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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 Sep 2026

Message queues & streaming — star history
34k STARS15 YR 7 MOapache/kafka34knats-io/nats-server19kapache/pulsar16krabbitmq/rabbitmq-server14kredpanda-data/redpanda11k

apache/kafka: 34,048 stars on September 15, 2026. nats-io/nats-server: 19,111 stars on September 15, 2026. apache/pulsar: 15,790 stars on September 4, 2026. rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server: 14,427 stars on September 5, 2026. redpanda-data/redpanda: 11,124 stars on September 15, 2026.

Star history for apache/kafka
DateStars
August 16, 20111
November 2, 201273
March 27, 2013158
August 12, 2013241
November 20, 2013340
February 11, 2014442
May 12, 2014548
July 30, 2014662
October 12, 2014797
December 19, 2014983
March 13, 20151206
May 15, 20151448
July 15, 20151680
September 12, 20151916
November 10, 20152231
January 8, 20162531
March 8, 20162815
May 5, 20163156
July 3, 20163483
August 30, 20163838
October 29, 20164188
December 28, 20164570
February 24, 20174895
April 24, 20175339
June 21, 20175757
August 18, 20176239
October 15, 20176730
December 12, 20177321
February 8, 20187845
April 9, 20188428
June 17, 20189135
August 14, 20189772
October 12, 201810308
December 9, 201810883
February 5, 201911521
April 4, 201912191
June 1, 201912966
July 29, 201913785
September 25, 201914464
November 22, 201915057
January 20, 202015676
March 18, 202016142
May 15, 202016805
July 12, 202017440
September 11, 202018060
November 8, 202018541
January 5, 202119098
March 4, 202119610
May 3, 202120227
July 3, 202120788
September 12, 202121384
November 18, 202121842
January 15, 202222430
March 14, 202222993
May 11, 202223543
July 8, 202224078
September 4, 202224698
November 1, 202225186
December 29, 202225587
February 25, 202326077
April 25, 202326625
June 22, 202327103
August 19, 202327600
October 16, 202328048
December 14, 202328479
February 10, 202428934
April 8, 202429373
June 5, 202429869
August 3, 202430372
September 30, 202430896
December 8, 202431484
February 5, 202531940
April 4, 202532432
June 1, 202532846
July 29, 202533130
September 26, 202533394
December 3, 202533617
February 3, 202633799
April 9, 202633948
September 15, 202634048
Star history for nats-io/nats-server
DateStars
October 18, 201319
March 13, 2014324
June 5, 2014471
August 21, 2014654
November 3, 2014761
January 29, 2015881
March 31, 20151025
June 14, 20151132
August 17, 20151279
October 13, 20151537
December 20, 20151708
February 20, 20161842
April 20, 20162091
June 16, 20162281
August 18, 20162432
October 12, 20162583
December 9, 20162734
February 8, 20172872
April 3, 20173030
May 27, 20173235
July 22, 20173419
September 20, 20173598
November 16, 20173768
January 11, 20183932
March 6, 20184087
May 1, 20184327
June 24, 20184524
August 16, 20184729
October 8, 20184927
November 30, 20185136
February 2, 20195396
March 28, 20195635
May 19, 20195921
July 11, 20196240
September 2, 20196718
October 24, 20197051
December 17, 20197333
February 8, 20207582
March 31, 20207794
May 22, 20208105
July 14, 20208363
September 7, 20208626
October 31, 20208880
December 22, 20209111
February 14, 20219351
April 9, 20219606
June 6, 20219913
July 29, 202110159
September 23, 202110412
November 26, 202110641
January 29, 202210965
March 24, 202211228
May 16, 202211456
July 9, 202211698
August 30, 202211990
October 22, 202212316
December 13, 202212547
February 4, 202312782
March 28, 202313155
May 19, 202313441
July 11, 202313668
September 1, 202314092
October 24, 202314393
December 15, 202314639
February 7, 202414970
March 30, 202415308
May 21, 202415613
July 13, 202415946
September 6, 202416252
October 28, 202416624
December 29, 202416982
February 21, 202517291
April 14, 202517636
June 5, 202518023
July 28, 202518205
September 19, 202518592
November 18, 202518759
January 13, 202618903
March 12, 202619026
September 15, 202619111
Star history for apache/pulsar
DateStars
September 7, 201624
October 14, 20161031
December 12, 20161122
February 15, 20171185
April 29, 20171243
July 21, 20171311
October 2, 20171372
November 27, 20171498
January 12, 20181589
February 28, 20181681
May 7, 20181749
June 22, 20181850
August 7, 20181961
September 24, 20182060
November 1, 20182491
December 11, 20182749
January 23, 20192892
March 5, 20193065
April 12, 20193240
May 22, 20193520
June 30, 20193816
August 8, 20194037
September 15, 20194253
October 23, 20194456
November 30, 20194692
January 7, 20205061
February 14, 20205276
March 24, 20205435
May 2, 20205641
June 10, 20205867
July 25, 20206508
September 2, 20206772
October 12, 20206939
November 20, 20207139
December 28, 20207354
February 5, 20217633
March 15, 20217843
April 23, 20218119
June 3, 20218995
July 11, 20219422
August 18, 20219743
September 29, 20219985
November 18, 202110182
December 27, 202110507
February 2, 202210726
March 12, 202210903
April 19, 202211104
May 27, 202211341
July 4, 202211611
August 12, 202211849
September 26, 202212144
November 4, 202212367
December 13, 202212575
January 20, 202312730
February 27, 202312893
April 7, 202313074
May 15, 202313234
June 22, 202313401
July 30, 202313548
September 7, 202313672
October 17, 202313850
November 27, 202313983
January 7, 202414124
February 17, 202414234
March 30, 202414365
May 8, 202414479
June 19, 202414602
July 29, 202414735
September 9, 202414853
October 22, 202414968
December 11, 202415110
January 23, 202515206
March 9, 202515304
April 21, 202515397
June 11, 202515483
July 29, 202515551
September 16, 202515620
November 25, 202515684
January 25, 202615737
September 4, 202615790
Star history for rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server
DateStars
February 16, 20111
January 7, 201259
February 23, 2013129
June 21, 2013197
October 24, 2013266
February 16, 2014340
June 9, 2014421
September 16, 2014502
December 27, 2014578
March 18, 2015676
June 5, 2015818
August 8, 2015940
October 7, 20151058
December 3, 20151218
February 1, 20161405
March 28, 20161558
May 22, 20161724
July 19, 20161882
September 14, 20162042
November 8, 20162220
January 5, 20172390
March 1, 20172558
April 25, 20172757
June 23, 20172957
August 15, 20173177
October 9, 20173384
November 30, 20173611
January 25, 20183799
March 19, 20184026
May 17, 20184263
July 22, 20184512
September 14, 20184768
November 8, 20185038
January 2, 20195261
February 25, 20195522
April 19, 20195812
June 11, 20196112
August 4, 20196368
September 27, 20196612
November 21, 20196832
January 12, 20207096
March 9, 20207278
May 1, 20207506
June 23, 20207746
August 15, 20207979
October 11, 20208197
December 6, 20208408
January 31, 20218625
March 28, 20218832
May 25, 20219042
July 30, 20219292
September 25, 20219515
December 1, 20219716
January 25, 20229915
March 18, 202210110
May 12, 202210317
July 6, 202210499
August 30, 202210680
October 26, 202210912
December 20, 202211088
February 16, 202311265
April 10, 202311459
June 3, 202311655
July 27, 202311813
September 24, 202311975
November 20, 202312136
January 21, 202412314
March 16, 202412491
May 8, 202412693
July 5, 202412916
September 10, 202413156
November 2, 202413393
December 28, 202413548
February 20, 202513712
April 16, 202513873
June 12, 202514045
August 17, 202514169
October 23, 202514272
January 3, 202614359
September 5, 202614427
Star history for redpanda-data/redpanda
DateStars
November 12, 202040
December 5, 20201240
December 31, 20201356
January 25, 20211578
February 18, 20211742
March 18, 20211838
April 11, 20211976
May 5, 20212172
June 2, 20212260
June 27, 20212365
July 26, 20212482
August 21, 20212570
September 19, 20212709
October 15, 20212783
November 16, 20212879
December 12, 20213019
January 6, 20223134
January 31, 20223248
February 23, 20223427
March 19, 20223546
April 12, 20223741
May 6, 20223986
May 30, 20224141
June 23, 20224297
July 17, 20224417
August 10, 20224575
September 3, 20224696
September 27, 20224823
October 20, 20224996
November 13, 20225249
December 12, 20225554
January 5, 20235697
January 29, 20235915
February 23, 20236088
March 19, 20236230
April 11, 20236372
May 5, 20236533
May 29, 20236703
June 22, 20236847
July 17, 20237235
August 10, 20237390
September 3, 20237507
September 28, 20237638
October 22, 20237793
November 15, 20237916
December 8, 20238033
January 1, 20248111
January 26, 20248246
February 19, 20248377
March 14, 20248505
April 12, 20248650
May 7, 20248808
May 30, 20248928
June 23, 20249063
July 18, 20249162
August 11, 20249246
September 4, 20249347
September 28, 20249456
October 24, 20249584
November 18, 20249656
December 12, 20249749
January 6, 20259824
January 30, 20259934
February 23, 202510035
March 22, 202510119
April 15, 202510218
May 10, 202510306
June 5, 202510375
June 29, 202510450
July 26, 202510518
August 23, 202510628
September 16, 202510738
October 17, 202510792
November 13, 202510839
December 9, 202510906
January 4, 202610961
February 4, 202611016
March 5, 202611060
April 19, 202611095
September 15, 202611124

How each series was read

  • apache/kafka

    Historical star data · Covers through September 15, 2026

  • nats-io/nats-server

    Historical star data · Covers through September 15, 2026

  • apache/pulsar

    Historical star data · Covers through September 4, 2026

  • rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server

    Historical star data · Covers through September 5, 2026

  • redpanda-data/redpanda

    Historical star data · Covers through September 15, 2026

Ranking

5 repositories

Message queues & streaming ranked by current total GitHub stars
#RepositoryStars+90dFirst starHealth
1apache/kafka33,726~382011debt charts
2nats-io/nats-server20,708~152013debt charts
3apache/pulsar15,331~82016debt charts
4rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server13,850~152011debt charts
5redpanda-data/redpanda12,546~112020debt 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: 33,72620,70815,33113,85012,546
Stars gained · trailing 90dChange in the newest 90 days covered by each cached series.Best result in this row: +38+15+8+15+11
ForksCurrent public GitHub metadata total.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Largest package audienceLargest resolved registry total; sources are shown explicitly.No resolved packageNo resolved packageNo resolved packageNo resolved packageNo resolved package
Repository ageElapsed years since the GitHub creation timestamp.15 years14 years10 years16 years5.9 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.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Code linesAnalyzed source lines at current HEAD, excluding blanks and comments.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Languages representedLanguages with non-zero files or line counts.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available

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.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Commits · trailing 90dCommit count in the newest 90 days covered by the repository analysis.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available

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.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Top contributor concentrationShare of attributed commits carried by the most active contributor.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available

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.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Recent TODO/FIXME movementLatest cumulative marker count and its change over the trailing 90 days.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot availableNot available

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 33,726 GitHub stars as of Sep 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 38 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 either from GitHub's stargazer list or rebuilt from historical star data — 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