HiveMQ vs. Mosquitto: An MQTT Broker Comparison

MQTT is the most popular communication protocol for IoT systems. To establish and manage MQTT connections between clients (devices) and facilitate efficient data exchange, you need an MQTT broker. If you want to learn more about the MQTT broker landscape, read our MQTT Buyer’s Guide. 

HiveMQ and Mosquitto are two popular brokers, each serving distinct needs and use cases.

HiveMQ provides both self-managed and fully-managed cloud versions of the MQTT broker, offering IoT and IIoT users flexibility, scalability, reliability, observability, and security. You can start with a proof of concept (POC) or small deployment and seamlessly scale to millions of connections as your needs evolve.

Mosquitto, an open-source MQTT broker, is lightweight and suitable for devices ranging from single-board computers to full servers. While the free, open-source version is popular for small projects, it lacks the advanced scalability, security, and high availability features that HiveMQ offers for larger deployments. Cedalo Pro, a commercial extension of Mosquitto, adds features that partially bridge some of these gaps for small-to-medium deployments. Read on to learn more.

HiveMQ Overview

HiveMQ is trusted for mission-critical deployments due to its comprehensive enterprise-grade features. It supports MQTT 3.1, 3.1.1, and 5, along with high security standards like TLS/SSL encryption and device authentication. HiveMQ can efficiently scale across all available cores, ensuring that production environments can scale seamlessly without manual infrastructure adjustments.

For large-scale deployments, HiveMQ offers high availability and clustering capabilities, eliminating single points of failure. It provides extensive client libraries, integration with IT and cloud platforms, and robust monitoring tools, making it ideal for enterprise IoT and IIoT use cases.

Mosquitto Overview

Eclipse Mosquitto is a widely-used open-source MQTT broker that implements MQTT versions 5.0, 3.1.1, and 3. Known for its lightweight, minimalistic design, it is suitable for a range of devices, from low-power single-board computers to full-scale servers. Mosquitto includes bridge support, enabling connections between multiple MQTT servers or other Mosquitto instances.

Available as a free, open-source solution, Mosquitto is a cost-effective option for small deployments and home automation projects.

Key Feature Comparison Between HiveMQ and Mosquitto

Compliance and Standards

HiveMQ is fully compliant with MQTT 3.1.1, MQTT 5, and MQTT Sparkplug, which adds metadata to MQTT messages and supports complex IIoT deployments. While Mosquitto also supports MQTT 3.1.1 and 5, it lacks some of the depth in compliance and standards that HiveMQ offers for handling large data volumes and complex workflows.

Deployment Options

HiveMQ supports self-managed, fully-managed cloud, and hybrid deployment options. It integrates seamlessly with Kubernetes, OpenShift, and other orchestration tools for flexible deployments.

Mosquitto is only available as a self-managed solution and does not support advanced deployment environments like Kubernetes out of the box. However, its lightweight nature allows it to be quickly set up on minimal hardware for small-scale applications.

High Availability

HiveMQ’s architecture is designed for enterprise-scale deployments with high availability requirements. Its masterless clustering and failover capabilities ensure there is no single point of failure. Mosquitto does not have clustering capabilities.

Reliability

HiveMQ ensures high reliability with overload protection, a masterless architecture, and resilience under heavy loads. Mosquitto’s single-threaded design limits its reliability, particularly in high-volume or industrial settings. This makes Mosquitto a good choice for low-volume applications but restricts its use for larger-scale and/or mission-critical IoT deployments.

Security

HiveMQ supports advanced security features like role-based access control, SSL/TLS encryption, and additional authorization methods to meet enterprise requirements. Mosquitto’s has basic TLS encryption, however, HiveMQ’s advanced security features and compliance options make it a stronger choice for enterprises with stringent security requirements.

Scalability

HiveMQ has been benchmarked to support up to 200 million concurrent connections, making it one of the most scalable MQTT brokers on the market. Mosquitto, while highly performant in smaller setups, is limited to approximately 1,000 concurrent connections, beyond which it may experience packet loss. 

Observability

HiveMQ includes comprehensive observability features, such as distributed tracing and monitoring, which help organizations troubleshoot issues and optimize performance, making HiveMQ better suited for complex deployments where visibility is essential.

Real-world Examples 

Several companies initially experimented with Mosquitto for their MQTT needs but ultimately opted for HiveMQ due to its enterprise-grade features. For instance, Mercedes Benz evaluated Mosquitto but selected HiveMQ, valuing its professional support and reliable maintenance, which ensured the scalability required for their high-stakes applications.

Similarly, Paze Industries initially used Mosquitto in their early prototypes. However, Mosquitto's lack of clustering capabilities soon became a limitation. Paze ultimately chose HiveMQ for its robust clustering and high availability features, enabling them to meet enterprise-level requirements.

IAV also started with Mosquitto on a local development machine. Although Mosquitto was effective for initial testing, it couldn’t operate as a reliable service for IAV’s complex needs. HiveMQ’s clustering features and professional support made it an ideal choice, allowing IAV’s IT team to maintain a high-availability MQTT broker capable of supporting various project teams within the organization.

Conclusion

HiveMQ and Mosquitto each serve distinct MQTT use cases. While Mosquitto is ideal for prototypes and small-scale projects, HiveMQ’s enterprise-grade features make it the better choice for scalable, secure, and highly available deployments. HiveMQ’s robust clustering, comprehensive support, and advanced security features make it the stronger choice for modern IoT and IIoT applications where reliability and performance are essential.