The short answer
Apache Kafka is the open-source core under the Apache 2.0 licence. Confluent Platform adds components under two more licences: the Confluent Community License (Schema Registry, REST Proxy, ksqlDB, community-licensed connectors) and the Confluent Enterprise License (Confluent Server, Control Center and features such as RBAC, Cluster Linking and Self-Balancing Clusters). IBM completed its acquisition of Confluent on 17 March 2026.
Hiring for this?
Conntal places Kafka engineers on contract, contract-to-hire or direct hire, each screened by a practitioner before you see a CV.
Many teams cannot say precisely whether they run Kafka or Confluent, and the answer decides licensing, support and who you can hire. Confluent's own documentation is the cleanest way to draw the line.
Three licences in one platform
| Licence | Covers | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Apache 2.0 | Apache Kafka core | The Kafka brokers and core APIs [1] |
| Confluent Community | Community features | Schema Registry, REST Proxy, ksqlDB, community-licensed connectors, Admin REST API, CLI [1] |
| Confluent Enterprise | Commercial features | Confluent Server, Control Center, Cluster Linking, Multi-Region Clusters, RBAC, audit logs, Schema Validation, Self-Balancing Clusters, Tiered Storage [1] |
- The Community License lets you access, modify and redistribute the code; what it excludes is using it to offer a competing online service [2].
- A developer licence allows full use of Confluent Platform features free of charge indefinitely, but only on a single-broker cluster; adding a broker starts a trial, and a trial can't be switched back to a developer licence. A trial licence expires after 30 days, after which the software stops functioning [1]. Knowing which one a cluster runs under is worth checking before an audit does it for you.
17 March 2026: IBM takes ownership
IBM completed its acquisition of Confluent on 17 March 2026, at $31 a share in cash and an enterprise value of about $11 billion [3]. IBM named day-one integrations with watsonx.data, IBM MQ, webMethods Hybrid Integration and IBM Z [3]. Apache Kafka itself remains an Apache Software Foundation project; what changed hands is Confluent's commercial platform and cloud service.
What it means for hiring
- Core Kafka skills transfer both ways. Partitions, consumer groups, replication and KRaft are the same Apache Kafka underneath.
- Enterprise features are a separate skill. An engineer who has run Cluster Linking or Confluent RBAC in production is not interchangeable with one who has only run Apache Kafka.
- Write the job description against what you actually run. Asking for generic Kafka experience on a Confluent Enterprise estate undersells the role.
Hiring for this?
Conntal places Kafka engineers on contract, contract-to-hire or direct hire, each screened by a practitioner before you see a CV.
Sources
- [1] Confluent, Manage Confluent Platform Licenses. Retrieved 31 October 2026.Primary source
- [2] Confluent, Confluent Community License FAQ. Retrieved 11 October 2026.Primary source
- [3] IBM Newsroom, IBM Completes Acquisition of Confluent, Making Real Time Data the Engine of Enterprise AI and Agents. 17 March 2026.Primary source
Go deeper with the engineers who run it
Conntal is the staffing arm of AceMQ. When you need the platform supported rather than a person placed, these are the pages to read.
Related questions
What is the difference between Confluent and Apache Kafka?
Apache Kafka is the open-source core under Apache 2.0. Confluent Platform bundles it with components under the Confluent Community License, such as Schema Registry and ksqlDB, and commercial features under the Confluent Enterprise License, such as RBAC and Cluster Linking.
Who owns Confluent?
IBM completed its acquisition of Confluent on 17 March 2026. Apache Kafka remains an Apache Software Foundation project.