Softwr

Automation Integration · head to head

Airbyte vs Eclipse Mosquitto

Airbyte logo

Airbyte

Automation Integration

The open-source ELT platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Eclipse Mosquitto logo

Eclipse Mosquitto

Networking

Small, EPL-licensed MQTT broker that runs on hardware other brokers cannot

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Airbyte the self-managed open source Core edition has no SSO or RBAC, no multiple workspaces, no row filtering or encryption, and no monitoring integrations; Eclipse Mosquitto there is no clustering: Mosquitto is a single process, so high availability means building your own failover and accepting session loss on switchover.
  • They diverge on capability: Airbyte covers Data replication, Eclipse Mosquitto covers MQTT 5.0 support.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbyte and Eclipse Mosquitto actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbyte and Eclipse Mosquitto differ
AttributeAirbyteEclipse Mosquitto
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, Self-hostedLinux, Windows, macOS, Docker
CategoryAutomation IntegrationNetworking
Founded2020Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Airbyte

  • Data replication
  • Schema detection
  • ELT pipelines
  • Real-time sync
  • Data transformation
  • Monitoring
  • Custom connectors
  • 300+ connectors

Only in Eclipse Mosquitto

  • MQTT 5.0 support
  • Very small footprint
  • Bridging
  • WebSockets listener
  • Command line clients
  • Dynamic security plugin

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Airbyte

  • Data integrationnot Eclipse Mosquitto
  • ETL operationsnot Eclipse Mosquitto
  • API data synchronizationnot Eclipse Mosquitto
  • Data warehouse populationnot Eclipse Mosquitto
  • Real-time data replicationnot Eclipse Mosquitto

Eclipse Mosquitto

  • A home or building automation stack where the broker must run on the same small computer as everything elsenot Airbyte
  • An industrial gateway that buffers local telemetry and bridges selected topics to a cloud brokernot Airbyte
  • Local development and testing of MQTT clients without provisioning a cloud IoT servicenot Airbyte
  • An air-gapped deployment where a broker with no licence server and no phone-home behaviour is a requirementnot Airbyte

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Airbyte

  • The self-managed open source Core edition has no SSO or RBAC, no multiple workspaces, no row filtering or encryption, and no monitoring integrations
  • Sync frequency on Core is limited compared with the managed tiers, which offer 15 minute syncs
  • Support on the free tier is community and AI only; premium support requires Pro or Enterprise
  • The free Agents plan stops at 1,000 agent operations a month and pauses capacity until the next month once hit
  • Agent overages are billed per operation at $0.004 to $0.005 once past the plan allowance

Eclipse Mosquitto

  • There is no clustering: Mosquitto is a single process, so high availability means building your own failover and accepting session loss on switchover.
  • Persistence is a local file rather than a replicated store, so a disk failure or an unclean shutdown can lose retained messages and queued QoS traffic.
  • Practical capacity is a few thousand concurrent clients on typical hardware, so a growing device fleet eventually forces a migration to a clustered broker.
  • The Eclipse Public Licence is weak copyleft rather than permissive, which some legal teams treat as a blocker when embedding the broker in a shipped commercial product.
  • There is no commercial support to buy from the project, so production incidents rely on community mailing lists or on paying a third party who happens to know the codebase.

Pricing, plan by plan

Airbyte

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1,000 Agent Operations monthly
    • Single user access
    • API and MCP access
  • Individual$29/month
    • 5,000 Agent Operations monthly
    • Hourly Context Store refresh
    • Standard and AI support
  • Team$299/month
    • 10,000 Agent Operations monthly
    • Parallel workflow execution
    • Multiple users

Eclipse Mosquitto

Free
  • Eclipse MosquittoFree
    • Eclipse Public License 2.0 with Eclipse Distribution Licence
    • MQTT 5.0, 3.1.1 and 3.1
    • No client or message limits beyond your hardware

Which should you pick?

Choose Airbyte if

  • You need data replication.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted.
  • You also want schema detection.
Airbyte review

Choose Eclipse Mosquitto if

  • You need mqtt 5.0 support.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, Docker.
  • You also want very small footprint.
Eclipse Mosquitto review

Questions people ask

Is Airbyte or Eclipse Mosquitto better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbyte starts at Free and Eclipse Mosquitto at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbyte or Eclipse Mosquitto?
Airbyte starts at Free and Eclipse Mosquitto at Free.
Does Airbyte or Eclipse Mosquitto run on more platforms?
Airbyte runs on Web, Self-hosted. Eclipse Mosquitto runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, Docker.
Can I use Airbyte for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Airbyte best used for?
Airbyte is most often used for data integration, etl operations, api data synchronization, data warehouse population. Of those, data integration and etl operations are not what Eclipse Mosquitto is typically brought in for.
What can Airbyte do that Eclipse Mosquitto cannot?
Airbyte covers Data replication, Schema detection, ELT pipelines, Real-time sync. Eclipse Mosquitto covers MQTT 5.0 support, Very small footprint, Bridging, WebSockets listener.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Airbyte: Is Airbyte free to use?

Yes, Airbyte offers a free tier with 1,000 Agent Operations monthly, single user access, API and MCP support, and community/AI assistance.

Source
Eclipse Mosquitto: Can Mosquitto be clustered?

No. It is a single process. High availability requires an external failover arrangement you build yourself.

Airbyte: What does the Team plan include?

The Team plan costs $299/month and includes 10,000 Agent Operations monthly, parallel workflow execution, multiple users, standard and AI support, with overages charged at $0.005 per AO.

Source
Eclipse Mosquitto: What licence is it?

Eclipse Public License 2.0 alongside the Eclipse Distribution License, a weak copyleft rather than a permissive licence.

Airbyte: What happens if I exceed my monthly Agent Operations limit?

Overages are charged at $0.004 per AO on the Individual plan and $0.005 per AO on the Team plan, allowing you to exceed your quota as needed.

Source
Eclipse Mosquitto: How many clients can it handle?

A few thousand concurrent connections on ordinary hardware; beyond that, use a clustered broker.

Airbyte: Does Airbyte offer data replication pricing?

Yes. Airbyte Data Replication starts at $10/month on the Standard plan with 600+ connectors. Pro and Enterprise plans use custom capacity-based pricing with Data Workers and dedicated support.

Source
Eclipse Mosquitto: Does it support MQTT 5?

Yes, along with 3.1.1 and 3.1.

Share

Related pages

More on Airbyte

More on Eclipse Mosquitto

Keep looking

Other head to heads