In this section, we will compare QStash with alternative solutions.

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BullMQ

BullMQ is a message queue for NodeJS based on Redis. BullMQ is open source project, you can run BullMQ yourself.
  • Using BullMQ in serverless environments is problematic due to stateless nature of serverless. QStash is designed for serverless environments.
  • With BullMQ, you need to run a stateful application to consume messages. QStash calls the API endpoints, so you do not need your application to consume messages continuously.
  • You need to run and maintain BullMQ and Redis yourself. QStash is completely serverless, you maintain nothing and pay for just what you use.

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Zeplo

Zeplo is a message queue targeting serverless. Just like QStash it allows users to queue and schedule HTTP requests. While Zeplo targets serverless, it has a fixed monthly price in paid plans which is $39/month. In QStash, price scales to zero, you do not pay if you are not using it. With Zeplo, you can send messages to a single endpoint. With QStash, in addition to endpoint, you can submit messages to a topic which groups one or more endpoints into a single namespace. Zeplo does not have topic functionality.

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Quirrel

Quirrel is a job queueing service for serverless. It has a similar functionality with QStash. Quirrel is acquired by Netlify, some of its functionality is available as Netlify scheduled functions. QStash is platform independent, you can use it anywhere.