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AWS Lambda vs Apache NiFi comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
AWS Lambda
Ranking in Compute Service
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
85
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Compute Service category, the mindshare of Apache NiFi is 8.4%, up from 7.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS Lambda is 21.3%, up from 21.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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.
Wai L Lin O - PeerSpot reviewer
A serverless solution with easy integration features
We use AWS Lambda because it provides a solution for our needs without requiring us to manage our infrastructure. With the tool, we only pay for the resources we use. Additionally, it is straightforward to implement and integrates with other services like API Gateway. The tool's serverless nature has had the most significant impact on our workflow. I find it particularly attractive because it eliminates the need for managing servers. In my previous experience, managing upgrades and updates was quite challenging. The solution's integration process with other AWS services was relatively easy. We primarily use AWS services such as EventBridge for scheduling processes and log management.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"It is highly effective for handling real-time data by working with APIs for immediate and continuous data extraction."
"It's an automated flow, where you can build a flow from source to destination, then do the transformation in between."
"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 user interface is good and makes it easy to design very popular workflows."
"The most valuable features of this solution are ease of use and implementation."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"The most valuable feature has been the range of clients and the range of connectors that we could use."
"AWS Lambda has improved our productivity and functionality."
"The installation and configuration of the solution is straightforward."
"The initial setup is pretty easy."
"AWS Lambda's most valuable feature is serverless architecture."
"You can spin up anything instantly without any investment."
"I like the pay-for-what-you-use feature. This is the main reason why we use AWS Lambda. I don't have to manage servers; I just have to configure Lambda and expose it to an API gateway."
"The utilization of containers is particularly beneficial in overcoming the size limitations imposed on Lambda functions which not only allows us to work around these constraints but also contributes to the improvement and maintenance of our code."
"The solution works for small applications. It is a serverless tool that is quick to spin up. We needn’t consider anything in the bag."
 

Cons

"The tool should incorporate more tutorials for advanced use cases. It has tutorials for simple use cases."
"There should be a better way to integrate a development environment with local tools."
"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."
"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."
"More features must be added to the product."
"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 use case templates could be more precise to typical business needs."
"The way Lambda works with HTTP headers is a bit odd."
"Lambda has limitations on the amount of memory you can use and is not a good solution for long running processes."
"My engineers work with it on a daily basis. I just don't have enough depth of knowledge about what kinds of edge cases they may have tried and found lacking. There may be some issues with some language support at one point or another because we couldn't get the underlying libraries in there. A lot of what we do is either in JavaScript, Python, or some of the non-compiled languages. I'm not sure if we've ever tried building a C# solution, for instance, in Lambda or a Java solution in Lambda. It doesn't mean those aren't its capabilities. I would rather refer to my engineers for where the boundaries are."
"The product could make the process of integration easier."
"They should work on the solution's stability and pricing."
"AWS Lambda has some size limitations in the code line, you can't do a couple of functions to do the job."
"AWS Lambda should improve its compatibility with the language used to write the code."
"Lambda can only be used in one account; there's no possibility to utilize it in another account."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is open-source."
"We use the free version of Apache NiFi."
"It's an open-source solution."
"I used the tool's free version."
"AWS is slightly more expensive than Azure."
"The solution is free of cost for the first year, and after that, it becomes expensive."
"We only need to pay for the compute time our code consumes."
"AWS Lambda is inexpensive."
"AWS Lambda's cloud version isn't expensive, and I'd rate its pricing as five out of five."
"We don't need to pay for licensing to use Lambda."
"Lambda is an affordable solution. They offer free requests every month and charge per the compute time. If you are working in a big organization, usually AWS offer a savings plan where you get approximately 70% discount on pricing."
"AWS Lambda license is paid on a monthly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Retailer
7%
Educational Organization
67%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
5%
Manufacturing Company
3%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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?
AWS Lambda is cheaper compared to running an instance continuously. You only pay for what you use, making it cost-effective.
 

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: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.