[opensourcedex]

hop is a free, open source data engineering & integration project written in Java and released under Apache-2.0. It has 1,465 GitHub stars, 477 forks and 431 open issues, and was last pushed 6 hours ago. On this registry it ranks #30 of 39 tracked projects in Data Engineering & Integration, with 5 head-to-head comparisons available. It gained 2 stars over the last 3 tracked days.

What is hop?

What it is

Apache Hop is an open-source data and metadata orchestration platform in the Apache ecosystem. It is written in Java, licensed under Apache-2.0, and positioned for data engineering and integration work. Its stated aim is to facilitate all aspects of data and metadata orchestration.

The concrete problem it addresses is the complexity of building and maintaining ETL, pipeline, workflow, and streaming processes. Hop presents itself as a Java-based platform for orchestration across data-integration workloads, and its topics name data-integration, etl, orchestration, pipeline, streaming, and workflow.

Key capabilities

  • It supports data and metadata orchestration as its central stated function.
  • It covers ETL and data-integration workloads, as shown by its category and topics.
  • It is designed for pipeline and workflow orchestration, based on the listed topics.
  • It includes streaming as a named capability area in the topic list.
  • It provides a client user interface started with hop-gui.bat on Windows or hop-gui.sh on Mac and Linux.
  • It can be built from source or release archive using OpenJDK Java 21 and Maven 3.6.3 or higher.
  • It exposes contribution paths through GitHub issues, GitHub Discussions, mailing lists, documentation, translation, and Sonar issues.

Who uses it and how

  • Data engineering and integration teams can use it for ETL, pipeline, workflow, and streaming orchestration.
  • Developers can build from a cloned source repository or downloaded release archive, then run the client locally.
  • Users can start the Hop UI after unzipping hop-client-*.zip and running the platform-specific script or batch file.
  • Contributors can file bugs, request features, ask questions, improve documentation, translate the project, or help resolve Sonar issues.
  • Teams that prefer source-controlled, Java-based tooling can adopt it through standard Maven build workflows.

Getting started

The README describes installing by building from source with git clone, OpenJDK Java 21, and Maven, or by extracting a release archive and running mvn clean install. The client is then started from assemblies/client/target by unzipping hop-client-*.zip and running hop-gui.bat on Windows or hop-gui.sh on Mac and Linux.

When to use it — and when not to

Use Apache Hop when an Apache-licensed, Java-based ETL and orchestration platform matches an existing data-integration workflow, especially when source builds and a local client are acceptable. Avoid it when a team needs Docker images, package-manager installs, hosted execution, or a low-maintenance self-hosting model, because the README lists only Maven and OpenJDK build steps. The 431 open issues and cryptographic-software notice also suggest active maintenance work and export-control review.

project readme (upstream, from github) — read inline

Apache Hop

The Hop Orchestration Platform aims to facilitate all aspects of data and metadata orchestration.

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Trying Apache Hop

Apache Hop aims to offer you a very stable user experience. Any feedback that you might have is welcome! If you find that something is not working, have an idea for a new feature or simply if something is not to your liking, let us know! Your help is invaluable.

There are various things you can do to help Hop continue moving forward quickly:

Check our Contribution Guide and the Hop website for more information on how to contribute.

Building Apache Hop

From source repository

Required:

  • OpenJDK Java 21 compiler. Make sure to update your JDK to the latest possible patch version.

Recommended:

Verify Maven Java version: (should be Java 21 to compile properly without skipping tests)

mvn -version

Clone Hop to a local repository:

$ git clone https://github.com/apache/hop.git

Change into the clone repository and build:
We provide two ways to build the code, if you have the correct Maven version installed you can use following commands:

$ cd hop 
$ mvn clean install

We have also added mavenwrapper which simplifies build by using the correct Apache Maven version when it is not available on the system

$ cd hop
$ ./mvnw clean install

From release archive

You can download a source release here

Required:

  • OpenJDK Java 21 compiler or higher. Make sure to get the latest updates to support recent features like dark mode on the various platforms.
  • Maven 3.6.3 or higher

Verify Maven Java version: (should be Java 21 to compile properly without skipping tests)

mvn -version

Unzip the archive

$ tar -xf apache-hop*.tar.gz

Change into the clone repository and build:
We provide two ways to build the code, if you have the correct Maven version installed you can use following commands:

$ cd apache-hop-*
$ mvn clean install

We have also added mavenwrapper which simplifies build by using the correct Apache Maven version when it is not available on the system

$ cd apache-hop-*
$ ./mvnw clean install

Run Apache Hop

After a successful build, the Hop UI can be started.

$ cd assemblies/client/target
$ unzip hop-client-*.zip
$ cd hop

On Windows, run hop-gui.bat, on Mac and Linux, run hop-gui.sh

Help us to improve Hop by logging issues in GitHub Issues

This distribution includes cryptographic software. The country in which you currently reside may have restrictions on the import, possession, use, and/or re-export to another country, of encryption software. BEFORE using any encryption software, please check your country's laws, regulations and policies concerning the import, possession, or use, and re-export of encryption software, to see if this is permitted. See http://www.wassenaar.org for more information.

The Apache Software Foundation has classified this software as Export Commodity Control Number (ECCN) 5D002, which includes information security software using or performing cryptographic functions with asymmetric algorithms. The form and manner of this Apache Software Foundation distribution makes it eligible for export under the "publicly available" Section 742.15(b) exemption (see the BIS Export Administration Regulations, Section 742.15(b)) for both object code and source code.

The following provides more details on the included cryptographic
software:

  • PGP Encrypt - Decrypt transforms/actions
  • Apache Kafka Transforms
  • Apache POI Transforms
  • MQTT Transforms

Frequently asked questions

Is hop free to use?

hop is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. There is no licence fee and no seat count — you can self-host it or, where the project offers one, pay a vendor for a managed version instead.

What does hop do?

Hop Orchestration Platform

What is hop written in?

hop is primarily written in Java. Its source is publicly available at https://github.com/apache/hop, and it has 1,465 GitHub stars.