Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Apache Pulsar vs Google Cloud Dataflow comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Apache Pulsar
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
20th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Google Cloud Dataflow
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
13th
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 March 2026, in the Streaming Analytics category, the mindshare of Apache Pulsar is 2.8%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Cloud Dataflow is 3.9%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Streaming Analytics Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Google Cloud Dataflow3.9%
Apache Pulsar2.8%
Other93.3%
Streaming Analytics
 

Featured Reviews

it_user1087029 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at Vlaanderen connect.
The solution can mimic other APIs without changing a line of code
The solution operates as a classic message broker but also as a streaming platform. It operates differently than a traditional streaming platform with storage and computing handled separately. It scales easier and better than Kafka which can be stubborn. You can even make it act like Kafka because it understands Kafka APIs. There are even companies that will sell you Kafka but underneath it is Apache Pulsar. The solution is very compatible because it can mimic other APIs without changing a line of code.
PR
Senior Data Engineer at Accruent
Enables real-time insights and efficient data preparation for machine learning
Google Cloud Dataflow's features for event stream processing allow us to gain various insights like detecting real-time alerts. For integration, we use Dataflow to extract data from different sources like APIs and flat files. We then perform data cleansing, including deduplications, schema standardizations, and filtering of invalid records. We also use it for preparing data for machine learning models, transforming data, and accelerating models.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution operates as a classic message broker but also as a streaming platform."
"The integration within Google Cloud Platform is very good."
"The service is relatively cheap compared to other batch-processing engines."
"The most valuable features of Google Cloud Dataflow are the integration, it's very simple if you have the complete stack, which we are using. It is overall very easy to use, user-friendly friendly, and cost-effective if you know how to use it. The solution is very flexible for programmers, if you know how to do scripts or program in Python or any other language, it's extremely easy to use."
"It allows me to test solutions locally using runners like Direct Runner without having to start a Dataflow job, which can be costly."
"I don't need a server running all the time while using the tool. It is also easy to setup. The product offers a pay-as-you-go service."
"The best feature of Google Cloud Dataflow is its practical connectedness."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The support team is good and it's easy to use."
 

Cons

"Documentation is poor because much of it is in Chinese with no English translation."
"Occasionally, dealing with a huge volume of data causes failure due to array size."
"The technical support has slight room for improvement."
"The authentication part of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"Google Cloud Dataflow should include a little cost optimization."
"The deployment time could also be reduced."
"Promoting the technology more broadly would help increase its adoption."
"When I deploy the product in local errors, a lot of errors pop up which are not always caught. The solution's error logging is bad. It can take a lot of time to debug the errors. It needs to have better logs."
"I would like Google Cloud Dataflow to be integrated with IT data flow and other related services to make it easier to use as it is a complex tool."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Google Cloud is slightly cheaper than AWS."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate Google Cloud Dataflow's pricing a four out of ten."
"Google Cloud Dataflow is a cheap solution."
"The solution is not very expensive."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven to eight out of ten."
"The tool is cheap."
"The solution is cost-effective."
"The price of the solution depends on many factors, such as how they pay for tools in the company and its size."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Streaming Analytics solutions are best for your needs.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
9%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Retailer
11%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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...
What is your primary use case for Google Cloud Dataflow?
It is used for exporting data, such as customer clicks, customer interactions with emails, and link tracking. The Google Analytics streaming data is used to establish customer behavioral patterns.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Google Dataflow
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Absolutdata, Backflip Studios, Bluecore, Claritics, Crystalloids, Energyworx, GenieConnect, Leanplum, Nomanini, Redbus, Streak, TabTale
Find out what your peers are saying about Databricks, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft and others in Streaming Analytics. Updated: February 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.