Building real-time applications in the cloud, particularly on Amazon Web Services (AWS), often involves using Apache Kafka for streaming architectures, but managing it at scale can be challenging. Confluent Cloud, available through AWS Marketplace, offers a fully managed, enterprise-grade platform designed by Kafka's original co-creators to simplify operations, streamline procurement, and provide extensive built-in capabilities. It includes features like serverless scaling, Apache Flink for stream processing, and Apache Iceberg integration, along with 120+ pre-built connectors for various AWS services. Confluent's pay-as-you-go pricing, robust support, and flexibility in deployment reduce the total cost of ownership and operational burdens, allowing teams to focus more on feature development. With the added benefits of centralized schema management, comprehensive observability, and integration support, Confluent Cloud aims to modernize data handling, support AI-powered features, and replace complex integrations with a unified streaming backbone.