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Networking · head to head

HiveMQ vs Prometheus

HiveMQ logo

HiveMQ

Networking

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Prometheus logo

Prometheus

Networking

Open source monitoring and alerting toolkit for cloud native environments

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.; Prometheus not suitable for per-request billing as collected data lacks 100% accuracy
  • They diverge on capability: HiveMQ covers MQTT 5 and 3.1.1, Prometheus covers Multi-dimensional Data Model.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which HiveMQ and Prometheus actually diverge.

Attributes where HiveMQ and Prometheus differ
AttributeHiveMQPrometheus
Pricing modelPer month by connections and throughputopen-source
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, WebLinux, macOS, Windows
FoundedUnknown2015

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 Prometheus

  • Multi-dimensional Data Model
  • PromQL Query Language
  • Pull-based Collection
  • Service Discovery
  • Alerting Rules
  • Federation
  • Local Storage
  • Grafana

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 Prometheus
  • An industrial plant bridging MQTT telemetry into Kafka without writing and operating the bridgenot Prometheus
  • A utility that needs message-level schema validation so one faulty firmware release cannot corrupt the data lakenot Prometheus
  • An IoT project that needs a self-managed broker price for a budget submission without entering a sales processnot Prometheus

Prometheus

  • Monitoring and alerting systemnot HiveMQ
  • Time-series databasenot HiveMQ
  • Infrastructure metrics collectionnot 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.

Prometheus

  • Not suitable for per-request billing as collected data lacks 100% accuracy
  • Hard limit on scrape body size; large responses cause scrape failure
  • Per-scrape sample limit enforced; exceeding limit marks targets as failed
  • Not designed for long-term durable storage; optimised for metrics collection

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

Prometheus

Free
  • Prometheus (Open Source)Free
    • 100% open source
    • Community-driven project
    • Apache 2 License

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 Prometheus if

  • You need multi-dimensional data model.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want promql query language.
Prometheus review

Questions people ask

Is HiveMQ or Prometheus better?
Neither clearly leads. HiveMQ starts at Free and Prometheus at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, HiveMQ or Prometheus?
HiveMQ starts at Free and Prometheus at Free.
Does HiveMQ or Prometheus run on more platforms?
HiveMQ runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web. Prometheus runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
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 Prometheus is typically brought in for.
What can HiveMQ do that Prometheus cannot?
HiveMQ covers MQTT 5 and 3.1.1, Native clustering, Data Hub, Extension framework. Prometheus covers Multi-dimensional Data Model, PromQL Query Language, Pull-based Collection, Service Discovery.

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.

Prometheus: What does Prometheus cost?

Prometheus is completely free and open source. There are no pricing tiers or paid plans. The entire project is licensed under Apache 2 and hosted on GitHub.

Source
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.

Prometheus: Is Prometheus commercial software or free?

Prometheus is 100% open source and community-driven. It is a CNCF graduated project with no commercial restrictions or licensing fees.

Source
HiveMQ: Does it support MQTT 5?

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

Prometheus: How is Prometheus licensed?

Prometheus is licensed under the Apache 2 License, which permits free use, modification, and distribution for commercial and non-commercial purposes.

Source
HiveMQ: Can it bridge into Kafka?

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

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