No it is not the same. First of all, CQRS is applying CQS to the architecture, so it is an architectural decision. When you use commands, you know about the interface of the endpoint receiving your message. In case of an event, you do not have to know anything - and this is the whole premise of this post. In the article to come, I have explained the differences more with regard to EIP as well. A half-draft available at https://gist.github.com/aliostad/55b652e44dfe87d44444