Best Message Broker Software in 2026
Updated
In short: HiveMQ MQTT Broker is ranked #1 of 38 as of 4 October 2026, ahead of CloudAMQP and Google Cloud Pub/Sub. The best-ranked option with a free plan is CloudAMQP. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Amazon SNS at $0.06/mo.
If your applications need to pass messages between services, compare brokers by the protocols they support and how they can be deployed. Delivery and ordering guarantees, dead-letter queues, and maximum message size help show how each option may suit your message flows. Free plans and paid-from pricing add cost context. HiveMQ MQTT Broker, CloudAMQP, and Google Cloud Pub/Sub are among the entries to consider alongside RabbitMQ and Amazon SNS. Weigh the listed criteria against the systems you connect and the message handling your work requires.
38 message broker software ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
Message Broker Software, ranked on how quickly a newcomer can get going. 12 of the 25 on this page can be tried for free.
- 1 HiveMQ MQTT BrokerPaid from $299/mo
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: yes
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 2 CloudAMQPPaid from $19/mo
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: yes
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 3 Google Cloud Pub/SubPaid from $40/mo
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: yes
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 4 FayeFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 5 RabbitMQFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 6 Amazon SNSPaid from $0.06/mo
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 7 Eclipse MosquittoFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 8 TIBCO FTLFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 9 Amazon SQSFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 10 Apache ActiveMQFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 11 EMQXPaid from $234/mo
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 12 Apache ArtemisFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 13 Red Hat Trusted Artifact Signer
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 14 Lightstreamer
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: yes
- 15 TIBCO BusinessWorks
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 16 ApsaraMQ for MQTT
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 17 NSQ
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: yes
- 18 Apache Qpid Broker-J
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: yes
- 19 SocketCluster
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: yes
- 20 Upstash QStash
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 21 Eclipse Amlen
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 22 IronMQ
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 23 JORAM
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 24 KubeMQ
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 25 Moquette
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
Is your platform on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which message broker software is ranked first on The Geeks Club?
HiveMQ MQTT Broker is ranked #1 of 38 with a score of 7.8. CloudAMQP is second and Google Cloud Pub/Sub third.
How many of these have a free plan?
12 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, Amazon SNS has the lowest first paid tier we found: $0.06/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on how quickly a newcomer can get going: documentation depth, a free tier or trial, and the platforms it runs on. Paid placements never change a rank.