We're evaluating the following libraries for our Kinesis project:
The library from AWS is not pure Javascript because it uses a Java project called the multi-lang KCL adapter. This means we need extra dependencies to run the library. The library supports enhanced-fanout after version 2.0.0.
Lifion's introduction to their library explains why they created it: https://eng.lifion.com/introducing-lifion-kinesis-eecb3133221e
They mention that the KCL library requires Java, and they didn't want to run the JVM. They also say that the Node.js to JVM interface is done over STDIN/STDOUT and they had already reserved that for another process. Plus they wanted the extra performance from the enhanced fan-out consumer to recieve messages via push, instead of the original pull method. At the time, the official AWS Node.js driver did not support enhanced fan-out consumers.