MQTTvs
Amazon Alexa
Amazon Alexa: Amazon's voice-controlled smart home ecosystem
MQTT
Lightweight messaging protocol for IoT devices
As of 30 August 2026, MQTT is free to use. MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is a lightweight publish-subscribe messaging protocol designed for IoT and machine-to-machine communication. Softwr lists it under Smart Home. MQTT is made by OASIS Open, launched in 1999, available on Web, Browser extension.
Overview
What MQTT does
MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is a lightweight publish-subscribe messaging protocol designed for IoT and machine-to-machine communication. It's ideal for constrained devices and low-bandwidth, high-latency networks.
What people use it for
- IoT messaging
- Sensor data
- Real-time updates
- Device telemetry
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about MQTT.
- MQTT is an open-source protocol standard with no commercial pricing; not a commercial product
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of MQTT
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- MQTTvsGoogle Home
Google Home: Google's smart home platform with Google Assistant
- MQTTvsApple HomeKit
Apple HomeKit: Apple's secure smart home platform integrated with Siri
- MQTTvsHome Assistant
Home Assistant: Open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first
Pricing
What MQTT costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Open Protocol
Free
- Publish-subscribe
- Lightweight
- QoS levels
Capabilities
Features
Publish-Subscribe
Lightweight
QoS Levels
Retained Messages
IoT platforms
Integration with IoT platforms
Home automation
Integration with Home automation
Cloud services
Integration with Cloud services
Edge devices
Integration with Edge devices
Any platform support
Available on Any platform
Embedded devices support
Available on Embedded devices
Cloud support
Available on Cloud
Edge computing support
Available on Edge computing
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Does MQTT have a commercial license cost?
MQTT is an open-source communication protocol and standard. No pricing is published because MQTT itself is not a commercial product for sale.
SourceBehind it
Who makes MQTT
- Company
- OASIS Open
- Based in
- Burlington, Massachusetts, USA
Keep looking
Where to go from MQTT
- MQTT alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- MQTT pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- MQTT badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Smart Home softwareThe full category
- Best Smart Home softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Smart Home software for
Compare MQTT with
- Home Assistant
- Amazon Alexa
- Apple HomeKit
- Google Home
- Thread
- Zigbee Alliance
- Z-Wave Alliance
- Arduino Cloud
- Node-RED
- Blynk
- Losant
- LIFX
- ThingWorx
- TP-Link Kasa
- Aqara
- Matter
- Node-RED
- Matter
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for MQTT, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on MQTT
MQTT alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
MQTT pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare MQTT
Put it head to head with anything we hold
MQTT badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
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