Conduktor

Overview

Conduktor is not a Kafka distribution and does not replace one. It sits in front of the clusters you already run and adds a control layer, which is the distinction that decides whether it belongs in your architecture at all: you keep your existing Kafka, and Conduktor governs access to it.

It ships as two main pieces. Console is a self-hosted Kafka UI and API giving teams visibility, self-service and what the company calls Insights — the risk, cost and governance picture of each cluster. Gateway is a Kafka proxy that reaches clusters across VPCs and clouds and enforces encryption, data masking and policy on the wire.

The Gateway detail worth noting is that enforcement happens without application changes. Policy applied at the proxy covers every client whether or not its team cooperated, which is a materially different guarantee from policy implemented in each producer and consumer. For an organisation that cannot change every application, that is often the deciding factor.

A Schema Registry Proxy is sold as a third component.

Agents are addressed directly, and the framing is unusually clear-headed: smarter AI because you hold the context, safer AI because you hold the permissions. The same control layer that governs a team's access governs an agent's.

Pricing starts free and is published by dimension: Console bills by seat, Gateway by cluster. The free Community edition of Console is generous enough to be operationally useful rather than a trial, covering up to 50 users and three clusters with full Kafka operations, the data explorer, message reprocessing, Insights, and API, CLI and Terraform access.

Key features and capabilities

The same headings are used for every streaming & stream processing entry, so two tools can be read side by side.

What it does

• A control layer in front of clusters you already run, not a Kafka distribution
• Console: a self-hosted Kafka UI and API for visibility and self-service
• Gateway: a Kafka proxy enforcing policy on the wire
• A Schema Registry Proxy is sold as a separate component

Delivery and ordering guarantees

• Gateway reaches clusters across VPCs and clouds
• Enforcement requires no application changes, so it covers clients you do not control
• Existing infrastructure is kept rather than replaced

Scale and retention

• Free Community edition covers up to 50 users and three clusters
• Paid Console scales by seat; Gateway scales by cluster

Processing and transformation

• Message reprocessing from the console
• An advanced data explorer for inspecting topic contents
• Full Kafka operations available even on the free edition

Security and governance

• Encryption and data masking enforced at the proxy rather than in each application
• Policies applied on the wire, so every client is covered
• Insights report the risk, cost and governance position of each cluster
• Permissions held centrally, which the vendor extends explicitly to AI agents

Connectors and ecosystem

• API, CLI and Terraform access, included in the free edition
• Works with the Kafka clusters and schema registry already in place
• Agents treated as first-class consumers of the same governed layer

Where it runs and what it costs

• Console is self-hosted
• Gateway deploys as a proxy in front of existing clusters
• Free Community edition, then per-seat and per-cluster pricing

Pricing

SubscriptionFree Community edition

Starts free and bills on two dimensions — Console by seat, Gateway by cluster. The free Community edition of Console covers up to 50 users and three clusters with full Kafka operations, Insights, the data explorer, message reprocessing and API, CLI and Terraform access. Rates for paid tiers are not published; the site offers a return-on-investment calculator instead.

Vendor pricing page →

Demos and videos

• Conduktor platform overview Product demo · conduktor.io (the vendor)

About Conduktor

Conduktor sells a Kafka operations platform made of a console, a gateway proxy and a schema registry proxy, designed to sit in front of existing Kafka rather than replace it. It publishes its pricing dimensions openly — Console by seat, Gateway by cluster — and offers a free Community edition of Console for up to 50 users and three clusters. Its site cites benchmarks drawn from more than 6,500 customer engagements and offers a return-on-investment calculator in place of a straightforward rate card.

conduktor.io