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Messaging Selection Cheatsheet

Use this page to decide which Azure messaging service best matches the interaction pattern.

Service Pattern Ordering Throughput Delivery Cost
Azure Service Bus Enterprise queues and topics Stronger support for ordered workflows within design limits Medium to high Durable messaging, retries, dead-lettering Moderate
Azure Event Grid Event routing and fan-out Not designed for strict ordered streams High for event distribution Push-based event delivery and subscription model Low to moderate
Azure Event Hubs High-volume event ingestion and streaming Partition-based ordering Very high Stream ingestion with consumer groups Moderate
Azure Queue Storage Simple application queues Basic ordering expectations only Moderate Durable queueing with simpler feature set Low

Quick guidance

  • Use Service Bus for commands, workflows, and enterprise integration. [Documented]
  • Use Event Grid for reactive event notifications and routing. [Documented]
  • Use Event Hubs for telemetry, logs, and large-scale stream ingestion. [Documented]
  • Use Queue Storage when you need simple, low-cost queueing without enterprise broker features. [Observed]
flowchart TD
    A[Need messaging] --> B{Command or event?}
    B -->|Command or workflow| C[Azure Service Bus]
    B -->|Event notification| D{High-volume stream?}
    D -->|Yes| E[Azure Event Hubs]
    D -->|No| F[Azure Event Grid]
    A --> G{Need simple low-cost queue only?}
    G -->|Yes| H[Azure Queue Storage]

Microsoft Learn references

  • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/guide/technology-choices/messaging
  • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/guide/architecture-styles/event-driven