How does Kafka conceptually differ from RabbitMQ?

Kafka and RabbitMQ are message exchange systems, but they differ conceptually:

• Kafka is a distributed streaming platform broker focused on processing large data streams with high throughput. It stores messages in topics with the ability for re-reading and scales horizontally.

• RabbitMQ is a classic message broker implementing message queues with delivery acknowledgments and routing. It is focused on guaranteed delivery and complex routing schemes.

The main difference: Kafka stores messages for a long time and allows consumers to read them at their own pace, while RabbitMQ deletes messages after acknowledgment, focusing on delivery to each consumer.