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DataStax Astra Streaming
What it is
DataStax Astra Streaming is a managed cloud service for data streaming and event stream processing, powered by Apache Pulsar. It provides messaging for streaming, publish-subscribe workflows, and queuing, and supports real-time event processing and change data capture. Users manage Pulsar tenants and resources such as topics, connectors, functions, and subscriptions through the Astra Portal, APIs, or related tools. Applications connect through open-source Apache Pulsar client APIs; the service runs Pulsar 3.1 and recommends that API version or higher. Included sink connectors cover Astra DB and Cassandra, Kafka, AWS Kinesis, Cloud Storage, Elasticsearch, BigQuery, JDBC databases, and Snowflake. Source connectors include Kafka, AWS Kinesis, data generation, and Debezium for MongoDB, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server. Shared tenants use Pulsar authentication and authorization alongside Astra organization roles, and connections use TLS. Shared clusters have limits on tenants, namespaces, topics, message size, and throughput. Custom source and sink connectors are not supported, and experimental connectors are not fully supported or tested. A free plan is available; paid plans use usage-based charges, with rates varying by region and usage.
For and against
For
- Managed Apache Pulsar-based streaming service.
- Supports real-time event processing and change data capture.
- Includes a range of source and sink connectors.
- Manage resources through portal or APIs.
- Free plan available.
Against
- Custom source and sink connectors are unsupported.
- Experimental connectors are not fully supported or tested.
- Shared clusters impose tenant, topic, and throughput limits.
- Paid usage rates vary by region and usage.
The verdict
Astra Streaming combines managed Pulsar messaging with connectors and tools for managing tenants and resources. Shared-cluster limits and the lack of custom connectors are important constraints to review.
Who it suits
It suits teams building streaming, pub/sub, queuing, real-time processing, or change-data-capture workloads. The service is described for enterprise, mid-market, small-business, and individual developer use cases.
Plans and prices
Free tier
Exact price and included limits not stated on the opened pages
Read 3 Oct 2026 · docs.datastax.com
Paid Astra Streaming plans
Streaming Capacity Units are an optional addition to the base plan and are billed uniquely per customer
Read 3 Oct 2026 · docs.datastax.com
On the record
- Audience
- DataStax describes Astra Streaming as serving enterprise mission-critical workloads as well as mid-market, small-business, and individual developer use cases.docs.datastax.com · read 3 Oct 2026
- Client libraries
- Applications can connect using open-source Apache Pulsar client APIs; the service runs Pulsar 3.1 and recommends that API version or higher.docs.datastax.com · read 3 Oct 2026
- Connector limitation
- Astra Streaming does not support custom source or sink connectors, and experimental connectors are not fully supported or tested.docs.datastax.com · read 3 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- Included sink connectors support Astra DB and Cassandra, Kafka, AWS Kinesis, Cloud Storage, Elasticsearch, BigQuery, JDBC databases, and Snowflake.docs.datastax.com · read 3 Oct 2026
- Management
- Users can manage Pulsar tenants and resources including topics, connectors, functions, and subscriptions through the Astra Portal, APIs, or related tools.docs.datastax.com · read 3 Oct 2026
- Pricing model
- Astra Streaming offers a free tier, while its serverless model charges for resources used; dedicated Streaming Capacity Units are billed separately with customer-specific pricing.docs.datastax.com · read 3 Oct 2026
- Security
- Shared tenants use Pulsar authentication and authorization alongside Astra organization RBAC, with tenant-scoped roles and permissions.docs.datastax.com · read 3 Oct 2026
- Service
- Astra Streaming is a fully managed SaaS for data streaming and event stream processing, powered by Apache Pulsar.docs.datastax.com · read 3 Oct 2026
- Shared cluster limits
- Shared clusters allow up to 10 tenants per organization, 20 namespaces per tenant, 100 topics per namespace, and 5 MB messages.docs.datastax.com · read 3 Oct 2026
- Source connectors
- Included source connectors support Kafka, AWS Kinesis, data generation, and Debezium for MongoDB, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server.docs.datastax.com · read 3 Oct 2026
- Support
- The documentation directs customers to IBM Support for requests such as private connectivity and unavailable regions.docs.datastax.com · read 3 Oct 2026
- Throughput limits
- On shared clusters, the per-topic producer, consumer, and subscription throughput guardrail is 5,000 messages per second and 25 MB per second.docs.datastax.com · read 3 Oct 2026
- Transport and private networking
- Connections use authentication, authorization, and TLS; private connectivity is available for Streaming Capacity Units, not shared clusters.docs.datastax.com · read 3 Oct 2026
- Use cases
- The service provides unified messaging for streaming, pub/sub, and queuing, and supports real-time event processing and change data capture.docs.datastax.com · read 3 Oct 2026
