX: catalog facts
Apache ActiveMQ	EMQX
Best for: Teams that need a self-hosted message broker for their applications	Best for: Engineers running large MQTT deployments for IoT or connected vehicles
Free Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 licence.	Free + paid options A free start is offered; enterprise licences and managed plans are paid.
Windows, Self-hosted	Linux, Self-hosted
Supports JMS, AMQP, STOMP and MQTT Clients available for many languages All 4 strengths for Apache ActiveMQ Supports JMS, AMQP, STOMP and MQTT Clients available for many languages High availability and networks of brokers Regular maintenance releases on several series	Full MQTT 5.0 support plus MQTT over QUIC Masterless clustering for high availability All 4 strengths for EMQX Full MQTT 5.0 support plus MQTT over QUIC Masterless clustering for high availability Gateways for CoAP, LwM2M and MQTT-SN Built-in data integrations
Requires Java and server administration Aimed at developers and operators, not end users	Business Source License, not open source since 5.9.0 Aimed at large deployments rather than small home setups
Downloadable app, Self-hosted	Self-hosted, Hosted service
Open source	Not open source
License: Apache-2.0	License: BSL-1.1
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Apache ActiveMQ activemq.apache.org Catalog checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for EMQX emqx.com github.com/emqx/emqx Catalog checked October 2, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.