compare

NATS vs RabbitMQ

The same facts for both, read from GitHub every night, and the relation a person reviewed.

NATS vs RabbitMQ
Fact	NATS	RabbitMQ
Language	Go	JavaScript
Licence	Apache-2.0	Other
Stars	21k	14k
Latest	v2.15.0	v4.3.6
Last push	2026-10-06	2026-10-06
Release cadence	too few releases	about 14 days between releases
Active contributors	33+ commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days	19+ commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days
Flags	none	none

How they relate

Both replace Amazon SQS. Alternatives to Amazon SQS →
PartialNATSWork queues on JetStream streams, through its own protocol and clients.
Full replacementRabbitMQQueues over AMQP, MQTT and STOMP on your own servers.
Both replace Apache Kafka. Alternatives to Apache Kafka →
PartialNATSDurable streams with JetStream, without Kafka's protocol.
PartialRabbitMQA message broker first; streams add a replayable, Kafka-like log.