NiFi suits teams automating data flows across systems, including cybersecurity, observability, event stream, and generative AI pipelines.
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Best Stream Processing Software 2026
Facts read 23 Sep 2026 – 15 Oct 2026
Stream processing software handles data as it arrives, and the right fit depends on how you process events and deploy workloads. Compare deployment model and source connectors with SQL processing, event-time windows, and stateful processing. Supported languages can help you assess fit for your team, while free-plan availability and paid-from pricing add cost context. Apache Flink, Apache Beam, and Confluent Cloud are among the options shown, alongside Materialize and Feldera. Consider the listed processing capabilities and connectors in relation to your pipeline needs, as well as where the software can run and which languages your team works with.
The standings: top 10
| Name | In a line | Record score | Price from | Try it free | Runs on | Facts read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Apache NiFi | NiFi suits teams automating data flows across systems, including cybersecurity, observability, event stream, and generative AI pipelines. | 5.6 | Free plan | Free plan | Web, Windows, Mac, Linux | 15 Oct 2026 |
| 02 Arroyo | Arroyo suits teams and developers building stateful data-stream pipelines with SQL, and those who need Rust user-defined functions. | 5.6 | $5 a month | Free plan | Web, Mac, Linux, API | 15 Oct 2026 |
| 03 Confluent Cloud | Confluent Cloud suits teams building real-time streaming, event-driven applications, analytics, or AI/ML workloads. | 5.6 | $385 a month | Free plan | Web, Linux, API | 29 Sep 2026 |
| 04 Apache Beam | Apache Beam suits data and software developers building batch or streaming pipelines for supported execution back ends. | 5.5 | Free plan | Free plan | Web, Windows, Mac, Linux | 14 Oct 2026 |
| 05 Esper | Esper may suit developers building Java or .NET applications that process event streams. | 5.4 | Free plan | Free plan | Windows, Mac, Linux, API | 15 Oct 2026 |
| 06 AFL++ | AFL++ suits developers and security teams working with supported target types who need coverage-guided fuzzing. | 5.3 | €20,000 a year | Free plan | Android, Windows, Mac, Linux | 28 Sep 2026 |
| 07 Materialize | Materialize suits teams building applications or AI agents that need continually updated SQL views from connected data sources. | 5.2 | $1.50 a year | Free plan | Web, Linux, API, Self-hosted | 29 Sep 2026 |
| 08 Timeplus | Timeplus describes itself as designed for data engineers and platform teams processing streaming and historical data with SQL. | 5.2 | $199 a month | Free plan | Web, Windows, Mac, Linux | 30 Sep 2026 |
| 09 RisingWave | RisingWave may suit teams building streaming data pipelines with SQL and PostgreSQL-compatible tools. | 5.0 | $0.23 usage-based | Free plan | Web, Mac, Linux, API | 1 Oct 2026 |
| 10 Apache Spark | Spark suits teams and developers working with large-scale analytics, batch jobs, or real-time streams. | 4.8 | Free plan | Free plan | Windows, Mac, Linux, API | 30 Sep 2026 |
02
Arroyo
Arroyo suits teams and developers building stateful data-stream pipelines with SQL, and those who need Rust user-defined functions.
WebMacLinux+2 Record5.6 Visit
03
Confluent Cloud
Confluent Cloud suits teams building real-time streaming, event-driven applications, analytics, or AI/ML workloads.
WebLinuxAPI Record5.6 Visit
04
Apache Beam
Apache Beam suits data and software developers building batch or streaming pipelines for supported execution back ends.
WebWindowsMac+3 Record5.5 Visit
05
Esper
Esper may suit developers building Java or .NET applications that process event streams.
WindowsMacLinux+2 Record5.4 Visit
6
AFL++
AndroidWindowsMac+2 €20,000 a year Record5.3 Visit AFL++ suits developers and security teams working with supported target types who need coverage-guided fuzzing.
7
Materialize
WebLinuxAPI+1 $1.50 a year Record5.2 Visit Materialize suits teams building applications or AI agents that need continually updated SQL views from connected data sources.
8
Timeplus
WebWindowsMac+3 $199 a month Record5.2 Visit Timeplus describes itself as designed for data engineers and platform teams processing streaming and historical data with SQL.
9
RisingWave
WebMacLinux+2 $0.23 usage-based Record5.0 Visit RisingWave may suit teams building streaming data pipelines with SQL and PostgreSQL-compatible tools.
10
Apache Spark
WindowsMacLinux+2 Free plan Record4.8 Visit Spark suits teams and developers working with large-scale analytics, batch jobs, or real-time streams.
11
Apache Storm
WebWindowsMac+3 Free plan Record4.8 Visit Apache Storm is for developers and teams building self-hosted systems that process ongoing data streams.
13
Feldera
WebWindowsMac+3 Free plan Record4.7 Visit Feldera suits teams that need to keep SQL views current as source data changes, including those working on real-time medallion architectures, fraud detection feature…
14
Siddhi
WindowsMacLinux+2 Free plan Record4.6 Visit Siddhi suits developers building event-driven applications, real-time analytics, data integration, notification, or rule-processing systems.
15
Hazelcast Platform
WindowsMacLinux+2 Free plan Record4.5 Visit Hazelcast Platform suits teams building data-intensive, mission-critical AI workloads and real-time applications.
16
Pathway Live Data Framework
APISelf-hosted Free plan Record4.5 Visit Pathway suits developers building data pipelines for analytics or AI over stored and live data.
18
Apache Flink
LinuxAPISelf-hosted Free plan Record4.3 Visit Flink suits teams building event-driven systems, stream or batch analytics, and data pipelines, especially those able to operate self-hosted cluster deployments.
20
Apache Samza
LinuxAPISelf-hosted Free plan Record4.2 Visit Samza suits developers building real-time data applications who can manage a self-hosted framework.
21
Apache Kafka
APISelf-hosted Free plan Record4.1 Visit Kafka suits teams building event-streaming systems for data pipelines, integration, analytics, and related applications.
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