Skip to main content

Create an Aiven for Apache Kafka® Developer tier service

Create an Aiven for Apache Kafka® Developer tier Classic Kafka service when throughput, topic limits, retention, or storage exceed the Free tier. Use it to run Kafka Connect or integrations that are not available on the Free tier. For quotas, pricing, and features, see Aiven for Apache Kafka® Developer tier.

Prerequisites​

  • An Aiven account. Sign up or sign in using the Aiven Console.
  • A project where you can create paid services.
  • If you use paid services, set up billing for your organization. See Billing and payment.
  • To create the service with Skills, install the Aiven CLI and authenticate. You also need Node.js to run npx commands.

Choose how to create the service​

Use one of the following:

  • Aiven Console: guided setup in the browser.
  • Skills: command-line setup with npx and the Aiven CLI.

Create a Developer tier service using the Aiven Console​

  1. In your project, click Services.

  2. Click Create service.

  3. Select Aiven for Apache Kafka®.

  4. In Service tier, select Developer.

  5. Choose your Region.

    note

    On the Developer tier, you can select a region only. To choose a specific cloud provider, you need the Professional tier.

  6. In Retention, select a retention period between 1 day and 7 days.

    note

    The base price includes 1 day of data retention.

    You can increase retention to 3, 5, or 7 days. Each additional 2 days adds $10 USD per month.

  7. In Service basics, enter a Service name.

  8. Review the Service summary and estimated monthly cost.

  9. Click Create service.

When the status changes to Running, your Kafka service is ready to use.

Create a Developer tier service using Skills​

Use Skills to create and configure the Kafka service from the command line.

  1. Install the Skills bundle:

    npx skills add Aiven-Open/aiven-skills-bundle

    If your tool supports Skills, you can also invoke them through AI-enabled tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, or Copilot Chat by describing the task, for example: Create a test Kafka service in Aiven.

  2. Run the Kafka service creation Skill:

    npx skills run kafka-create-service

  3. Follow the prompts to select your project, Developer tier, and region options.

    note

    When you create a Developer tier service in the Aiven Console, you only choose a region. On Professional tier plans, you can also choose the cloud provider. The Skill can still ask for cloud and region so the CLI can create the service. Select the options the Skill lists for Developer tier.

The Skill creates and configures the service. When the run completes, the Kafka service is ready to use.

For the full Skills workflow, see Set up Aiven for Apache Kafka® using Skills.

After you create the service​

When the service status is Running, you can:

Upgrade the service​

Upgrade to a Professional tier plan when Developer tier limits no longer meet your needs. For upgrade paths between Free, Developer, and Professional tiers, see Upgrade path.

You can upgrade from the service overview or from service settings.

Before you upgrade​

If your Kafka service is integrated with a Kafka Connect service, power off the Kafka Connect service before you upgrade the Kafka service. You cannot upgrade the Kafka service while an integrated Kafka Connect service is powered on.

After you upgrade the Kafka service, upgrade the Kafka Connect service to the same tier before you power it back on. Both services must stay on the same tier.

For details, see Kafka and Kafka Connect tier compatibility.

Upgrade from the service overview​

  1. Open your service's Overview page.
  2. In Service usage, click Upgrade.
  3. Select Professional, choose a cloud provider, region, and plan, and then click Upgrade service.

Upgrade from service settings​

  1. In your service, click Service settings.
  2. In Service summary, click Upgrade.
  3. Select Professional, choose a cloud provider, region, and plan, and then click Upgrade service.

Limitations​

  • Downgrading from Developer tier to Free tier is not supported.
  • After you upgrade to Professional tier, the downgrade options available to you depend on the plan you chose. To review supported plan changes, use the Aiven Console.

For more information, see Aiven for Apache Kafka® Developer tier.

Related pages