Best Self Hosted Alternatives to MQTTX

MQTT Web Interface is an open-source web application that provides a real-time visualization of MQTT message flows and topic hierarchies. It lets users monitor topics, publish messages, and inspect message statistics through an interactive browser UI.

Key Features

• Real-time visualization of MQTT topic hierarchy and live message flow with an interactive network graph
• Publish messages to MQTT topics from the UI and view connection/topic/message counts and statistics
• Message persistence using a local SQLite database with configurable retention limits and automatic cleanup
• Advanced search and filtering: topic patterns, payload text search, regex topic patterns, JSONPath queries, and time-range filters
• Filter presets to save and load common searches and a collapsible UI layout for large topologies
• Docker and Docker Compose deployment options plus environment-variable configuration for broker connection and app settings
• Development tools: debug bar and settings for development vs production (uses Gunicorn with eventlet workers in production mode)

Use Cases

• Monitor and debug MQTT traffic for IoT deployments and device fleets in real time
• Test and publish MQTT messages during development or integration of MQTT-based services
• Explore and visualize topic relationships and message flow for operations, troubleshooting, or teaching

Limitations and Considerations

• Message persistence uses SQLite (single-file); not designed for very high-throughput or distributed storage without external modifications
• There is no built-in access control or authentication in the application; it should be placed behind an authentication proxy or network controls in production
• Designed as a lightweight visualization and debugging tool rather than a high-scale message broker or long-term analytics platform

MQTT Web Interface is focused on providing a simple, interactive way to inspect and interact with MQTT topics and messages. It is well suited for development, small deployments, and troubleshooting, and can be extended or placed behind additional infrastructure for production security and scale.