Best Kafka UI tools for Redpanda Schema Registry
ComparisonsThe best Kafka UI tool for teams using Redpanda Schema Registry is one that reads the registry built into Redpanda’s brokers in a mode the registry supports, connects with a credential of its own rather than a superuser’s, lets only permitted people change compatibility or delete a subject, keeps an audit trail that names each person, holds more than one registry when a team has them, and runs as one container beside the cluster, out of the data path. Kpow, Kafbat UI, Redpanda Console, AKHQ, Lenses and Conduktor each cover part of that. Scored on the six weighted criteria explained below the rankings, Kpow ranks first with 90 out of 100, ahead of Kafbat UI at 64 and Redpanda Console at 63; Conduktor, listed last, totals 54.
Tools compared
| Rank | Tool | Total (out of 100) | Out of the data path | Production access on request | Audit trail per person | Directory and Kafka sign-in | Multiple registries | Redpanda registry depth | Cost a year, one cluster (modelled) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kpow | 90 | One container, no external database, not a proxy | Temporary policies, staged approvals, masking | Every action and data read, by user | SAML, OpenID, LDAP | Several registries of any kind per cluster (Enterprise) | Documented provider; observation version 1; diff and compatibility | $7,380 |
| 2 | Kafbat UI | 64 | One container | Read-only clusters, no approvals | Opt-in log, no view in the product | OAuth2, OIDC, LDAP | One per cluster | Confluent-compatible, basic auth; no Redpanda guide | $8,640 |
| 3 | Redpanda Console | 63 | One container | Redpanda roles, no approvals or expiry | Broker audit topic through impersonation (Enterprise) | OIDC or basic (Enterprise) | One per deployment | Native; Schema Registry ACLs; per-person impersonation | $8,640 plus an unpublished licence for sign-in and RBAC |
| 4 | AKHQ | 57 | One container | Group roles, no approvals | Opt-in topic, no reads | LDAP, OIDC | One per cluster | Confluent-compatible, basic auth; Avro references | $8,640 |
| 5 | Lenses | 50 | HQ on PostgreSQL plus an agent per cluster | Global masking, no approvals | In-product audit log | SSO from Team tier | One per environment | Connected; details not published | $6,880 for 15 users; custom above |
| 6 | Conduktor | 54 | Console on PostgreSQL; Gateway, a proxy, for data-level controls | Masking exemptions, owner approval | 70+ event types in the UI | LDAP, OIDC | One per cluster | Basic, bearer, mTLS; no Redpanda guide | $32,880; $122,880 with Gateway Core and Protect |
The tools, ranked for Redpanda Schema Registry
Rank 1 Kpow
90 out of 100 Total
Try Kpow in the live demo No signup needed.
- Cost a year
- $4,500 per cluster with 100 users included, plus about $2,880 in operator time, so $7,380 on one cluster (modelled)
- On Redpanda Schema Registry
- Documented provider; basic auth; SCHEMA_REGISTRY_OBSERVATION_VERSION=1
- Deployment
- One container or JAR, no external database
- Out of the data path ×3 weight, this criterion counts 3 times toward the total
- 9 out of 10
- Production access on request ×2 weight, this criterion counts 2 times toward the total
- 9 out of 10
- Audit trail per person ×2 weight, this criterion counts 2 times toward the total
- 9 out of 10
- Directory and Kafka sign-in
- 9 out of 10
- Multiple registries
- 10 out of 10
- Redpanda registry depth
- 8 out of 10
Why these scores for Kpow
- Out of the data path 9 out of 10
- It is one container or JAR whose state lives in Kafka topics on your own cluster, and it connects to Redpanda as an ordinary Kafka client and to the registry over its REST API, so nothing sits between your applications and the brokers or the registry.
- Production access on request 9 out of 10
- Temporary policies grant time-boxed access that an admin or a change system calling the Kpow API can create, staged mutations hold any action for approval, and data policies mask fields in inspection, though masking is per resource rather than per viewer.
- Audit trail per person 9 out of 10
- Every action is recorded with the user from the identity provider and the policy that allowed it, including data inspect queries, with a seven-day view in the product, the record written to an audit topic on your own cluster, and webhooks that send it to a SIEM for long-term retention.
- Directory and Kafka sign-in 9 out of 10
- People sign in with SAML, OpenID or LDAP, and Kpow connects to Redpanda’s Kafka API with the same SASL or TLS settings as any Kafka client.
- Multiple registries 10 out of 10
- Several registries of different kinds can be attached to one Kafka cluster with
SCHEMA_REGISTRY_RESOURCE_IDS, Confluent beside Apicurio, Karapace, AWS Glue or Google’s registry, which no other UI here documents; more than one registry needs Kpow Enterprise. - Redpanda registry depth 8 out of 10
- Redpanda is a documented provider whose setup page starts the built-in registry and connects Kpow with
SCHEMA_REGISTRY_URLandSCHEMA_REGISTRY_OBSERVATION_VERSION=1, and the schema view creates and edits schemas, compares versions and updates compatibility; the setting stands in until Kpow’s default observation engine supports Redpanda, and Kpow’s documentation does not cover Redpanda’s Schema Registry ACLs, its OIDC sign-in to the registry or schema contexts.
On Redpanda Schema Registry. Kpow’s Redpanda provider page starts a Redpanda broker with its built-in Schema Registry and connects Kpow with BOOTSTRAP, SCHEMA_REGISTRY_URL and SCHEMA_REGISTRY_OBSERVATION_VERSION=1, which it describes as the observation mode compatible with Redpanda’s Schema Registry. Release 95.1 explains why: its new schema observation engine is not compatible with Redpanda’s registry, so Redpanda users set version 1 until full support is available. Basic authentication takes SCHEMA_REGISTRY_AUTH=USER_INFO with a user and password (schema registry configuration), and the Kpow features page lists Redpanda in both Community and Enterprise editions.
Where it falls short. Version 1 makes two REST calls per subject on every snapshot, which the same documentation calls resource-intensive on a large registry, and on Redpanda those calls land on the brokers. Kpow governs people working through Kpow; producers and consumers still call the registry with their own credentials, and Redpanda’s Schema Registry ACLs remain the control for them; Kpow’s documentation does not describe managing those ACLs. One Kpow action, SCHEMA_DELETE, covers both soft and permanent deletes. More than one registry per cluster, RBAC, masking, staged mutations and the audit log need Kpow Enterprise; Community Edition is free for 3 clusters and 10 users.
Rank 2 Kafbat UI
64 out of 100 Total
- Cost a year
- $0 licence, about $8,640 in operator time (modelled)
- On Redpanda Schema Registry
- Confluent-compatible registry with basic auth; no Redpanda guide
- Sign-in
- OAuth2, OIDC and LDAP, free
- Out of the data path ×3 weight, this criterion counts 3 times toward the total
- 9 out of 10
- Production access on request ×2 weight, this criterion counts 2 times toward the total
- 4 out of 10
- Audit trail per person ×2 weight, this criterion counts 2 times toward the total
- 6 out of 10
- Directory and Kafka sign-in
- 7 out of 10
- Multiple registries
- 4 out of 10
- Redpanda registry depth
- 6 out of 10
Why these scores for Kafbat UI
- Out of the data path 9 out of 10
- It is one stateless container with no database and no proxy, the same pass as Kpow.
- Production access on request 4 out of 10
- RBAC grants actions per resource and a cluster can be set read-only, but there is no approval step, no time-boxed grant, and its masking applies the same way to every viewer.
- Audit trail per person 6 out of 10
- Its audit log names the logged-in user and records reads when the level is set to ALL, but it writes to a topic or the console with no view in the product, so reading the trail is something you build.
- Directory and Kafka sign-in 7 out of 10
- It supports OAuth2 and OIDC, including Microsoft Entra ID, and LDAP or Active Directory, and its documentation does not list SAML.
- Multiple registries 4 out of 10
- It manages one registry per Kafka cluster, with extra registries only as deserializers, and many clusters per install.
- Redpanda registry depth 6 out of 10
- It reaches Redpanda’s registry as a Confluent-compatible one, with basic authentication in its configuration reference, and edits schemas and compatibility, but it publishes no Redpanda-specific guidance and its documentation does not describe schema references.
On Redpanda Schema Registry. Kafbat UI attaches one registry to each cluster connection, and Redpanda’s is set up there as a Confluent-compatible registry. Its configuration reference lists SCHEMAREGISTRYAUTH settings for a username and password, which matches Redpanda’s basic authentication. The Kafbat UI review covers its RBAC and release history, including regressions that broke Schema Registry serde auto-selection.
Where it falls short. There is no way to grant production access for an hour and have it expire, no approval before a compatibility change or a subject deletion runs, and masking cannot exempt the team that owns the data. No vendor is under contract to ship fixes. Its modelled running cost on one cluster is 6 engineer-hours a month, $8,640 a year at $120 an hour.
Compare Kpow vs Kafbat UIKafbat UI vs Redpanda ConsoleKafbat UI review
Rank 3 Redpanda Console
redpanda.com
63 out of 100 Total
- Cost a year
- $0 for the free build, about $8,640 in operator time (modelled); sign-in, RBAC and audit logging need an unpublished Enterprise licence
- On Redpanda Schema Registry
- Redpanda's own console; manages Schema Registry ACLs
- Clusters
- One broker cluster and one registry per deployment
- Out of the data path ×3 weight, this criterion counts 3 times toward the total
- 9 out of 10
- Production access on request ×2 weight, this criterion counts 2 times toward the total
- 2 out of 10
- Audit trail per person ×2 weight, this criterion counts 2 times toward the total
- 7 out of 10
- Directory and Kafka sign-in
- 6 out of 10
- Multiple registries
- 2 out of 10
- Redpanda registry depth
- 10 out of 10
Why these scores for Redpanda Console
- Out of the data path 9 out of 10
- It is a self-hosted container with no database, the same score it gets on the Amazon MSK page; on Redpanda Cloud it comes with the service.
- Production access on request 2 out of 10
- With an Enterprise licence, access follows Redpanda’s own roles and ACLs on the broker, but there is no time-boxed grant and no approval step before a change runs. Redpanda’s Console documentation and licensing overview describe no field masking.
- Audit trail per person 7 out of 10
- With Enterprise licences for both Console and the brokers, Console’s user impersonation passes each person’s credentials to the Kafka API, Schema Registry and Admin API, so Redpanda’s audit topic names the person, though the log is off by default, keeps seven days by default and is read by consuming a topic.
- Directory and Kafka sign-in 6 out of 10
- Sign-in through OIDC single sign-on or basic authentication needs an Enterprise licence, and the free build has no sign-in at all.
- Multiple registries 2 out of 10
- Its configuration has one
schemaRegistryblock beside one broker cluster, so each deployment reaches one registry. - Redpanda registry depth 10 out of 10
- As Redpanda’s own console it connects to the Schema Registry API beside the Kafka and Admin APIs, manages Schema Registry ACLs on subjects and on the registry from its Security page once authorization is enabled, and with impersonation calls the registry with each person’s own credentials, which no other tool here does.
On Redpanda Schema Registry. Redpanda’s Console documentation configures a Schema Registry connection beside the Kafka API and the Admin API, and with impersonateUser set it uses the logged-in person’s credentials for the registry, so Redpanda’s own Schema Registry ACLs apply to each person. Redpanda’s authorization documentation describes managing those ACLs from Console’s Security page, the same way as Kafka ACLs. The Redpanda Console review covers its message viewer, Observer Mode and licence terms in detail.
Where it falls short. Sign-in, RBAC and audit logging need an Enterprise licence whose price is not published, and Redpanda’s Schema Registry ACLs need an Enterprise licence on the brokers too. There is no time-boxed access and no approval step before a compatibility change or a hard delete. One deployment reaches one broker cluster and one registry, so development, staging and production are three Consoles.
Rank 4 AKHQ
57 out of 100 Total
- Cost a year
- $0 licence, about $8,640 in operator time (modelled)
- On Redpanda Schema Registry
- Confluent-compatible registry with basic auth; Avro references
- Security default
- Disabled until you enable it
- Out of the data path ×3 weight, this criterion counts 3 times toward the total
- 9 out of 10
- Production access on request ×2 weight, this criterion counts 2 times toward the total
- 3 out of 10
- Audit trail per person ×2 weight, this criterion counts 2 times toward the total
- 4 out of 10
- Directory and Kafka sign-in
- 6 out of 10
- Multiple registries
- 4 out of 10
- Redpanda registry depth
- 6 out of 10
Why these scores for AKHQ
- Out of the data path 9 out of 10
- It is one stateless container with no database and no proxy, the same pass as Kpow.
- Production access on request 3 out of 10
- Groups bind actions to resources by regex, but there is no approval step or time-boxed grant, masking is global, and without the JWT signing secret the restriction is in the UI only.
- Audit trail per person 4 out of 10
- Audit events are opt-in to a Kafka topic, reads are not recorded, and there is no view for the trail.
- Directory and Kafka sign-in 6 out of 10
- It supports LDAP, OIDC and header authentication from a proxy, does not list SAML, and ships with security disabled until you enable it.
- Multiple registries 4 out of 10
- It manages one registry per cluster connection, Confluent or TIBCO, with Glue for decoding only.
- Redpanda registry depth 6 out of 10
- It reaches Redpanda’s registry as a Confluent-compatible one with a basic authentication user and password, and its documentation describes registering Avro schemas with references, but it publishes no Redpanda-specific guidance.
On Redpanda Schema Registry. AKHQ sets a schema-registry block on each cluster connection with a URL, basic-auth-username and basic-auth-password (AKHQ cluster configuration), and Redpanda’s registry is configured there as a Confluent-compatible one. Its schema references page shows how to register an Avro schema that references another. The AKHQ review covers the rest.
Where it falls short. Security is off until you configure it, the audit trail is an opt-in topic that does not record reads, and there is no approval step or time-boxed grant. Its modelled running cost on one cluster is 6 engineer-hours a month, $8,640 a year at $120 an hour.
Rank 5 Lenses
lenses.io
50 out of 100 Total
- Cost a year
- Team is $4,000 for up to 15 users on one cluster, $6,880 with operator time; 25 engineers needs a custom quote (modelled)
- On Redpanda Schema Registry
- Connected through the agent in each environment
- Deployment
- HQ on PostgreSQL plus an agent and database per cluster
- Out of the data path ×3 weight, this criterion counts 3 times toward the total
- 4 out of 10
- Production access on request ×2 weight, this criterion counts 2 times toward the total
- 4 out of 10
- Audit trail per person ×2 weight, this criterion counts 2 times toward the total
- 7 out of 10
- Directory and Kafka sign-in
- 7 out of 10
- Multiple registries
- 4 out of 10
- Redpanda registry depth
- 5 out of 10
Why these scores for Lenses
- Out of the data path 4 out of 10
- It runs a central HQ on PostgreSQL plus an agent and an agent database beside every cluster, and HQ has no high-availability option.
- Production access on request 4 out of 10
- Its masking is the strictest view-time model, global with no escape even for admins, but no approval step or time-boxed grant is described.
- Audit trail per person 7 out of 10
- Audit logs can be read in the product, with no need to build a consumer first.
- Directory and Kafka sign-in 7 out of 10
- SSO spans Okta, Keycloak, OneLogin, Google and Entra ID, with basic authentication only on Community.
- Multiple registries 4 out of 10
- Its agent connects to the Schema Registry of each environment, one registry beside each Kafka cluster, with many environments under one HQ.
- Redpanda registry depth 5 out of 10
- Its agent provisioning schema includes a Redpanda connection template and its agent connects to the registry of each environment, but this page found no public Lenses statement on Redpanda’s registry in particular, its authentication or schema references, so the fit is the reader’s to verify.
On Redpanda Schema Registry. Lenses connects to a Kafka cluster and its registry through an agent in each environment, and SQL over topics is the centre of the product and the strongest query model on this page. The Lenses review covers its tiers and deployment.
Where it falls short. A central HQ on PostgreSQL plus an agent and an agent database for every cluster adds two databases beside a Redpanda cluster whose registry runs inside the brokers. The Team licence stops at 15 users on one cluster, so a larger team is on a custom quote.
Compare Kpow vs LensesLenses review
Rank 6 Conduktor
conduktor.io
54 out of 100 Total
- Cost a year
- 25 Console seats at $1,200 is $30,000 plus $2,880 operator time, so $32,880; Gateway Core adds $60,000 and Gateway Protect, which carries encryption and masking, a further $30,000 (modelled)
- On Redpanda Schema Registry
- Basic auth, bearer token and mTLS to a registry; one per cluster
- Deployment
- Console on PostgreSQL 13+; data-level controls through Gateway, a proxy
- Out of the data path ×3 weight, this criterion counts 3 times toward the total
- 3 out of 10
- Production access on request ×2 weight, this criterion counts 2 times toward the total
- 6 out of 10
- Audit trail per person ×2 weight, this criterion counts 2 times toward the total
- 8 out of 10
- Directory and Kafka sign-in
- 7 out of 10
- Multiple registries
- 4 out of 10
- Redpanda registry depth
- 6 out of 10
Why these scores for Conduktor
- Out of the data path 3 out of 10
- Console needs PostgreSQL 13 or later, and its encryption, data-level masking and Virtual Clusters only work when client traffic goes through Gateway, a proxy in the data path.
- Production access on request 6 out of 10
- Masking can exempt users or groups, which beats every other tool here on who sees unmasked data, and cross-team access requests are approved by the owning team, but no expiring grant is described and topic creation that passes policy is a direct API call.
- Audit trail per person 8 out of 10
- Console logs produce, consume and admin requests across more than 70 event types with user, IP and timestamp, browsable in the UI and exported as CloudEvents.
- Directory and Kafka sign-in 7 out of 10
- Its SSO configuration covers LDAP and OIDC, with guides for Okta, Entra ID and Keycloak, and does not describe SAML.
- Multiple registries 4 out of 10
- Its cluster reference takes one registry per Kafka cluster, with many clusters per Console.
- Redpanda registry depth 6 out of 10
- Its registry connection takes basic authentication, a bearer token or a client certificate, and its Console checks compatibility before a schema update and compares versions, but this page found no Conduktor guidance on Redpanda’s registry in particular.
On Redpanda Schema Registry. Conduktor states that Console works with Redpanda among other Kafka platforms, its Docker quick start ships with an embedded Redpanda broker, and Redpanda’s partner integrations page lists Conduktor. Its resource reference documents a registry per Kafka cluster with BasicAuth, BearerToken or SSLAuth security, and its Console documentation describes changing compatibility and comparing schemas of one subject. The Conduktor review covers the rest.
Where it falls short. Console connects to the registry directly and needs PostgreSQL. Conduktor’s data-level controls, such as encryption, masking of the data itself and virtual clusters for multi-tenancy, run in Gateway, a Kafka proxy that client applications connect through. On AWS Marketplace, Conduktor Enterprise lists Console at $1,200 a seat for the first 100 seats, Gateway Core, which carries virtual clusters, at $60,000 a year, and Gateway Protect, the add-on for encryption and masking, at a further $30,000.
What teams using Redpanda Schema Registry need
This page is about tools for a team whose schemas live in the registry built into Redpanda, on a self-managed cluster or in Redpanda Cloud, and that wants one UI for reading topics, managing subjects and governing who does what. The wider Redpanda picture, from the Kafka API to the Admin API, is on the best Kafka UI tools for Redpanda. The registries themselves are compared in the best tools for Kafka schema registry management, and teams on other registries have the best Kafka UI tools for Confluent Schema Registry and the best Kafka UI tools for AWS Glue Schema Registry.
Out of the data path. Redpanda’s documentation describes its Schema Registry as built directly into the Redpanda binary: every broker serves the registry API and accepts writes, so there is no leader to configure, and schemas are stored in a compacted topic, _schemas, the way Kafka’s design documentation describes log compaction keeping the latest value for each key. A management tool fits that design when it is one more client of the registry. Kpow is one container with no external database, installed in your own environment and out of the data path. Conduktor Console also connects directly, with a PostgreSQL database of its own; Conduktor’s data-level controls, such as encryption, masking of the data itself and virtual clusters, run in Conduktor Gateway, a Kafka proxy that client applications connect through.
Because the registry runs inside the brokers, a tool’s registry traffic is broker traffic. Kpow reads Redpanda’s registry with SCHEMA_REGISTRY_OBSERVATION_VERSION=1, which, as its schema registry documentation states, lists every subject and then makes two REST calls per subject, for metadata and compatibility, on each snapshot, the most context in the UI at the cost of more calls as the registry grows. On a registry with thousands of subjects, a team points the tool at the registry listener it would give any client and watches broker load after the first install.
Redpanda can also check records at the broker. Its server-side schema ID validation, an Enterprise feature, drops records whose schema ID is not registered, and Redpanda’s documentation is explicit that it does not check that the payload matches the schema. The rest of the check stays in the clients: as Kai Waehner’s post on data quality with Schema Registry puts it, Kafka is a dumb broker that only stores byte arrays, and validation of schemas happens on the client side. A tool that decodes every record with the registered schema is where a payload that passed the ID check but does not decode shows up.
Production access on request. Redpanda added Schema Registry ACLs, on subjects and on the registry as a whole, in version 25.2 as an Enterprise feature; before that, its documentation says, an authenticated user had full access to every registry operation, including deleting schemas and changing configuration. On a cluster without those ACLs, the credential a tool holds can therefore do anything to the registry, and who may change compatibility or delete a subject has to be decided in the tool. Two further points shape the controls a team needs. Redpanda recommends turning off auto-registration in Confluent serializers and pre-registering schemas, so that schema creation and compatibility stay under deliberate control, which makes the tool’s create and edit actions the place that control is exercised. And Redpanda does not recommend hard deletes in production, since a soft-deleted schema can be restored and a hard-deleted one cannot. Kpow’s staged mutations hold a create, an edit or a delete for a second person’s approval, and its temporary policies grant production access for a set time. These controls are compared across the field in the best tools for Kafka role-based access control (RBAC).
Audit trail per person. Redpanda’s registry sees the credential that calls it. When people work through a shared tool, that is the tool’s credential, so a compatibility change or a deleted version appears in Redpanda’s records under the tool’s user. Redpanda Console closes that gap by impersonation, passing each person’s own credentials to the registry with an Enterprise licence. A tool with its own credential closes it by recording the person itself, beside the record of who read which records. The options are compared in the best tools for Kafka audit logging.
Directory and Kafka sign-in. Redpanda’s registry takes HTTP basic authentication against the same SCRAM credential store as the Kafka API, so one SCRAM user can serve a tool for both, or OIDC where it is enabled. With authentication on, only superusers, or principals holding the alter_configs ACL on the registry where Schema Registry ACLs are enabled, can change the registry’s global and subject modes, such as READONLY for a standby cluster or IMPORT for a migration. Least privilege, control AC-6 in NIST’s SP 800-53, argues against giving a shared tool that right, so mode changes stay with the people who hold it, through rpk or the registry API, and the tool’s own user carries only the operations it needs. People sign in to the tool itself through the company directory.
Multiple registries. Teams end up with more than one registry for ordinary reasons: a registry per Redpanda cluster for development and production, a Confluent or Apicurio registry kept beside Redpanda’s during a migration, or a second registry after an acquisition. Redpanda’s IMPORT mode exists for that migration case, registering schemas with their original IDs on the target. A tool that attaches one registry per cluster shows only one of them beside the topics they serve.
Redpanda registry depth. Redpanda’s registry speaks the Confluent API with differences at the edges. It supports Avro, Protobuf and JSON Schema, but JSON Schema references to another subject are not supported, so a team keeps shared JSON types inside one document with $defs or bundled schemas, as JSON Schema’s guide to structuring a schema describes. Of Confluent’s data contracts it supports only metadata properties, so a tool’s support for data contract rules does not apply here. Version 26.1 added schema contexts, namespaces of subjects with their own IDs and settings, and Redpanda’s documentation says they are enabled by default from 26.2; Redpanda Console documents context-aware subject browsing, but this page found no documentation of contexts on Redpanda for any other tool here, so a team on 26.2 or later tests how context-qualified subjects appear before relying on one.
No tool here leads on every point: Redpanda Console is Redpanda’s own console and goes furthest into its registry, managing its ACLs and calling it as each person, and Lenses has the stronger query model with SQL over topics. Kpow governs people working through Kpow, so applications keep their own registry credentials and Redpanda’s own ACLs stay the control for them.
Kpow and Redpanda Schema Registry in public
No Factor House customer has yet described in public how it runs Kpow with Redpanda Schema Registry, so this section names none. The public record is the documentation and Factor House’s own material. Kpow’s schema registry documentation names Redpanda Schema Registry among the provider-specific registries Kpow supports, the Redpanda provider page gives the setup with the built-in registry, and release 95.1 records the observation setting Redpanda’s registry needs. Factor House’s guide to integrating Kpow with Redpanda walks through the same setup step by step, and the Kpow features page lists Redpanda in both editions. The rest of a Redpanda deployment is covered on the best Kafka UI tools for Redpanda.
How a team runs Kpow with Redpanda Schema Registry
Installing it beside the cluster. Kpow runs as one Docker container, a Java JAR or through the Helm charts, in the same network as the Redpanda brokers. It needs no external database, because its snapshots, metrics and audit log live in topics on the cluster itself.
Connecting to the registry. BOOTSTRAP points Kpow at Redpanda’s Kafka API and SCHEMA_REGISTRY_URL at the registry listener, and SCHEMA_REGISTRY_OBSERVATION_VERSION=1 selects the observation mode that works with Redpanda’s registry (Redpanda provider page). Where the listener requires basic authentication, SCHEMA_REGISTRY_AUTH=USER_INFO with SCHEMA_REGISTRY_USER and SCHEMA_REGISTRY_PASSWORD takes a SCRAM user from Redpanda’s credential store (schema registry configuration). Setting SCHEMA_REGISTRY_STARTUP_VALIDATION=false lets Kpow start while the registry is unreachable, show an error for it and reconnect when it returns.
Giving Kpow’s user the right registry ACLs. On a cluster with Redpanda’s Schema Registry ACLs enabled, Kpow’s user needs the describe and read operations on the subjects it shows and describe_configs to read compatibility. Each Kpow schema action then maps to one Redpanda operation: SCHEMA_CREATE and SCHEMA_EDIT_VERSION need write, SCHEMA_DELETE needs delete, and a compatibility change needs alter_configs (Kpow authorization). Redpanda uses alter_configs for mode changes as well as compatibility changes, so a Kpow user that is allowed to change compatibility holds the right to change modes too, although Kpow’s schema view offers no mode change. Granting only what the team intends people to do through Kpow keeps the two layers in step, and a team that wants mode changes kept to its superusers can leave alter_configs off Kpow’s user and make compatibility changes through rpk instead.
Holding several registries. SCHEMA_REGISTRY_RESOURCE_IDS lists more than one registry for one Kafka cluster, each configured with its own prefix, such as DEV1_SCHEMA_REGISTRY_URL and QA2_SCHEMA_REGISTRY_URL, and the list order sets the order in the UI. During a migration, the source registry and Redpanda’s can sit side by side this way; more than one registry needs Kpow Enterprise.
Managing subjects. The schema view lists each subject and version, creates and edits schemas, including Avro and Protobuf schemas with references, compares two versions in a visual diff and updates a subject’s compatibility, as the Kpow features page lists for both editions. RBAC sets Allow, Deny or Stage per schema action, so a team can read its subjects while a compatibility change or a deletion waits for approval through staged mutations. SCHEMA_DELETE covers soft and permanent deletes alike, so staging it holds both.
Reading and producing records. Data inspect decodes Avro, JSON Schema and Protobuf records with the registry’s SerDes and lets engineers filter with kJQ. Data produce fetches the registered schema and serialises test records against it, which suits a registry where auto-registration is turned off. Data policies mask sensitive fields in inspect results on the server.
Signing people in and granting access. Engineers sign in through SAML, OpenID Connect or LDAP, tenants give each team its own view of a shared cluster, and a temporary policy grants one role production access for a set time.
Keeping the record. The audit log records each action, schema changes and data inspect queries included, with the user from the identity provider, and a webhook sends those records to Slack, Microsoft Teams or any HTTP endpoint, such as a SIEM collector. That record names the person behind a registry change that Redpanda’s own records attribute to Kpow’s user.
Kpow live demo
See the Kpow schema view
The live Kpow demo runs on Apache Kafka clusters on Amazon MSK, and the registry attached to it is AWS Glue rather than Redpanda's. Open Schema to see the view a team gets on Redpanda Schema Registry too: each subject with its versions, compatibility mode and status, with no signup.
For platform teams choosing a Kafka tool for Redpanda Schema Registry.
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What is the best Kafka UI for Redpanda Schema Registry?
On this page’s rubric, Kpow, with 90 of 100 points: Redpanda is a documented provider, one setting makes its registry work with Kpow’s schema view, and Kpow adds per-person roles, approvals, time-boxed production access and an audit trail, holds several registries beside one cluster, and runs as one container with no external database. Kafbat UI is the highest-scoring free option, and Redpanda Console is the native one.
Does Kpow support Redpanda Schema Registry?
Yes. Kpow’s schema registry documentation names Redpanda Schema Registry among the registries it supports, and the Redpanda provider page connects Kpow to Redpanda’s built-in registry with SCHEMA_REGISTRY_URL and SCHEMA_REGISTRY_OBSERVATION_VERSION=1.
Why does Kpow need SCHEMA_REGISTRY_OBSERVATION_VERSION=1 on Redpanda?
Release 95.1 introduced a new schema observation engine and noted that it is not compatible with Redpanda’s Schema Registry, so Redpanda users set version 1 until full support is available. Version 1 lists every subject and then fetches metadata and compatibility for each one, which shows compatibility in the subject list at the cost of more REST calls on a large registry.
Can Kpow manage Redpanda’s Schema Registry ACLs?
Kpow’s documentation does not describe it. Redpanda documents managing its Schema Registry ACLs with rpk, through the registry API and in Redpanda Console. Kpow applies its own roles, approvals and audit trail to the people working through Kpow, and its own user on the registry needs the Redpanda ACLs for the actions it performs.
Does a Kafka UI need to sit in the data path to govern schema changes?
No. Kpow reads the registry over its REST API and applies roles, approvals and the audit trail to the people working through it, while producers and consumers keep calling the registry inside Redpanda’s brokers with their own serialisers. Conduktor Console also connects directly, while Conduktor’s data-level controls run in Gateway, a Kafka proxy that client applications connect through.
Is there a free Kafka UI for Redpanda Schema Registry?
Kpow Community Edition is free on up to 3 clusters and 10 users, includes the schema registry view with the visual version diff, and the Kpow features page lists Redpanda in that edition. Kafbat UI and AKHQ are open source, and Redpanda Console has a free build without sign-in or access control. Several registries per cluster, RBAC, masking, staged approvals and the audit log need Kpow Enterprise. More free options are compared in the best free Kafka UI tools in 2026.
How these tools were scored
Four of the six criteria are the ones Factor House scores on every page for teams that share a Kafka cluster; the other two are holding several registries and the depth of Redpanda Schema Registry support. They are listed here in order of weight. Each criterion is scored 0 to 10: 10 where a tool is the only one here doing it or clearly the best, 8 for a clean documented pass, 5 or 6 for partial support or support that needs work the reader must verify, 1 to 4 for a weak or indirect form, and 0 where it is absent.
1. Out of the data path (counts three times). The tool should run in your own environment, reach the brokers and the registry over the same private network your applications use as an ordinary client, and keep no data outside your own cluster. Scored lower: tools that need an external database of their own, and tools whose controls work only when application traffic passes through a vendor’s proxy. A self-hosted container with no external database and no proxy scores 9, a tool with a database of its own 6, one with several databases or an agent per cluster 4, and one that needs both a database and a proxy for its controls 3; 10 is kept for an option with nothing to deploy at all, and none is scored here. This criterion is scored the same way on every Factor House page that uses it, and only its weight changes with the reader.
2. Production access on request (counts twice). Whether an engineer can be granted access to production for one task and have it expire, whether a destructive change, such as a compatibility change or a subject deletion, can be held for a second person’s approval, and whether sensitive fields can be masked from people who do not need them.
3. Audit trail per person (counts twice). Whether the tool records each action, reads included, against the person, and whether that record can be read in the product and sent to the systems that keep it long term. Redpanda Console scores 7 here, as on the Redpanda page, because with Enterprise licences for Console and the brokers its impersonation puts each person on Redpanda’s own audit topic.
4. Directory and Kafka sign-in (counts once). Whether people sign in through SAML, OpenID Connect or LDAP, and whether the tool connects to the brokers with the same SASL or TLS settings as any Kafka client.
5. Multiple registries (counts once). Whether one Kafka cluster can have more than one registry attached, of the same or different kinds, and whether one deployment reaches several clusters. These scores are the same as on the best Kafka UI tools for Confluent Schema Registry for every tool scored on both pages.
6. Redpanda registry depth (counts once). Whether the tool documents working with Redpanda’s own registry: a setup guide or provider page, the authentication Redpanda’s registry takes, schema references, version comparison and compatibility edits, and Redpanda’s own registry features such as its Schema Registry ACLs. A tool that reaches the registry only as a generic Confluent-compatible one, with no Redpanda guidance, scores 5 or 6.
Costs are modelled for one production cluster and 25 engineers at $120 per engineer hour, using the same hours per tool class as Factor House’s other comparison pages. Tools with a licence carry the published price plus 2 hours a month to run. The open-source UIs and Redpanda Console’s free build carry 6 hours a month, $8,640 a year, to run, secure and keep current; Redpanda’s Enterprise licence for sign-in, RBAC and audit logging is quoted rather than published. Kpow’s $7,380 uses the published price of $4,500 per cluster with 100 users included. Lenses publishes a Team price of $4,000 a year for up to 15 users on one cluster, so 25 engineers is a custom quote. Conduktor’s Console is $1,200 a seat on AWS Marketplace, and its Gateway Core and Gateway Protect prices are added for the data-level controls; Conduktor prices Gateway per cluster with a 3-cluster minimum, and the listing does not say how many clusters that figure covers. Kpow Community Edition is free for 3 clusters and 10 users, so a 25-engineer team is on Enterprise. For free options compared at any team size, see the best free Kafka UI tools in 2026.
The criteria map onto Redpanda Schema Registry’s features in the figure below.
Every option is scored from 0 to 10 on each criterion, from the evidence and sources this page cites, and the reason for each score is on its card. The criteria are weighted: Out of the data path counts three times, Production access on request counts twice, Audit trail per person counts twice, Directory and Kafka sign-in counts once, Multiple registries counts once and Redpanda registry depth counts once, for a total out of 100. Out of the data path counts three times. Redpanda builds its Schema Registry into every broker so that a cluster needs nothing beside it, and producers and consumers fetch schemas and check records in their own client libraries; a tool that applications connect through, or that needs a database of its own, adds the component that design leaves out. Production access on request and the per-person audit trail count twice, because a registry change such as a compatibility mode set to NONE or a hard-deleted subject reaches every producer and consumer of that subject, and the registry itself sees only the credential that called it. Directory sign-in, holding several registries, and the depth of Redpanda Schema Registry support count once. This page is published by Factor House, which makes Kpow. Every option is scored on the same rubric and the same sources: Kpow's per-criterion scores are set the same way as every other option's and are not adjusted, and the weights apply to every option alike. Kpow ranks first on its total of 90 out of 100. The other options follow by total. Conduktor is listed last whatever its total; on its total of 54 it would place fifth.