# Conduktor Community Edition

The modern Kafka UI and API. Free forever. Discover and explore topics, messages, and schemas in real time. Ship faster without CLI scripts or custom tooling.

[Install Now](https://www.conduktor.io/get-started)
[Read the Docs](https://docs.conduktor.io/)

Used by developers at

## Let's Not Make Kafka Harder Than It Needs to Be

Topics pile up, consumer groups fall behind, and schemas drift. Conduktor makes it easy for developers to get instant visibility into Kafka from day one so they spend less time investigating and more time shipping.

- **Core Kafka Operations** — Create, inspect, and manage topics, schemas, connectors, and consumer groups across all your clusters. — #simplify-kafka-operations
- **Advanced Data Exploration** — Debug by browsing, filtering, and tailing messages in real time. Produce, replay, and auto-decode Avro, Protobuf, and JSON Schema. — #accelerate-troubleshooting
- **Real-Time Monitoring** — Catch issues before they become incidents. Monitor clusters, topics, and consumer lag in real time. — #monitor-what-matters
- **Insights Built In** — Health scoring, risk detection for data loss and under-replication, cost optimization, and config recommendations. — #know-where-to-focus
- **API, CLI & MCP** — Full programmatic access via REST API, CLI, and AI agent integration through MCP. — #community-automation
- [SSO & Access Control](https://docs.conduktor.io/guide/conduktor-in-production/admin/user-access/configure-sso#configure-sso-in-console) — OIDC and LDAP authentication with granular RBAC, included free.

## Who It's For

- **Solo Developers** — One interface for local, staging, and dev clusters. Stop switching between CLI tools.
- **Startups & Small Teams** — Share a Kafka control plane with your team. SSO and RBAC included.
- **Platform Prototyping** — Evaluate Conduktor before an org-wide rollout. Everything you need to prove value.
- **Open Source Users** — Upgrade from CLI tools without losing access to your infrastructure.

## Running in 5 Minutes

### Quick Start (Docker)

The classic [Conduktor Community](https://www.conduktor.io/community) install. Kafka UI and API, preconfigured with embedded Redpanda, Schema Registry, and sample data. Up and running in under 5 minutes.

```bash
curl -L https://releases.conduktor.io/quick-start -o docker-compose.yml && docker compose up
```

Or install Console only and connect your own Kafka:

```bash
curl -L https://releases.conduktor.io/console -o docker-compose.yml && docker compose up
```

Access Console at `localhost:8080` once all containers are healthy.

### AI Coding Assistant Recommended

The [Conduktor skill](https://github.com/conduktor/skills) gives your AI coding assistant full agentic access to the Conduktor CLI and API. It works with all versions of [Conduktor Console](https://www.conduktor.io/console), so it can discover, configure, and operate your Kafka platform on your behalf.

```bash
npx skills add conduktor/skills
```

Then ask your agent: *"install Conduktor and set it up so I can login."*

Works with Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, Gemini CLI, and 30+ other tools. [See what the skill can do →](https://www.conduktor.io/blog/set-up-a-kafka-platform-with-an-ai-agent)

Core Kafka Operations

## Simplify Kafka operations

One interface for clusters, topics, schemas, and connectors across Confluent, AWS MSK, Redpanda, or self-managed. No CLI required.

- **Unified management** for topics, schemas, and connectors in one UI
- **Multi-cluster support** without context switching
- **Native integrations** with Confluent Schema Registry and Kafka Connect
- **Manage consumer groups** including offsets, assignments, and membership

[Learn more about core Kafka operations →](https://docs.conduktor.io/guide)

Create Topics
Manage Clusters
Inspect Schemas

Data Exploration

## Accelerate troubleshooting

Instant visibility into Kafka data without custom tooling or code, reducing time-to-resolution.

- **Debug faster** by browsing, filtering, and tailing messages in real-time
- **Test without deploying** by producing messages directly to topics
- **Replay and recover** by reprocessing messages without code changes
- **Auto-decode formats** including Avro, Protobuf, and JSON Schema

[Learn more about data exploration →](https://docs.conduktor.io/guide/manage-kafka/kafka-resources/topics#topic-consume)

Browse Messages
Produce Messages
Decode Formats

Observability

## Monitor what matters

Continuous monitoring across clusters, topics, and consumers so you can catch issues before they become incidents.

- **Real-time monitoring** for clusters, topics, and consumer lag
- **Schema evolution tracking** with version history and change comparison

[Learn more about observability →](https://docs.conduktor.io/guide/monitor-brokers-apps)

Insights

## Know where to focus

Actionable recommendations for health, cost, and risk across your entire Kafka estate.

- **Health optimization** with partition, retention, and config recommendations
- **Risk scoring** for data loss and under-replication
- **Cost optimization** to surface unused, inactive, or over-provisioned topics

[Learn more about Insights →](https://www.conduktor.io/solutions/use-case/kafka-health-and-risks)

Automation
Programmatic access and modern AI agent integration.

## Reduce operational burden

### REST API & CLI
Full programmatic access to Console capabilities.
```bash
curl \
  --request GET \
  --url http://localhost:8080/public/iam/v2/group/project-a \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $ADMIN_API_KEY" | jq .

# Response:
{
  "apiVersion": "v2",
  "kind": "Group",
  "metadata": {
    "name": "project-a"
  },
  "spec": {
    "displayName": "Project A",
    "permissions": [...]
  }
}
```

### MCP Integration
Operate Kafka with AI agents via natural language.
```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "conduktor-console": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://<console-url>/api/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer ${CONDUKTOR_API_TOKEN}"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CONDUKTOR_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

## What Our Users Say

> Conduktor has transformed our Kafka management. Its intuitive interface and robust real-time monitoring tools have streamlined our operations, cutting troubleshooting time by over 30%.
> — **[Domen Kirn Krefl](https://www.linkedin.com/in/domen-kirn-krefl-51a395144/)**, Backend Engineer, Greentube

> Out of all the Kafka tools I've used, Conduktor is by far the easiest to implement and has the most thorough set of features. Conduktor makes it easy to navigate and troubleshoot issues.
> — **Chuck**, Production Support Engineer, Fermenta Energy

> Conduktor helped us visualize and understand our data streams without the complexity of manual CLI commands. The interface was intuitive, and it made interacting with Kafka much easier.
> — **[Abdelaziz Cheffi](https://www.linkedin.com/in/abdelaziz-cheffi/)**, Data Analyst, Opalean

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Is Community Edition really free?**

Yes. Free forever, no credit card, no trial expiration. Community is a full-featured product purpose-built for developers and small teams, not a stripped-down enterprise trial.

**What's the difference between Community Edition and Team Edition?**

Community Edition includes everything you need to operate Kafka: topics, schemas, connectors, monitoring, Insights, API, and SSO for up to 50 users and 3 clusters. [Team Edition](https://www.conduktor.io/pricing#console-team-edition) adds federated ownership, topic policy enforcement, advanced Insights with chargeback, unlimited clusters and users, group-level RBAC, and unlimited audit logs. Buy online from $125/seat/month.

**How is Community different from open-source Kafka tools?**

Open-source tools give you basic CRUD operations. Community adds intelligent features on top: topic health insights, cost optimization, advanced data exploration with filtering and SQL queries, full REST API/CLI/MCP automation, and SSO. It's a professional-grade tool, not just a basic viewer.

**Can I use Community in production?**

You can, but Community is designed for development. Smaller teams do run it in production. Most enterprises need [Team Edition or Enterprise](https://www.conduktor.io/pricing#console-team-edition) for production workloads.

**When should I consider upgrading?**

When you need more users, more clusters, or production-grade features. Your data and configuration carry over seamlessly.

**Which Kafka providers are supported?**

Any Kafka 2.5+, including Confluent Platform, Amazon MSK, Redpanda, Aiven, and self-managed Apache Kafka.

**Can I run it in an air-gapped environment?**

Yes. The Docker images work without internet access. Deploy on-premises with full functionality.

## Get Started with Conduktor Community

Self-hosted, free forever. Up and running in minutes.

[Get Started Free](https://www.conduktor.io/get-started) [Read the Docs →](https://docs.conduktor.io/)

Ready to go further? [Team Edition from $125/seat/month →](https://www.conduktor.io/pricing#console-team-edition)