Confluent Platform

Confluent Platform Documentation

An enterprise-grade distribution of Apache Kafka® that is available on-premises as self-managed software, complete with built-in security, stream processing, and governance tooling.

View Confluent Platform release notes

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Core streaming platforms

Confluent Platform

Run a self-managed distribution of Kafka on-premises or in any cloud environment

Confluent Server

Deploy Kafka brokers enhanced with advanced security, resilience, and commercial features

Apache Kafka

Stream and store real-time data using the open-source distributed event engine at the core of Confluent

KRaft

Manage cluster metadata natively without Apache ZooKeeper™ using built-in KRaft consensus

Clusters and storage

Consumer groups and offset management

Track consumer group membership and manage committed read offsets across topics

Tiered Storage

Offload historical topic data automatically to cost-effective object storage

Self-Balancing Clusters

Rebalance partitions automatically across brokers as cluster capacity scales up or down

Auto Data Balancer

Redistribute partitions to balance workload and disk usage evenly across brokers

Stream processing

Apache Flink (self-managed)

Self-managed Flink for sophisticated, stateful streaming applications

Kafka Streams

Build stateful stream processing applications directly in Java

ksqlDB

Process and query streaming data in real time using SQL directly against Kafka topics

Data integration

Kafka Connect (managed and self-managed)

Stream data between Kafka and external systems using managed or self-managed infrastructure

Confluent connectors

Connect to databases, cloud storage, SaaS, and messaging systems using prebuilt connectors

REST Proxy

Produce, consume, and manage Kafka resources over standard HTTP REST endpoints

MQTT Proxy

Ingest MQTT message streams directly from IoT devices into Kafka without a standalone broker

Data governance

Schema Registry

Centralize, version, and enforce compatibility rules across Avro, JSON Schema, and Protobuf schemas

Data Contracts

Enforce schema rules, metadata standards, and quality guarantees on topic data

Multi-region and replication

Cluster Linking

Mirror topics across clusters and regions without deploying extra connector infrastructure

Multi-Region Clusters

Span a single Kafka cluster across geographical regions for high availability and disaster recovery

Confluent Replicator

Replicate topics, schema definitions, and cluster configurations across Kafka environments

Security and access control

Authentication (SASL, mTLS, SSO)

Verify client, broker, and Control Center identities using SASL, mTLS, or SSO

Role-Based Access Control

Grant precise access permissions using role-based scopes across cluster resources

Access Control Lists (ACLs)

Define fine-grained allow rules per principal and resource

TLS encryption in transit

Encrypt client and broker network traffic over the wire using TLS

Client-Side Field Level Encryption (CSFLE)

Encrypt sensitive fields before they leave the client

Audit logging

Record, monitor, and review authentication and authorization events for security compliance

Management and operations

Confluent CLI

Administer Confluent Cloud and Platform resources directly from your terminal

Control Center

Monitor, manage, and inspect Confluent Platform clusters through a centralized web UI

Unified Stream Manager

Manage hybrid Confluent Cloud and Platform clusters from a single control plane

Confluent for Kubernetes

Deploy, scale, and manage Confluent Platform natively on Kubernetes using declarative operators

Ansible Playbooks for Confluent Platform

Automate the installation, configuration, and provisioning of Confluent Platform across multiple hosts using Ansible

Monitoring and observability

Health+

Monitor cluster health and receive proactive alerts using Confluent Health+

JMX monitoring

Expose broker and client performance metrics using standard JMX endpoints

Metrics Reporter

Publish cluster performance metrics directly to a dedicated Kafka topic for custom analysis

Consumer lag monitoring

Track consumer lag to ensure applications process streaming data in real time

APIs and developer tools

Connect API

Configure, monitor, and manage Kafka connectors programmatically using REST endpoints

VS Code Extension

Manage topics, schemas, and connectors directly from Visual Studio Code

kcat

Produce, consume, and inspect Kafka topics directly from the command line using kcat

Client libraries

Java Client

Produce and consume Kafka events in native Java applications

librdkafka (C/C++) Client

Build high-performance C/C++ producers and consumers or power derived language libraries

Python Client

Produce and consume Kafka events using native Python code

Go Client

Build fast, concurrent Kafka producers and consumers in Go

.NET Client

Integrate Kafka messaging directly into .NET and C# applications

JavaScript Client

Produce and consume Kafka events in Node.js and JavaScript applications