Our take
Pick Redpanda if streaming teams who will start Serverless on the $100 (AWS trial) or $300 (Marketplace) credit, then stay on pay-as-you-go after credits when they need a production Kafka API without running brokers themselves — or self-host the engine for $0 license on the binary. Pick Upstash if app teams who will stay on Redis Free $0 (250 MB, 500k commands, no card) while they cache a first route, then put a
Kafka-compatible streaming desk
Best for
Redpanda Topics you start on $100 / $300 credits
Upstash A cache, a message, a durable step, a vector index, or a box you start without a card
Free plan
Redpanda $0 · redpanda engine on your machines (GitHub). Cloud Console still bills Cloud
Upstash $0 · /month. 250 MB. 500k commands/mo. 10 GB bandwidth. 1 database
Lowest paid
Redpanda AWS / Google Cloud Marketplace $300
Upstash Pay as You Go $0.10
Next step up
Redpanda
Upstash Pay as You Go $0.20
Runs where
Redpanda Local; you host it
Upstash Hosted
Watch out
Redpanda Credits are not a $0 forever card
Upstash Free Redis is 250 MB and 500k commands
Last checked
Redpanda 2026-10-23 · docs.redpanda.com/redpanda-cloud/get-started/cluster-types
Upstash 2026-10-22 · upstash.com/pricing/redis
streaming teams who will start Serverless on the $100 (AWS trial) or $300 (Marketplace) credit, then stay on pay-as-you-go after credits when they need a production Kafka API without running brokers themselves — or self-host the engine for $0 license on the binary.
Read the Redpanda pageapp teams who will stay on Redis Free $0 (250 MB, 500k commands, no card) while they cache a first route, then put a card on file when they need Pay as You Go at $0.20/100k commands — or add QStash / Workflow / Vector / Box on the same $0 free envelope.
Read the Upstash page