What is Apache Ignite used for?

Apache Ignite is a clustered in-memory database and data grid with optional disk persistence and SQL support, built for high-performance workloads. It is a good fit for low-latency caching layer for large datasets and in-memory computing for data-heavy apps.

Is Apache Ignite open source?

Yes. Apache Ignite is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at apache/ignite and is written mainly in Java.

Is Apache Ignite free?

Yes. Apache Ignite is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Apache Ignite?

Yes. Apache Ignite can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Apache Ignite an alternative to?

Apache Ignite is an open-source alternative to Aerospike. Other open-source alternatives to Aerospike include Apache Cassandra, Redis and Dragonfly.

Is Apache Ignite actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Apache Ignite was on 2 October 2026. The project has 5.1k stars on GitHub.

Apache Ignite: open-source alternative to Aerospike

About Apache Ignite

Apache Ignite is a clustered database aimed at high-performance computing, running at the speed of memory. It can act as a data grid, cache and SQL database across a cluster, which suits workloads that need low-latency access to large datasets. This repository contains Ignite 2, while Ignite 3 lives in a separate repository, and both are actively developed.

Its multi-tier storage design treats RAM, disks and Intel Optane as separate layers that can all hold live data. The memory tier holds data in DRAM or Optane in memory mode, and the disk tier is optional, offering persistence either in an external database or in Ignite's own storage. Client APIs are available for Java, .NET and C++, and repository topics mention distributed SQL, in-memory computing, Hadoop and IoT.

Ignite is an Apache Software Foundation project under Apache-2.0 and written in Java. You deploy it on your own servers or Kubernetes clusters. It suits teams building data-intensive services that need fast reads and writes, transactions and SQL together.

Key features

In-memory distributed database
Multi-tier storage with memory and disk
Distributed SQL queries
Caching and data grid capabilities
APIs for Java, .NET and C++
Optional persistence of data

Good fit for

→Low-latency caching layer for large datasets
→In-memory computing for data-heavy apps

Built with: Java
Tags: distributed-database; in-memory; sql; cache; apache; java; data-grid

Apache Ignite: questions and answers

What is Apache Ignite used for?: Apache Ignite is a clustered in-memory database and data grid with optional disk persistence and SQL support, built for high-performance workloads. It is a good fit for low-latency caching layer for large datasets and in-memory computing for data-heavy apps.
Is Apache Ignite open source?: Yes. Apache Ignite is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at apache/ignite and is written mainly in Java.
Is Apache Ignite free?: Yes. Apache Ignite is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Apache Ignite?: Yes. Apache Ignite can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Apache Ignite an alternative to?: Apache Ignite is an open-source alternative to Aerospike. Other open-source alternatives to Aerospike include Apache Cassandra, Redis and Dragonfly.
Is Apache Ignite actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Apache Ignite was on 2 October 2026. The project has 5.1k stars on GitHub.