Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

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 September 2025, in the Compute Service category, the mindshare of Apache NiFi is 9.3%, up from 8.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS Lambda is 18.2%, down from 19.0% 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 NiFi9.3%
Other72.5%
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

"Visually, this is a good product."
"It's an automated flow, where you can build a flow from source to destination, then do the transformation in between."
"The most valuable features of this solution are ease of use and implementation."
"We can integrate the tool with other applications easily."
"Apache NiFi is user-friendly. Its most valuable features for handling large volumes of data include its multitude of integrated endpoints and clients and the ability to create cron jobs to run tasks at regular intervals."
"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."
"It is highly effective for handling real-time data by working with APIs for immediate and continuous data extraction."
"The user interface is good and makes it easy to design very popular workflows."
"The solution is designed very well. You don't need to keep a server up. You just need some router to route your API request and Lambda provides a very well-designed feature to process the request."
"The serverless computing feature eliminates the need to manage servers, provision, or scale."
"I think the most valuable feature is the agility of the solution."
"We have no issues with the technical support."
"What I like best about AWS Lambda is that it's feature-rich, and I appreciate that. I also like that it's stable and supports many languages."
"Lambda is the preferred compute option because of on-demand cost. We don't have to provision any hardware beforehand. We don't have to provision the capacity required for the services because it is serverless."
"The support from AWS Lambda is very good, they are responsive."
"The programming language and the integration with other AWS services are the most valuable features."
 

Cons

"There should be a better way to integrate a development environment with local tools."
"We run many jobs, and there are already large tables. When we do not control NiFi on time, all reports fail for the day. So it's pretty slow to control, and it has to be improved."
"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."
"I think the UI interface needs to be more user-friendly."
"The quality of JSON data processing could be improved, as JSON workloads require manual conversions without a specific process."
"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."
"The tool should incorporate more tutorials for advanced use cases. It has tutorials for simple use cases."
"There are some claims that NiFi is cloud-native but we have tested it, and it's not."
"If you are setting it up on hybrid solution, there is a lot of work that needs to go in."
"The user-friendliness of the solution could be improved."
"Lambda would benefit from a debugging feature as well."
"AWS Lambda should improve its compatibility with the language used to write the code."
"I would like to see some better integration with other providers, like Cohesity, Druva, and others. I also think the Lambda interface could be better."
"There's room for improvement in the solution's warm start, which refers to the minimum time it takes to start up a Lambda function if you haven't been running it."
"I would like to see improvements in AWS Lambda's stability and setup processes, as there were some complexities encountered initially."
"If you're running a new application with a significant load, you need to be prepared for potential bottlenecks."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I used the tool's free version."
"We use the free version of Apache NiFi."
"It's an open-source solution."
"The solution is open-source."
"The solution's price is average."
"AWS is slightly more expensive than Azure."
"The fees are volume-based."
"Its pricing is on the higher side."
"Lambda is a good and cheap solution and I would recommend it to those without a huge payload."
"AWS Lambda is a very inexpensive solution. They charge for the number of times we run it. If you run AWS Lambda for one time, they charge around 50 cents or 25 cents for the use. I don't know the exact price, but it's less than a dollar."
"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."
"It computes by the cycle, and it's very cheap."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Compute Service solutions are best for your needs.
867,349 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Retailer
9%
Financial Services Firm
20%
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: July 2025.
867,349 professionals have used our research since 2012.