Fabric RTI 101: RabbitMQ

RabbitMQ is another widely used message broker, but it fills a slightly different role compared to Kafka or Event Hubs. It’s an open-source broker that primarily implements the AMQP protocol, though it supports other protocols as well.

Where RabbitMQ shines is in reliable delivery and flexible routing of messages. It’s extremely good at guaranteeing that each message gets to the right destination, even if the consumer isn’t available at the time. You can define queues, exchanges, and routing rules to handle very complex message delivery patterns.

A common use case is task queues. For example, if you have a web application that needs to process background jobs like sending emails, RabbitMQ is a perfect fit. You push the jobs into a queue, and workers pick them up as they’re able. RabbitMQ ensures messages are delivered once and only once, with acknowledgments to confirm that they were processed.

Comparison to Kafka and Azure Event Hubs

Compared to Kafka or Azure Event Hubs, RabbitMQ typically has lower throughput. It isn’t designed to handle millions of events per second at huge scale.

Instead, it’s built for enterprise integration patterns — where reliability, routing, and guaranteed delivery matter more than raw speed.

Analogy

You can think of RabbitMQ as a reliable courier with guaranteed delivery receipts. It doesn’t move as much volume as a freight train (like Kafka), but if you need to make sure every package gets to the right person, exactly once, RabbitMQ is your best option.

RabbitMQ is often the best option when you care about delivery guarantees, routing logic, and manageable volumes — often in transactional or operational systems. It’s less about high-velocity streams and more about reliable, flexible messaging.
 

Learn more about Fabric RTI

If you really want to learn about RTI right now, we have an online on-demand course that you can enrol in, right now. You’ll find it at Mastering Microsoft Fabric Real-Time Intelligence

2026-02-12