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Networking · head to head

HiveMQ vs NetBird

HiveMQ logo

HiveMQ

Networking

Enterprise MQTT broker for industrial IoT with a published self-managed price list

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
NetBird logo

NetBird

Networking

Open source WireGuard mesh VPN with identity based access policies and a hosted control plane

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: HiveMQ the Community Edition lacks clustering, persistence extensions, the control centre and all enterprise bridges, so a prototype built on it does not become production by buying support.; NetBird self hosting requires an identity provider, and the bundled option adds a second unfamiliar service to operate, so the free path costs more administrative time than the docker compose file suggests.
  • They diverge on capability: HiveMQ covers MQTT 5 and 3.1.1, NetBird covers WireGuard data plane.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which HiveMQ and NetBird actually diverge.

Attributes where HiveMQ and NetBird differ
AttributeHiveMQNetBird
Pricing modelPer month by connections and throughputPer user per month
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, WebLinux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Docker

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

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 HiveMQ

  • MQTT 5 and 3.1.1
  • Native clustering
  • Data Hub
  • Extension framework
  • Enterprise bridges
  • Control centre

Only in NetBird

  • WireGuard data plane
  • NAT traversal with relay fallback
  • Identity based access control
  • Network routes
  • Posture checks
  • Full self hosting

What people use each for

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

HiveMQ

  • A connected vehicle fleet where devices drop off the network for hours and sessions must survivenot NetBird
  • An industrial plant bridging MQTT telemetry into Kafka without writing and operating the bridgenot NetBird
  • A utility that needs message-level schema validation so one faulty firmware release cannot corrupt the data lakenot NetBird
  • An IoT project that needs a self-managed broker price for a budget submission without entering a sales processnot NetBird

NetBird

  • Replacing a VPN concentrator that backhauls all traffic through one officenot HiveMQ
  • Giving contractors access to two specific services rather than to a subnetnot HiveMQ
  • Connecting workloads across several clouds without peering VPCs or managing route tablesnot HiveMQ
  • Meeting a requirement that the network control plane must run inside your own infrastructurenot HiveMQ

Where each one falls short

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

HiveMQ

  • The Community Edition lacks clustering, persistence extensions, the control centre and all enterprise bridges, so a prototype built on it does not become production by buying support.
  • The entry commercial tiers cap at ten thousand connections, and device fleets grow, so the step to Enterprise capacity pricing arrives sooner than most projects plan for.
  • It is a JVM application, so memory tuning and garbage collection behaviour become the operator’s problem at high connection counts, unlike the C-based brokers in this space.
  • Extensions are written in Java against HiveMQ’s SPI, which means custom authentication logic is locked to the platform and cannot move to another broker.
  • For simple use cases it is substantially heavier and more expensive than Mosquitto or EMQX, and small deployments frequently pay enterprise prices for clustering they never use.

NetBird

  • Self hosting requires an identity provider, and the bundled option adds a second unfamiliar service to operate, so the free path costs more administrative time than the docker compose file suggests.
  • Peers that cannot connect directly fall back to relays, and on a self hosted deployment that relay bandwidth is your cost and your bottleneck rather than an included service.
  • If the self hosted management server is down, existing tunnels keep working but no new peer can join and no policy change takes effect, which makes it a component that needs its own availability plan.
  • Some capabilities aimed at larger organisations sit in the paid cloud tiers, so a self hosted deployment does not have exactly the same feature set as the hosted one.
  • The project moves quickly and configuration and deployment layouts have changed between versions, so self hosted upgrades need reading release notes rather than pulling a new image.

Pricing, plan by plan

HiveMQ

Free
  • Community EditionFree
    • Apache 2.0 licence
    • MQTT 3.1.1 and 5 support
    • Single broker, no clustering
  • Launch$299/month
    • Ten thousand connections
    • Five hundred messages per second
    • Single broker deployment
  • Run$499/month
    • Ten thousand connections
    • One thousand messages per second
    • Single broker deployment
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Priced by connections and throughput
    • Multi-broker and multi-site deployments
    • Distributed data intelligence

NetBird

Free
  • Self hostedFree
    • Full functionality under an open source licence
    • No peer or user limit
    • You operate management, signal and relay
  • Cloud FreeFree
    • Hosted management and relays
    • Small user and peer allowance
    • Identity provider integration
  • Cloud Team$undefined/month
    • Per user per month billing
    • Managed global relay footprint
    • Posture checks and activity events

Which should you pick?

Choose HiveMQ if

  • You need mqtt 5 and 3.1.1.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web.
  • You also want native clustering.
HiveMQ review

Choose NetBird if

  • You need wireguard data plane.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Docker.
  • You also want nat traversal with relay fallback.
NetBird review

Questions people ask

Is HiveMQ or NetBird better?
Neither clearly leads. HiveMQ starts at Free and NetBird at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, HiveMQ or NetBird?
HiveMQ starts at Free and NetBird at Free.
Does HiveMQ or NetBird run on more platforms?
HiveMQ runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web. NetBird runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Docker.
Can I use HiveMQ for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is HiveMQ best used for?
HiveMQ is most often used for a connected vehicle fleet where devices drop off the network for hours and sessions must survive, an industrial plant bridging mqtt telemetry into kafka without writing and operating the bridge, a utility that needs message-level schema validation so one faulty firmware release cannot corrupt the data lake, an iot project that needs a self-managed broker price for a budget submission without entering a sales process. Of those, a connected vehicle fleet where devices drop off the network for hours and sessions must survive and an industrial plant bridging mqtt telemetry into kafka without writing and operating the bridge are not what NetBird is typically brought in for.
What can HiveMQ do that NetBird cannot?
HiveMQ covers MQTT 5 and 3.1.1, Native clustering, Data Hub, Extension framework. NetBird covers WireGuard data plane, NAT traversal with relay fallback, Identity based access control, Network routes.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

HiveMQ: Is HiveMQ free?

The Community Edition is Apache 2.0 and free, but it has no clustering and none of the enterprise extensions.

NetBird: Is the self hosted version crippled?

No. The management, signal and relay components are all open source and the network works without any NetBird operated service.

HiveMQ: What does the commercial version cost?

Self-managed Launch is 299 US dollars a month for ten thousand connections; Run is 499 with higher throughput.

NetBird: How does it differ from Tailscale?

Similar model and similar clients, but Tailscale keeps its coordination server proprietary. NetBird publishes its whole control plane, which is the reason most self hosters choose it.

HiveMQ: Does it support MQTT 5?

Yes, both MQTT 5 and 3.1.1, including shared subscriptions and session expiry intervals.

NetBird: Do I need to open firewall ports?

No inbound ports are required. Peers make outbound connections to the signal service and to each other.

HiveMQ: Can it bridge into Kafka?

Yes, via a commercial enterprise extension, not in the Community Edition.

NetBird: What happens to traffic if NetBird the company disappears?

On a self hosted deployment, nothing, since you run every component. On the cloud service you would need to stand up your own control plane and re-enrol peers.

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