# ⚖️ Kafka vs RabbitMQ: Choose the Right Broker for Your Use Case

A focused, decision-oriented comparison of Kafka and RabbitMQ for intermediate engineers. Each lesson works through a concrete scenario, starting with delivery semantics and ending with a repeatable checklist for justifying a broker choice in 2026.

## Contents

- [🗂️ Log vs queue: what each broker really stores](/courses/kafka-vs-rabbitmq-choose-the-right-broker-for-your-use-case/log-vs-queue-storage-model.md)
- [🔁 At-most-once and at-least-once, worked through both brokers](/courses/kafka-vs-rabbitmq-choose-the-right-broker-for-your-use-case/at-most-once-at-least-once-worked.md) (sign-in required)
- [🎯 Exactly-once claims: Kafka transactions vs RabbitMQ patterns](/courses/kafka-vs-rabbitmq-choose-the-right-broker-for-your-use-case/exactly-once-kafka-transactions-vs-rabbitmq.md)
- [✅ Checkpoint: delivery semantics](/courses/kafka-vs-rabbitmq-choose-the-right-broker-for-your-use-case/checkpoint-delivery-semantics.md)
- [🔢 Partitions, consumer groups and ordering limits](/courses/kafka-vs-rabbitmq-choose-the-right-broker-for-your-use-case/partitions-consumer-groups-ordering.md)
- [🚀 Throughput, latency and backpressure compared](/courses/kafka-vs-rabbitmq-choose-the-right-broker-for-your-use-case/throughput-latency-backpressure.md)
- [🕸️ Routing and topology: exchanges, bindings and topics](/courses/kafka-vs-rabbitmq-choose-the-right-broker-for-your-use-case/routing-topology-exchanges-topics.md)
- [✅ Checkpoint: ordering, throughput and routing](/courses/kafka-vs-rabbitmq-choose-the-right-broker-for-your-use-case/checkpoint-ordering-throughput-routing.md)
- [🛠️ Operations, scaling and retention in production](/courses/kafka-vs-rabbitmq-choose-the-right-broker-for-your-use-case/operations-scaling-retention.md)
- [🧩 Ecosystem fit: Kafka Streams, Connect and Spring AMQP](/courses/kafka-vs-rabbitmq-choose-the-right-broker-for-your-use-case/ecosystem-streams-connect-spring-amqp.md)
- [📝 Worked decision walkthroughs: four use cases and a 2026 cost check](/courses/kafka-vs-rabbitmq-choose-the-right-broker-for-your-use-case/worked-broker-decision-walkthroughs.md) (paid)
- [✅ Checkpoint: broker selection](/courses/kafka-vs-rabbitmq-choose-the-right-broker-for-your-use-case/checkpoint-broker-selection.md) (paid)
- [Course cheatsheet](/courses/kafka-vs-rabbitmq-choose-the-right-broker-for-your-use-case/cheatsheet.md) (paid)