Confluent pricing guide details
Pricing Overview
Confluent Cloud uses a usage-based pricing model built around serverless Kafka clusters that autoscale with your workloads. The platform offers four cluster tiers — Basic, Standard, Enterprise, and Freight — each with a fixed monthly base price plus per-use charges for throughput, storage, and connectors. The Basic tier starts at $0/mo, making it genuinely free to get started with low-volume streaming workloads. Standard clusters begin at $385/mo, Enterprise at $895/mo, and the high-throughput Freight tier at $2,300/mo. On top of the base price, usage-based rates start as low as $0.01 for data operations. We find this model attractive for teams that want to avoid overprovisioning — you pay for actual consumption rather than reserved capacity. However, costs can escalate quickly at scale, so understanding the per-unit rates for your specific workload pattern is critical before committing.
Plan Comparison
Confluent Cloud's four cluster tiers are designed for progressively larger and more demanding workloads. Here is how they stack up:
| Feature | Basic ($0/mo) | Standard ($385/mo) | Enterprise ($895/mo) | Freight ($2,300/mo) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uptime SLA | 99.5% | 99.9% (1 eCKU) / 99.99% (2+ eCKUs) | 99.9% (1 eCKU) / 99.99% (2+ eCKUs) | 99.99% |
| Throughput (Ingress/Egress) | 250 / 750 MBps | 250 / 750 MBps | 1,920 / 5,760 MBps | 9,120 / 27,360 MBps |
| Partition Limit | 1,500 | 2,500 | 96,000 | 50,000 |
| Storage Limit | 5 TB | Infinite | Infinite | Infinite |
| Latency | Low (sub-100ms) | Low (sub-100ms) | Low (sub-100ms) | Relaxed (up to 1-2 seconds) |
| Scaling | Autoscaling | Autoscaling | Autoscaling | Autoscaling |
| Private Networking | No | No | Yes | Yes |
The Basic tier works well for development and low-traffic use cases. Standard adds a stronger SLA and unlimited storage — solid for production workloads that do not require private networking. Enterprise unlocks massive throughput and private networking for security-sensitive deployments. Freight is purpose-built for bulk data movement where sub-second latency is not required but throughput volume is enormous.
Hidden Costs and Considerations
Confluent's base cluster price is only part of the bill. Usage-based charges for data ingress, egress, storage retention, and connector throughput add up based on your actual consumption — with rates ranging from $0.01 to $2.25 depending on the operation type. Fully managed connectors (Kafka Connect), Apache Flink stream processing, and ksqlDB each carry their own usage fees on top of the cluster cost. We also recommend watching for networking egress charges if you run cross-region or multi-cloud deployments. Annual commit discounts exist, but they require volume commitments that lock you in.
Cost Estimates by Team Size
Because Confluent prices by cluster and data throughput rather than per-seat, team size is a secondary consideration compared to workload volume. That said, here are realistic scenarios:
- Solo developer / prototyping: The Basic tier at $0/mo covers development and testing with up to 250 MBps ingress and 5 TB storage. Usage-based charges will be minimal for light workloads — expect under $50/mo total.
- Small team (5 engineers): A Standard cluster at $385/mo handles most production workloads with infinite storage and a 99.9% SLA. With moderate throughput, plan for $500-$800/mo including usage charges.
- Mid-size team (20 engineers): Teams running multiple production streams, connectors, and Flink processing will likely need an Enterprise cluster at $895/mo base. Total cost with usage-based charges typically lands in the $1,500-$3,000/mo range depending on data volume.
How Confluent Pricing Compares
Confluent operates in a different weight class than most data pipeline tools. While competitors like Stitch, Hevo Data, and Airbyte focus on batch and ELT integration at lower price points, Confluent is built for real-time data streaming at enterprise scale. The trade-off is clear: you pay significantly more, but you get sub-100ms latency, massive throughput, and a fully managed Kafka infrastructure.
| Tool | Pricing Model | Starting Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confluent | Usage-Based | $0/mo (Basic) | Real-time data streaming at scale |
| Stitch | Freemium | $25/mo (Pro) | Simple batch ELT for small teams |
| Hevo Data | Freemium | $25/mo (10M rows) | No-code data pipelines with row-based pricing |
| Airbyte | Freemium | $10/mo (Cloud Standard) | Open-source-first data integration |
For teams that need Kafka-based streaming with managed infrastructure, Confluent is the clear leader — but if your use case is straightforward batch data integration, the competitors offer far more accessible entry points. Airbyte's free self-hosted option and Stitch's $25/mo Pro tier are compelling for teams that do not require real-time streaming.