Self-Hosted Streaming & Messaging
4 stacks for anyone who wants a queue or event log that survives production. Each one is a vanilla
compose.yaml that runs locally with docker compose up, with a measured RAM footprint
and a one-step deploy to Miget from $7/month flat.
#the stacks
Apache Kafka
3-broker Apache Kafka cluster in KRaft mode (no ZooKeeper) with Kafbat UI - durable defaults, official images, env-only config.
NATS Cluster
3-node cloud-native messaging - pub/sub, request/reply, and JetStream streams - at ~30 MB per node.
RabbitMQ
3-node RabbitMQ 4.x cluster, quorum-queue ready, with the management UI - clusters itself on first boot.
Redpanda
3-broker Redpanda cluster - Kafka-compatible streaming without the JVM or ZooKeeper, plus Redpanda Console.
#what each one needs
RAM and disk are what the compose file allocates, not guesses, and the plan is the smallest one that holds it. Databases and caches come managed and included on Miget rather than billed per instance.
| Stack | Services | RAM | Disk | Fits plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apache Kafka | 4 | 7 GiB | 30 GB | $49/mo |
| NATS Cluster | 3 | 768 MiB | 15 GB | $7/mo |
| RabbitMQ | 3 | 3 GiB | 6 GB | $25/mo |
| Redpanda | 4 | 6.5 GiB | 30 GB | $49/mo |
Cost against the managed equivalents, per stack: Apache Kafka , RabbitMQ , Redpanda .
Browse the rest of the catalogue
140 stacks in total, from databases and queues to AI infrastructure - all MIT licensed, all runnable locally, all deployable in one step.