$5k Up for Grabs: See What People Are Building with Free Tier Kafka

Aiven launched a Free Tier for Apache Kafka in late 2025, encouraging the community to explore real-time streaming by hosting a competition to win $5,000 for creative projects using the platform. Participants have until January 31st to submit their entries, with several innovative projects already showcased for inspiration. These include a smart doorbell using Raspberry Pis, an observability project utilizing OpenTelemetry, logistics solutions powered by Kafka, an Internet Relay Chat modernized with Kafka, and a personal reminder engine. The competition highlights the versatility of Kafka in various applications, from IoT to AI-powered logistics, demonstrating its potential as a decoupling layer and in real-time analytics.