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AWS Lambda vs Apache NiFi comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Apache NiFi
Ranking in Compute Service
8th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
AWS Lambda
Ranking in Compute Service
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Compute Service category, the mindshare of Apache NiFi is 9.1%, up from 8.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS Lambda is 18.2%, down from 19.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Compute Service Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
AWS Lambda18.2%
Apache NiFi9.1%
Other72.7%
Compute Service
 

Featured Reviews

Bharghava Raghavendra Beesa - PeerSpot reviewer
The tool enables effective data transformation and integration
There are some areas for improvement, particularly with record-level tasks that take a bit of time. The quality of JSON data processing could be improved, as JSON workloads require manual conversions without a specific process. Enhancing features related to alerting would be helpful, including mobile alerts for pipeline issues. Integration with mobile devices for error alerts would simplify information delivery.
Andrew-Wong - PeerSpot reviewer
Convenience in deployment process with room for code preview improvement
Having a better preview would be helpful. Sometimes, if my Lambda code is too big, it can be inconvenient as I'm unable to see my code when it exceeds a certain size. AWS has a limit, like a three-megabyte limit, beyond which I cannot view or edit the code easily.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It is highly effective for handling real-time data by working with APIs for immediate and continuous data extraction."
"The most valuable feature has been the range of clients and the range of connectors that we could use."
"It's an automated flow, where you can build a flow from source to destination, then do the transformation in between."
"Visually, this is a good product."
"We can integrate the tool with other applications easily."
"The initial setup is very easy. I would rate my experience with the initial setup a ten out of ten, where one point is difficult, and ten points are easy."
"The most valuable features of this solution are ease of use and implementation."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the API Gateway."
"I think the most valuable feature is the agility of the solution."
"We moved our users into the Amazon Cognito pool, so it helps us to standardize our security practices, approaches, etc. We can customize Lambda for authentication to integrate it with API Gateway and other services."
"Lambda is trigger-based, which means it only activates when accessed, ensuring cost savings."
"It enables the launch of thousands of instances simultaneously,"
"I have used AWS Lambda for simple messaging for SQS, creating a cron job, and delay messaging."
"Lambda being serverless is a great feature that is appropriate for our use cases."
"AWS Lambda is entirely stable."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement in integration with SSO. For example, NiFi does not have any integration with SSO. And if I want to give some kind of rollback access control across the organization. That is not possible."
"There should be a better way to integrate a development environment with local tools."
"The tool should incorporate more tutorials for advanced use cases. It has tutorials for simple use cases."
"The use case templates could be more precise to typical business needs."
"There are some claims that NiFi is cloud-native but we have tested it, and it's not."
"The quality of JSON data processing could be improved, as JSON workloads require manual conversions without a specific process."
"I think the UI interface needs to be more user-friendly."
"The overall stability of this solution could be improved. In a future release, we would like to have access to more features that could be used in a parallel way. This would provide more freedom with processing."
"Regarding layers, you need to manually zip and install them. This step needs practice, and you might need to do it three to four times to get a hang of it."
"There are other similar solutions, such as Google Cloud Platform or Microsoft Azure. They might be better for small tasks."
"There are sometimes issues following an update."
"If it is a specific ETL process or a long-term one, then AWS Lambda is not a good option."
"AWS Lambda should improve its compatibility with the language used to write the code."
"Lambda has limitations on the amount of memory you can use and is not a good solution for long running processes."
"The solution should continue to streamline integrations with AWS services."
"AWS Lambda could improve by having no-code or low-code options because currently, you need to be able to write code well to use it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We use the free version of Apache NiFi."
"The solution is open-source."
"I used the tool's free version."
"It's an open-source solution."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"This is a product that is pay-per-use, as opposed to a licensing fee."
"It costs maybe less than $10 per month in my use case."
"AWS Lambda is cost-effective, with a minimal maintenance cost."
"You're not paying for a server if you're not using it, which is another reason I like it. So, you're not paying if you're not using it. It scales, and you're charged based on usage. It all depends on the use case. Some can be extremely inexpensive if you have very low volume transaction rates. That way, you don't have to fire up and absorb the cost of the servers just sitting there waiting for a transaction to come through. You're only paying when you use it. So, depending upon the use model, Lambda could be highly efficient relative to an EC2 solution. You don't have to have things reallocated."
"AWS Lambda license is paid on a monthly basis."
"I think the price is okay. However, if they add more functionality, they can have better prices. In fact, they should have better and more flexible packages for clients who have greater consumption of Lambda."
"Its pricing is on the higher side."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Retailer
9%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business35
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise42
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache NiFi?
Apache NiFi is open-source and free. Its integration with systems like Cloudera can be expensive, but Apache NiFi itself presents the best pricing as a standalone tool.
What needs improvement with Apache NiFi?
The logging system of Apache NiFi needs improvement. It is difficult to debug compared to Airflow ( /products/apache-airflow-reviews ), where task details and issues are clear. With Apache NiFi, I ...
Which is better, AWS Lambda or Batch?
AWS Lambda is a serverless solution. It doesn’t require any infrastructure, which allows for cost savings. There is no setup process to deal with, as the entire solution is in the cloud. If you use...
What do you like most about AWS Lambda?
The tool scales automatically based on the number of incoming requests.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS Lambda?
The pricing of AWS Lambda is reasonable. It's beneficial and cost-effective for users regardless of the number of instances used.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Macquarie Telecom Group, Dovestech, Slovak Telekom, Looker, Hastings Group
Netflix
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Lambda vs. Apache NiFi and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
872,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.