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Amazon Kinesis vs Google Cloud Dataflow comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
Organizations benefit financially from Amazon Kinesis through improved data processing, cost savings, and seamless AWS service integration.
Sentiment score
5.6
Google Cloud Dataflow was appreciated for cost savings and time efficiency, though some considered its impact not fully assessable yet.
With Lambda, there is no need for data transfer charges, which is beneficial for less frequent workloads.
AWS Cloud Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.2
Amazon Kinesis support varies, with response quality influenced by user-AWS relationships and complexity of the issues faced.
Sentiment score
6.6
Google Cloud Dataflow support varies, with users praising technical resolution but highlighting inconsistent response times and accessibility.
We receive prompt support from AWS solution architects or TAMs.
AWS Cloud Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
The fact that no interaction is needed shows their great support since I don't face issues.
Data Engineer at Accenture
Google's support team is good at resolving issues, especially with large data.
Senior Data Engineer at Accruent
Whenever we have issues, we can consult with Google.
Senior Software Engineer at Dun & Bradstreet
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Amazon Kinesis offers robust scalability with sharding and auto-scaling, ideal for high data throughput, despite some cost considerations.
Sentiment score
7.3
Google Cloud Dataflow excels in scalability and efficiency, making it ideal for real-time data processing and dynamic needs.
Amazon Kinesis provides auto-scaling with streams that handle large volumes well.
AWS Cloud Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the scalability of Amazon Kinesis as a nine.
Director of Software Development at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Google Cloud Dataflow has auto-scaling capabilities, allowing me to add different machine types based on pace and requirements.
Data Engineer at Accenture
As a team lead, I'm responsible for handling five to six applications, but Google Cloud Dataflow seems to handle our use case effectively.
Senior Software Engineer at Dun & Bradstreet
Google Cloud Dataflow can handle large data processing for real-time streaming workloads as they grow, making it a good fit for our business.
Senior Data Engineer at Accruent
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Amazon Kinesis is reliable with minor issues, praised for consistent performance and effective fault-tolerance features.
Sentiment score
8.3
Google Cloud Dataflow is stable, reliably handles tasks, and benefits from automatic scaling, with minor issues on complex tasks.
I would rate the stability of Amazon Kinesis as high, giving it a 10.
Director of Software Development at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I have not encountered any issues with the performance of Dataflow, as it is stable and backed by Google services.
Data Engineer at Accenture
The job we built has not failed once over six to seven months.
Senior Software Engineer at Dun & Bradstreet
The automatic scaling feature helps maintain stability.
Senior Data Engineer at Accruent
 

Room For Improvement

Amazon Kinesis users seek enhancements in data aggregation, integration, automation, retention, cost reduction, compatibility, machine learning, and documentation.
Google Cloud Dataflow needs better Kafka integration, improved error logs, reduced startup time, and enhanced Python SDK features.
There is no lack of functions in Amazon Kinesis. Functionality-wise, we feel it's complete.
Director of Software Development at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Amazon Kinesis could improve its pricing to be more competitive, especially for large volumes.
AWS Cloud Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Outside of Google Cloud Platform, it is problematic for others to use it and may require promotion as an actual technology.
Data Engineer at Accenture
I would like to see improvements in consistency and flexibility for schema design for NoSQL data stored in wide columns.
Senior Data Engineer at Accruent
Dealing with a huge volume of data causes failure due to array size.
Senior Software Engineer at Dun & Bradstreet
 

Setup Cost

Amazon Kinesis offers competitive pricing, though costs rise with scaling, large data volumes, and Kinesis Analytics can be expensive.
Google Cloud Dataflow is praised for cost-effectiveness and scalability, offering competitive pricing influenced by pipeline complexity and company size.
Amazon Kinesis and Lambda pricing is competitive, but we noticed that scaling and large volumes could potentially increase costs significantly.
AWS Cloud Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
It is part of a package received from Google, and they are not charging us too high.
Senior Software Engineer at Dun & Bradstreet
 

Valuable Features

Amazon Kinesis provides easy, scalable streaming with AWS integration, supporting analytics and monitoring without complex infrastructure management.
Google Cloud Dataflow offers seamless integration, multi-language support, scalability, and serverless data handling for efficient batch and streaming processes.
Amazon Kinesis integrates easily with the AWS environment.
Director of Software Development at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Lambda's scalability, seamless integration with other AWS services, and support for multiple programming languages are very beneficial.
AWS Cloud Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
It supports multiple programming languages such as Java and Python, enabling flexibility without the need to learn something new.
Data Engineer at Accenture
Google Cloud Dataflow's features for event stream processing allow us to gain various insights like detecting real-time alerts.
Senior Data Engineer at Accruent
The integration within Google Cloud Platform is very good.
Senior Software Engineer at Dun & Bradstreet
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon Kinesis
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Google Cloud Dataflow
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Streaming Analytics category, the mindshare of Amazon Kinesis is 5.6%, down from 9.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Cloud Dataflow is 4.5%, down from 7.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Streaming Analytics Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Amazon Kinesis5.6%
Google Cloud Dataflow4.5%
Other89.9%
Streaming Analytics
 

Featured Reviews

CD
AWS Cloud Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Real-time streaming and seamless integration enhance workloads with room for competitive pricing improvements
Amazon Kinesis is easy to get started with, provides good documentation, and has a multilang daemon interface that makes it programming-language agnostic. The throughput is convenient for processing volumes out of the box and does not require complex configurations. It also provides auto-scaling with different partition keys into various shards. Lambda's scalability, seamless integration with other AWS services, and support for multiple programming languages are very beneficial.
Jana Polianskaja - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Engineer at Accenture
Build Scalable Data Pipelines with Apache Beam and Google Cloud Dataflow
As a data engineer, I find several features of Google Cloud Dataflow particularly valuable. The ability to test solutions locally using Direct Runner is crucial for development, allowing me to validate pipelines without incurring the costs of full Dataflow jobs. The unified programming model for both batch and streaming processing is exceptional - requiring only minor code adjustments to optimize for either mode. This flexibility extends to language support, with robust implementations in both Java and Python, allowing teams to leverage their existing expertise. The platform's comprehensive monitoring capabilities are another standout feature. The intuitive interface, Grafana integration, and extensive service connectivity make troubleshooting and performance tracking highly efficient. Furthermore, seamless integration with Google Cloud Composer (managed Airflow) enables sophisticated orchestration of data pipelines.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Retailer
11%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise9
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon Kinesis?
Amazon Kinesis's main purpose is to provide near real-time data streaming at a consistent 2Mbps rate, which is really impressive.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon Kinesis?
Amazon Kinesis and Lambda pricing is competitive, but we noticed that scaling and large volumes could potentially increase costs significantly.
What needs improvement with Amazon Kinesis?
We are contemplating moving away from Amazon Kinesis primarily because of the cost. It is very useful, but if we write our own analytics and data processing pipeline, it would be much cheaper for u...
What do you like most about Google Cloud Dataflow?
The product's installation process is easy...The tool's maintenance part is somewhat easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Dataflow?
Pricing is normal. It is part of a package received from Google, and they are not charging us too high.
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Dataflow?
It can be improved in several ways. The system could function in an automated fashion and provide suggestions based on past transactions to achieve better scalability. Implementing AI-based suggest...
 

Also Known As

Amazon AWS Kinesis, AWS Kinesis, Kinesis
Google Dataflow
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Zillow, Netflix, Sonos
Absolutdata, Backflip Studios, Bluecore, Claritics, Crystalloids, Energyworx, GenieConnect, Leanplum, Nomanini, Redbus, Streak, TabTale
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Kinesis vs. Google Cloud Dataflow and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.