Skip to content
gitdebt

Message queues & streaming: star history compared

Most starred

34k

apache/kafka

Event streaming quietly became the backbone of modern backends, and this category shows the full spectrum: Kafka's long institutional climb, RabbitMQ's steady reign as the pragmatic default, NATS growing on the strength of being small and fast, and Redpanda pitching Kafka compatibility without the JVM. These are infrastructure curves — slower and steadier than devtools, which makes any sudden slope change worth investigating.

Ranked by current GitHub stars · growth = stars gained in the trailing 90 days · data updated Nov 2026

Message queues & streaming — star history
34k STARS16 YR 2 MOapache/kafka34knats-io/nats-server21kapache/pulsar15krabbitmq/rabbitmq-server14kredpanda-data/redpanda13k

apache/kafka: 34,217 stars on November 13, 2026. nats-io/nats-server: 21,042 stars on November 13, 2026. apache/pulsar: 15,361 stars on November 12, 2026. rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server: 13,971 stars on November 13, 2026. redpanda-data/redpanda: 12,680 stars on November 13, 2026.

Star history for apache/kafka
DateStars
August 15, 2011144
March 15, 2013204
August 5, 2013283
November 22, 2013374
February 16, 2014471
June 2, 2014570
August 20, 2014681
November 2, 2014804
January 15, 2015954
March 20, 20151120
June 4, 20151362
August 9, 20151565
October 9, 20151788
December 7, 20152058
February 5, 20162317
April 8, 20162603
June 12, 20162880
August 10, 20163213
October 11, 20163491
December 10, 20163819
February 9, 20174098
April 9, 20174454
June 8, 20174823
August 7, 20175218
October 6, 20175668
December 5, 20176195
February 2, 20186640
April 3, 20187172
June 2, 20187772
August 1, 20188372
October 11, 20189007
December 10, 20189590
February 8, 201910195
April 9, 201910799
June 7, 201911460
August 6, 201912211
October 5, 201912799
December 4, 201913366
February 1, 202013842
April 1, 202014298
May 31, 202014896
July 30, 202015473
September 27, 202015963
November 26, 202016384
January 25, 202116883
March 27, 202117361
May 25, 202117969
July 24, 202118441
September 22, 202118943
November 21, 202119430
January 31, 202220068
April 1, 202220588
May 31, 202221120
July 30, 202221698
September 28, 202222246
November 26, 202222691
January 25, 202323091
March 27, 202323595
May 26, 202324146
July 24, 202324602
September 22, 202325051
November 21, 202325473
January 20, 202425877
March 19, 202426305
May 18, 202426791
July 17, 202427246
September 15, 202427716
November 13, 202428198
January 12, 202528624
March 13, 202529069
May 24, 202529645
July 22, 202530070
September 20, 202530518
November 19, 202530945
January 18, 202631386
March 18, 202631820
May 17, 202632367
July 16, 202633018
September 14, 202633598
November 13, 202634217
Star history for nats-io/nats-server
DateStars
October 18, 201353
March 31, 2014274
July 3, 2014403
September 23, 2014575
December 16, 2014672
March 14, 2015811
May 26, 2015915
August 3, 20151020
October 2, 20151273
December 6, 20151398
February 20, 20161553
April 20, 20161781
June 22, 20161954
August 27, 20162085
October 25, 20162236
December 24, 20162381
February 23, 20172508
April 27, 20172679
June 25, 20172844
August 23, 20173037
October 25, 20173176
December 23, 20173329
February 23, 20183496
April 23, 20183727
June 16, 20183915
August 12, 20184121
October 5, 20184332
November 30, 20184554
January 24, 20194802
March 20, 20195010
May 25, 20195334
July 19, 20195798
September 14, 20196060
November 10, 20196402
January 8, 20206668
March 3, 20206880
April 26, 20207111
June 21, 20207385
August 15, 20207648
October 13, 20207859
December 6, 20208102
January 30, 20218321
March 27, 20218549
May 23, 20218829
July 16, 20219090
September 10, 20219317
November 4, 20219570
December 28, 20219790
February 24, 202210059
April 22, 202210326
June 30, 202210611
August 23, 202210910
October 16, 202211218
December 11, 202211486
February 4, 202311719
March 31, 202312082
May 24, 202312377
July 18, 202312646
September 10, 202313076
November 4, 202313381
December 28, 202313699
February 21, 202413977
April 15, 202414335
June 10, 202414625
August 5, 202414972
September 28, 202415305
November 22, 202415681
January 16, 202516015
March 12, 202516336
May 5, 202516808
July 9, 202517199
September 2, 202517840
October 27, 202518233
December 21, 202518631
February 13, 202618969
April 9, 202619403
June 2, 202619831
July 27, 202620255
September 19, 202620703
November 13, 202621042
Star history for apache/pulsar
DateStars
September 7, 201643
October 18, 2016896
December 31, 2016974
March 14, 20171039
June 10, 20171096
September 8, 20171170
November 21, 20171280
January 14, 20181376
March 6, 20181468
May 5, 20181534
July 5, 20181676
August 24, 20181778
October 12, 20182081
November 21, 20182414
January 4, 20192599
February 16, 20192739
March 29, 20192889
May 9, 20193099
June 20, 20193410
August 3, 20193603
September 12, 20193808
October 24, 20194021
December 4, 20194241
January 13, 20204604
February 23, 20204782
April 5, 20204951
May 16, 20205162
June 26, 20205354
August 7, 20205982
September 18, 20206153
November 5, 20206344
December 18, 20206549
January 28, 20216756
March 10, 20217012
April 21, 20217243
May 31, 20218186
July 11, 20218599
August 21, 20218890
October 1, 20219118
November 14, 20219329
December 24, 20219598
February 5, 20229800
March 17, 20229985
April 28, 202210199
June 8, 202210435
July 18, 202210679
August 28, 202210962
October 7, 202211160
November 17, 202211446
December 29, 202211605
February 15, 202311809
March 28, 202311993
May 7, 202312166
June 19, 202312355
July 30, 202312502
September 12, 202312645
October 24, 202312813
December 7, 202312956
January 17, 202413082
March 5, 202413214
April 16, 202413362
May 30, 202413490
July 15, 202413633
August 28, 202413757
October 13, 202413875
November 27, 202413995
January 16, 202514106
March 6, 202514217
April 19, 202514323
June 8, 202514432
August 1, 202514567
September 18, 202514677
November 2, 202514770
December 20, 202514858
February 9, 202614949
March 29, 202615061
May 17, 202615143
July 7, 202615225
September 14, 202615300
November 12, 202615361
Star history for rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server
DateStars
September 20, 201088
December 16, 2011145
April 23, 2013209
October 8, 2013273
February 27, 2014341
July 10, 2014413
October 26, 2014480
February 7, 2015559
April 21, 2015659
July 1, 2015765
September 28, 2015907
November 29, 20151039
February 7, 20161206
April 6, 20161345
June 6, 20161497
August 6, 20161630
October 5, 20161775
December 8, 20161942
February 8, 20172084
April 8, 20172257
June 6, 20172442
July 31, 20172630
September 27, 20172812
November 23, 20173022
January 22, 20183187
March 19, 20183402
May 12, 20183608
July 12, 20183837
September 5, 20184068
October 31, 20184343
January 10, 20194635
March 6, 20194896
May 2, 20195143
June 27, 20195397
August 21, 20195626
October 19, 20195836
December 12, 20196050
February 8, 20206239
April 8, 20206423
June 2, 20206645
July 29, 20206874
September 21, 20207072
November 22, 20207247
January 20, 20217451
March 17, 20217639
May 11, 20217830
July 6, 20218005
September 2, 20218213
October 28, 20218391
December 22, 20218591
February 27, 20228814
April 26, 20229034
June 24, 20229225
August 20, 20229402
October 15, 20229608
December 13, 20229784
February 9, 20239949
April 8, 202310149
June 4, 202310348
July 30, 202310515
September 30, 202310659
November 27, 202310825
January 24, 202410984
March 24, 202411169
May 17, 202411369
July 16, 202411591
September 10, 202411774
November 5, 202412017
January 2, 202512184
March 1, 202512356
May 10, 202512568
July 8, 202512753
September 2, 202512916
October 31, 202513072
December 31, 202513232
February 28, 202613378
April 28, 202613530
July 2, 202613679
September 9, 202613826
November 13, 202613971
Star history for redpanda-data/redpanda
DateStars
November 4, 20202
December 7, 20201142
January 5, 20211249
February 1, 20211527
March 2, 20211649
March 29, 20211770
April 25, 20211976
May 22, 20212078
June 19, 20212177
July 16, 20212301
August 21, 20212408
September 20, 20212554
October 18, 20212675
November 16, 20212778
December 14, 20212933
January 11, 20223040
February 8, 20223198
March 7, 20223336
April 3, 20223513
April 29, 20223766
May 26, 20223954
June 22, 20224134
July 20, 20224280
August 15, 20224449
September 11, 20224577
October 8, 20224701
November 4, 20224946
December 1, 20225296
December 27, 20225450
January 23, 20235686
February 25, 20235888
March 25, 20236058
April 21, 20236231
May 18, 20236403
June 13, 20236589
July 10, 20236968
August 6, 20237154
September 2, 20237297
September 29, 20237432
October 26, 20237601
November 23, 20237745
December 21, 20237860
January 16, 20247965
February 12, 20248130
March 10, 20248255
April 6, 20248404
May 2, 20248548
May 29, 20248690
June 26, 20248842
July 25, 20248954
August 26, 20249076
September 22, 20249198
October 20, 20249336
November 18, 20249430
December 15, 20249540
January 14, 20259631
February 10, 20259767
March 8, 20259874
April 5, 20259983
May 2, 202510095
May 30, 202510202
June 27, 202510323
July 24, 202510449
August 20, 202510620
September 16, 202510848
October 12, 202510949
November 9, 202511081
December 6, 202511253
January 2, 202611397
January 29, 202611520
March 3, 202611687
March 30, 202611808
April 26, 202611926
May 24, 202612052
June 20, 202612172
July 17, 202612293
August 14, 202612402
September 11, 202612503
October 13, 202612594
November 13, 202612680

How each series was read

  • apache/kafka

    GitHub star history · Covers through November 14, 2026

  • nats-io/nats-server

    GitHub star history · Covers through November 14, 2026

  • apache/pulsar

    GitHub star history · Covers through November 14, 2026

  • rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server

    GitHub star history · Covers through November 14, 2026

  • redpanda-data/redpanda

    GitHub star history · Covers through November 14, 2026

Ranking

5 repositories

Message queues & streaming ranked by current total GitHub stars
#RepositoryStars+90dFirst starHealth
1apache/kafka34,219~9272011debt charts
2nats-io/nats-server21,042~7192013debt charts
3apache/pulsar15,361~1042016debt charts
4rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server13,971~2192010debt charts
5redpanda-data/redpanda12,681~2782020debt charts

Repository health compared

Live analysis · unavailable data stays labelled

Popularity is only one axis. Compare technical scale, maintenance cadence, ownership resilience and change pressure against the same completed analysis that sits behind each report.

Reach

Popularity and real-world adoption

Signalapache/kafkanats-io/nats-serverapache/pulsarrabbitmq/rabbitmq-serverredpanda-data/redpanda
GitHub starsCurrent public GitHub metadata total.Best result in this row: 34,21921,04215,36113,97112,681
Stars gained · trailing 90dChange in the newest 90 days covered by each cached series.Best result in this row: +927+719+104+219+278
ForksCurrent public GitHub metadata total.Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…
Largest package audienceLargest resolved registry total; sources are shown explicitly.Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…
Repository ageElapsed years since the GitHub creation timestamp.15 years14 years10 years16 years6.0 years

Codebase

Size and technical center of gravity

Signalapache/kafkanats-io/nats-serverapache/pulsarrabbitmq/rabbitmq-serverredpanda-data/redpanda
Dominant languageLargest share of analyzed code lines at current HEAD.Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…
Code linesAnalyzed source lines at current HEAD, excluding blanks and comments.Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…
Languages representedLanguages with non-zero files or line counts.Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…

Maintenance

Commit volume and recent operating cadence

Signalapache/kafkanats-io/nats-serverapache/pulsarrabbitmq/rabbitmq-serverredpanda-data/redpanda
Repository commitsFull repository commit total reported by the analysis.Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…
Commits · trailing 90dCommit count in the newest 90 days covered by the repository analysis.Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…

Ownership

How broadly maintenance responsibility is distributed

Signalapache/kafkanats-io/nats-serverapache/pulsarrabbitmq/rabbitmq-serverredpanda-data/redpanda
Bus factorFewest analyzed contributors carrying at least half the commits.Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…
Top contributor concentrationShare of attributed commits carried by the most active contributor.Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…

Change signals

Debt markers and fix pressure in frequently changed files

Signalapache/kafkanats-io/nats-serverapache/pulsarrabbitmq/rabbitmq-serverredpanda-data/redpanda
Fix-labelled share · frequently changed filesFix-labelled commits divided by commits across the analyzed high-frequency file set.Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…
Recent TODO/FIXME movementLatest cumulative marker count and its change over the trailing 90 days.Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…Reading…

Head to head

open in the builder

Frequently asked

Which of these message queues & streaming has the most GitHub stars?

apache/kafka is the most-starred of the message queues & streaming gitdebt compares, with 34,219 GitHub stars as of Nov 2026. It earned its first star in 2011.

Which of these message queues & streaming is growing the fastest?

apache/kafka added the most stars over the last 90 days of its cached history — about 927 new stars. 90-day figures are approximate for older repos, whose history is downsampled.

How is this comparison computed?

The table ranks public repository metadata by current total stars. Each curve is that repository's stored star series — read from GitHub's own star history, or from an older stargazer-list or historical-data read until gitdebt reads it again — drawn on shared axes, with trailing 90-day growth estimated from it. The legend under the chart names each series' own source and coverage date. Repo-health charts come independently from each repository's commit history.

Related categories

all categories

Fastest-growing repos across all of gitdebt