Disclosed herein are an apparatus and method for discovering a communication entity. The apparatus for discovering a communication entity includes a list generation unit for generating a list of connection target Data Readers (DRs), a counter generation unit for generating a counter including information about a number of the connection target DRs, and a discovery message communication unit for establishing communication connections to the connection target DRs based on the list and the counter. The discovery message communication unit includes a transmission unit for transmitting a DR discovery message including data topic information or possible service quality information to each of the connection target DRs, and a reception unit for receiving a Data Writer (DW) discovery message including data topic information or possible service quality information from each of the connection target DRs.