Apache NiFi

An Apache data flow system for moving and transforming data between systems, with a browser-based editor, guaranteed delivery and full data lineage.

6.3k stars, 3k forks Java On GitHub since December 2014

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

What is Apache NiFi?

NiFi lets you build data flows in a web editor by connecting processors that fetch, route, transform and deliver data between files, databases, message queues and APIs. Every piece of data carries a provenance record, so you can trace where it came from and what happened to it. Flows are versioned through NiFi Registry, delivery is guaranteed with retries and back-pressure, and clusters scale horizontally. Processors can also be written in Python.

Good fit if

  • You move high volumes of data between many systems and need to prove where each record went.
  • Security matters: it supports single sign-on with OpenID Connect or SAML and fine-grained policies.
  • Your team prefers designing flows visually to writing pipeline code.

Look elsewhere if

Before you adopt it

NiFi is an Apache Software Foundation project under Apache-2.0, without paid parts. It requires Java 21, plus Python 3.10 or newer for Python processors. An official Docker image exists, but a production cluster takes careful sizing.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 30 October 2026. Report a correction

Apache NiFi health: is it still maintained?

81 of 100, actively developed

  • Activity
    288 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 30 October 2026.
    30 / 30
  • Contributors
    26 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 19% of them.
    19 / 20
  • Releases
    3 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, rel/nifi-2.12.0, on 13 September 2026.
    15 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Too few recent issues from outside the team to measure, so this part gets a neutral score.
    10 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 7 of 10.
    7 / 10

Read from GitHub on 1 November 2026. How the score works

Apache NiFi license: is it open source?

Apache NiFi uses Apache-2.0, an open-source license approved by the OSI.

  1. December 2014First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayApache-2.0.

How to run Apache NiFi yourself

Docker
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Compose file
None in the repository
Setup effort
Not rated: no compose file to judge from
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
No app builds in GitHub releases
Interface languages
English only

Install instructions: nifi.apache.org or the README on GitHub.

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Questions about Apache NiFi

Is Apache NiFi open source?

Yes. Apache NiFi is published under Apache-2.0, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is Apache NiFi still maintained?

Its health score is 81 of 100 (actively developed). It had 288 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 30 October 2026, and its latest release came out on 13 September 2026.

How do I run Apache NiFi?

You can run it with Docker. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What are the alternatives to Apache NiFi?

Close alternatives in the Workflow automation category include Kestra, Apache Airflow, Argo Workflows.