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Confluent Cloud vs Zabbix Cloud

Confluent Cloud logo

Confluent Cloud

Technology

The data streaming platform built on Apache Kafka, delivered as a fully managed cloud service

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zabbix Cloud logo

Zabbix Cloud

Technology

Zabbix monitoring, fully managed

From
$50/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Confluent Cloud has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Confluent Cloud requires understanding of eCKU (Elastic Confluent Unit) billing; Zabbix Cloud billed by NVPS (new values per second) rather than by number of monitored hosts, so cost scales with metric volume: Nano starts at $50/month for 50 NVPS and 2xLarge reaches $5,000/month for 10,000 NVPS
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Confluent Cloud and Zabbix Cloud actually diverge.

Attributes where Confluent Cloud and Zabbix Cloud differ
AttributeConfluent CloudZabbix Cloud
Starting priceFree$50/month
Pricing modelusage-basedsubscription
Free tierYesNo

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Technology).

What people use each for

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

Confluent Cloud

  • Apache Kafka event streaming and processingnot Zabbix Cloud
  • Real-time data pipeline architecturenot Zabbix Cloud
  • Multi-cloud event broker deploymentnot Zabbix Cloud
  • Stream processing and analyticsnot Zabbix Cloud
  • Microservices data synchronizationnot Zabbix Cloud

Zabbix Cloud

  • Network performance monitoring and detectionnot Confluent Cloud
  • Server health and performance trackingnot Confluent Cloud
  • Container monitoring in Kubernetes environmentsnot Confluent Cloud
  • Database performance across vendor platformsnot Confluent Cloud
  • VMware and Windows infrastructure observationnot Confluent Cloud

Where each one falls short

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

Confluent Cloud

  • Requires understanding of eCKU (Elastic Confluent Unit) billing
  • Data in/egress costs add $0.014-$0.050 per GB
  • Storage costs of $0.03-$0.08 per GB-month
  • Minimum commitment recommended for cost optimization

Zabbix Cloud

  • Billed by NVPS (new values per second) rather than by number of monitored hosts, so cost scales with metric volume: Nano starts at $50/month for 50 NVPS and 2xLarge reaches $5,000/month for 10,000 NVPS
  • The free trial lasts only 5 days before a paid subscription is required
  • Annual subscription is needed to get the 10% discount; the base prices listed are monthly rates

Pricing, plan by plan

Confluent Cloud

Free
  • BasicFree
    • Free first eCKU
    • Then $0.14 per eCKU-hour
    • 99.5% uptime
  • Standard$385/month
    • $0.75 per eCKU-hour
    • 99.99% uptime with 2+ eCKUs
    • Infinite storage
  • Enterprise$895/month
    • $1.75-$2.25 per eCKU-hour
    • Private networking
    • GBps+ scaling
  • Freight$2300/month
    • $2.25 per eCKU-hour
    • Specialty logging tier
    • Highest throughput requirements

Zabbix Cloud

$50/month
  • Nano$50/month
    • 50 NVPS
    • 10GB storage free
  • Micro$100/month
    • 100 NVPS
  • Small$250/month
    • 250 NVPS
  • Medium$750/month
    • 1000 NVPS

Which should you pick?

Choose Confluent Cloud if

  • You want to start without paying.
Confluent Cloud review

Choose Zabbix Cloud if

Nothing in the data separates Zabbix Cloud from Confluent Cloud on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Zabbix Cloud review

Questions people ask

Is Confluent Cloud or Zabbix Cloud better?
Neither clearly leads. Confluent Cloud starts at Free and Zabbix Cloud at $50/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Confluent Cloud or Zabbix Cloud?
Confluent Cloud has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Confluent Cloud and $50/month for Zabbix Cloud.
Does Confluent Cloud or Zabbix Cloud run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Confluent Cloud for free?
Yes. Confluent Cloud has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Zabbix Cloud starts at $50/month.
What is Confluent Cloud best used for?
Confluent Cloud is most often used for apache kafka event streaming and processing, real-time data pipeline architecture, multi-cloud event broker deployment, stream processing and analytics. Of those, apache kafka event streaming and processing and real-time data pipeline architecture are not what Zabbix Cloud is typically brought in for.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Confluent Cloud: How much does Confluent Cloud cost?

Confluent Cloud pricing starts free on Basic tier with $0.14 per eCKU-hour, Standard at $0.75 per eCKU-hour (~$385/month base), Enterprise at $1.75-$2.25 per eCKU-hour (~$895/month base), and Freight specialty tier at $2.25 per eCKU-hour (~$2300/month).

Source
Zabbix Cloud: What is the starting price for Zabbix Cloud?

Zabbix Cloud starts at $50 per month for the Nano tier, which includes 50 NVPS and 10GB of free storage. Pricing scales up to $5000 monthly for the 2xLarge tier with 10000 NVPS.

Source
Confluent Cloud: Is there a free tier for Confluent Cloud?

Yes, the Basic tier is free with one eCKU credit included. Additional usage is billed at $0.14 per eCKU-hour, plus data transfer and storage fees apply.

Source
Zabbix Cloud: Is there a free trial for Zabbix Cloud?

Yes, Zabbix Cloud offers a 5-day free trial with no credit card required. After the trial, you save 10% by converting to an annual subscription.

Source
Confluent Cloud: What additional fees does Confluent Cloud charge?

Beyond eCKU hours, Confluent charges data in/egress at $0.014-$0.050 per GB and storage at $0.03-$0.08 per GB-month. Costs vary by tier and region.

Source
Zabbix Cloud: How does annual billing work with Zabbix Cloud?

Annual subscribers receive a 10% discount on monthly pricing. A pricing calculator is available to estimate costs based on devices, metrics, update intervals, and storage requirements.

Source
Confluent Cloud: Does Confluent offer discounts for higher usage?

Yes, volume discounts are negotiated upfront based on annual consumption estimates. Annual commitments allow flexible cross-product allocation with guaranteed cost savings.

Source
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