VerneMQ

VerneMQ is a high-performance, distributed MQTT message broker developed by Octavo Labs AG (based in Brugg, Switzerland). Built on Erlang/OTP, it is designed for high-quality industrial use cases requiring scalability, fault tolerance, and low latency.

Key features

• Distributed Architecture: Scales horizontally and vertically on commodity hardware to support high numbers of concurrent publishers and consumers
• Clustering: Built-in clustering for high availability with automatic conflict resolution and recovery from network partitions (netsplits)
• Low Latency: Maintains low latency and fault tolerance even under heavy load
• Authentication & Authorization: Built-in plugins for auth with support for multiple backends
• Lua Scripting: Powerful Lua scripting engine with database drivers for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, and Memcached
• Webhook Support: Create custom plugins using webhooks for flexible integrations
• MQTT Compliance: Full MQTT protocol compliance for IoT messaging

Use cases

• Industrial IoT: Connect field devices in manufacturing environments
• Smart Infrastructure: Power smart cities, homes, and transportation systems
• Mobile Messaging: Lower overhead alternative to XMPP for mobile applications
• Industry 4.0: Reliable message hub for industrial automation and communication

Technical advantages

VerneMQ differentiates itself through superior network failure handling:

• Tolerates network failures with fine-grained control over availability and consistency behavior
• Documented failure modes unlike proprietary alternatives
• Better network partition handling compared to RabbitMQ and EMQ
• Open source alternative to HiveMQ and IBM MessageSight

Limitations

• Windows not officially supported: LevelDB dependency prevents native Windows deployment; use Docker or WSL2 as workarounds
• Commercial subscription required: Production binary packages require paid subscription; free self-compilation from source available under Apache 2.0
• Smaller ecosystem: Fewer native integrations compared to EMQX (no built-in SQL rule engine, limited protocol diversity)
• Lua scripting only: Extension model limited to Lua webhooks versus Erlang/Elixir plugins in alternatives

Licensing

• Open Source: Apache 2.0 license (core broker)
• Commercial: Binary packages require paid subscription for production use; governed by VerneMQ EULA or commercial agreement with Octavo Labs AG

Deployment options

• Binary packages for Linux distributions (Ubuntu, Debian, RedHat/Rocky, Amazon Linux 2, openSUSE)
• Docker images available on Docker Hub
• Build from source (Erlang required)
• Runs on macOS for development (Linux recommended for production)

Platform support

• Amazon Linux 2
• Ubuntu (Bionic, Focal, Jammy)
• Debian (Bullseye, Buster)
• RedHat/Rocky Linux (8, 9)
• openSUSE
• macOS (development)
• Docker/Kubernetes

Note: Windows is not supported due to LevelDB dependencies.

Version

Current stable: 1.13.0