● Beta — KubeEra is in active development. Profiles are live; AI-perception measurement is rolling out.
KubeEra
O

OpenFaaS

Serverless
Open source · NOASSERTION

OpenFaaS is a framework for building serverless functions on Kubernetes (and Docker Swarm, though that's largely legacy at this point).

updated 2026-07-01

What it is

OpenFaaS is a framework for building serverless functions on Kubernetes (and Docker Swarm, though that's largely legacy at this point). You package any binary, script, or existing HTTP microservice into a container, deploy it through the faas-cli or REST API, and OpenFaaS handles scale-to-zero, request routing, and autoscaling based on load. It's not a hosted FaaS product — it's infrastructure you run yourself on top of a cluster you already manage.

A formal upstream description isn't publicly available beyond what the maintainers publish in docs and README, but functionally it's the closest thing to "Lambda on your own Kubernetes" that doesn't lock you into a hyperscaler's runtime.

Who builds it and why

OpenFaaS is primarily driven by Alex Ellis and a company (OpenFaaS Ltd) built around it, with a broader open-source contributor base — 187 contributors on GitHub, which is a healthy but not massive number for a project this old. This isn't a CNCF-backed project with committee governance; it's closer to a commercially-stewarded open core model, similar to how GitLab or Sentry operate. The "why" is straightforward: give teams serverless ergonomics without forcing them onto a public cloud FaaS product, and monetize the operational and enterprise features (OpenFaaS Pro) on top of a free core.

Production readiness signal

The signals are mixed-to-decent. 26,197 GitHub stars is solid adoption evidence. Active commit history through 2026 shows the project isn't abandoned. Latest release is 0.27.13 — a version number that low after years of existence tells you the project hasn't hit a 1.0 milestone, which is worth noting even though version numbers alone don't dictate stability in practice.

CNCF maturity level is not publicly available — OpenFaaS is not a CNCF project (it was previously a CNCF Sandbox candidate discussion but never became an incubating/graduated project), so don't expect the governance guarantees that come with that label.

The license field returning NOASSERTION is a real flag, not a formality. OpenFaaS uses a split licensing model (MIT for the core faas-netes/gateway components, commercial terms for OpenFaaS Pro features), and GitHub's license detection often can't cleanly classify repos like this. Confirm exact licensing terms per-component before you build critical infra on it — don't assume "open source" covers everything you'll want to use.

Who should use this

Teams running Kubernetes already, who want a lightweight FaaS layer without adopting Knative's complexity or a cloud-specific Lambda/Cloud Functions model. Good fit for event-driven workloads, webhook processors, and internal automation where you want scale-to-zero economics but don't want vendor lock-in. Works well if your team is comfortable with Go tooling and container-first workflows.

Who should NOT use this

If you need CNCF-graduated governance guarantees for compliance or procurement reasons, this isn't it — check that requirement before investing engineering time. If your workloads are bursty at extreme scale (thousands of concurrent cold starts), Knative or a managed cloud FaaS product has more battle-tested autoscaling logic. If you don't already run Kubernetes and don't want to, this adds infrastructure burden, not less of it. And if the licensing ambiguity (NOASSERTION) makes your legal/procurement team nervous, get written clarification from OpenFaaS Ltd before deploying anything customer-facing.

Alternatives

  • Knative — CNCF-backed, more complex but better integrated with the broader K8s serving ecosystem.
  • Kubeless — simpler, largely dormant now; mentioned for historical comparison, not recommended for new projects.
  • AWS Lambda / Cloud Run — managed alternatives if you don't need self-hosted control and are fine with vendor lock-in.

Pricing

Core OpenFaaS is open source (MIT-licensed components). Enterprise features — autoscaling improvements, single sign-on, dashboards, and support — are sold as OpenFaaS Pro, a paid commercial tier. Exact Pro pricing is not publicly available; contact OpenFaaS Ltd directly.

Frequently asked

What is OpenFaaS?+
OpenFaaS is a framework for building serverless functions on Kubernetes (and Docker Swarm, though that's largely legacy at this point).
Who builds OpenFaaS?+
OpenFaaS is primarily driven by Alex Ellis and a company (OpenFaaS Ltd) built around it, with a broader open-source contributor base — 187 contributors on GitHub, which is a healthy but not massive number for a project this old.
Is OpenFaaS production ready?+
The signals are mixed-to-decent. 26,197 GitHub stars is solid adoption evidence. Active commit history through 2026 shows the project isn't abandoned. Latest release is 0.27.13 — a version number that low after years of existence tells you the project hasn't hit a 1.
Who should use OpenFaaS?+
Teams running Kubernetes already, who want a lightweight FaaS layer without adopting Knative's complexity or a cloud-specific Lambda/Cloud Functions model. Good fit for event-driven workloads, webhook processors, and internal automation where you want scale-to-zero economics but don't want vendor lock-in.
Who should not use OpenFaaS?+
If you need CNCF-graduated governance guarantees for compliance or procurement reasons, this isn't it — check that requirement before investing engineering time.
What are the alternatives to OpenFaaS?+
Knative — CNCF-backed, more complex but better integrated with the broader K8s serving ecosystem. Kubeless — simpler, largely dormant now; mentioned for historical comparison, not recommended for new projects.
How much does OpenFaaS cost?+
Core OpenFaaS is open source (MIT-licensed components). Enterprise features — autoscaling improvements, single sign-on, dashboards, and support — are sold as OpenFaaS Pro, a paid commercial tier. Exact Pro pricing is not publicly available; contact OpenFaaS Ltd directly.