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Eclipse Mosquitto vs NATS Server: catalog facts
Eclipse Mosquitto	NATS Server
Best for: Home automation and IoT setups that need a self-hosted MQTT broker	Best for: Developers building distributed systems that need a messaging backbone
Free Free and open source under the EPL/EDL licences.	Free Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 licence.
Windows, Linux, Self-hosted, Command line	Windows, Self-hosted, Command line
Supports MQTT 5.0, 3.1.1 and 3.1 Light enough for single-board computers All 4 strengths for Eclipse Mosquitto Supports MQTT 5.0, 3.1.1 and 3.1 Light enough for single-board computers Includes mosquitto_pub and mosquitto_sub command-line clients Ships a C client library	Built for high performance Runs on servers, in Docker or at the edge All 3 strengths for NATS Server Built for high performance Runs on servers, in Docker or at the edge Large, actively maintained open-source project
A broker only, with no graphical interface for managing messages Requires familiarity with MQTT and broker configuration	Infrastructure component that needs NATS clients in your applications Aimed at developers and operators, not end users
Downloadable app, Self-hosted	Downloadable app, Self-hosted
Open source	Open source
License: EPL/EDL	License: Apache-2.0
No account needed	No account needed
Offline features available	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Eclipse Mosquitto mosquitto.org Catalog checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for NATS Server nats.io github.com/nats-io/nats-server Catalog checked October 2, 2026

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