NATS

The connectivity and data layer for distributed systems.

NATS is high-performance, lightweight, open-source infrastructure for modern distributed systems, cloud to edge, and agentic AI.

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One NATS systemServices, devices and AI agents connect to one NATS system. It provides messaging, where one message fans out to every subscriber; streaming, where messages append to a log that a consumer reads through; key-value and object storage, where a key's value updates and its revision increases; and services, where requests are balanced across instances. It runs at the edge, in clusters and across clouds, with accounts isolating tenants.servicesdevicesAI agentsone NATS systemMessagingpub/sub, request/reply, queuesStreaming (JetStream)durable streams, replayKey-value and object storebuckets built on streamsServicesdiscovery, stats, balancingconfig30rev 3edgeclustersmulti-cloudMulti-tenancyisolated accounts, decentralized JWT
  • 6K+ contributors
  • 2K+ companies
  • 11K+ Slack members
  • 21K+ GitHub stars
  • 400M+ downloads
Cloud Native Computing FoundationCloud Native Computing FoundationGraduated Project

What is NATS

Why it's different

Built on intentional design choices: location independence, many-to-many communication, and an async-first model.

Billing and checkout connect to different servers in one NATS cluster; a message on orders.> reaches shipping and analytics wherever they are connected.orders.>billingcheckoutshippinganalytics

Where it runs

Anywhere systems are distributed. Leaf nodes and superclusters add clouds, regions, or edge locations without downtime or redesign.

Devices connect to leaf nodes at the edge, which connect to clusters in two cloud regions; a third region attaches through gateways without changing the others.devicesedgecloud regions

What you get

A single connective fabric that stays simple as systems scale, with official clients for 10+ languages and 30+ more from the community.

Go, Rust, Python, JavaScript, Java and C# clients connect to a three-server NATS cluster and reach each other through it.GoRustPythonJavaScriptJavaC#
How NATS works → Concepts in the docs →

Powering Industry Leaders

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