What is Serverless used for?

Serverless is a framework for building and deploying serverless applications on AWS Lambda. It is a good fit for deploy APIs, schedule tasks and build event-driven applications.

Is Serverless open source?

Yes. Serverless is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at serverless/serverless and is written mainly in JavaScript.

Yes. Serverless is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.

Can I self-host Serverless?

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

What is Serverless an alternative to?

Serverless is an open-source alternative to AWS Lambda and Azure Functions. Other open-source alternatives to AWS Lambda include Fission, Fn and Nuclio.

Is Serverless actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Serverless was on 13 October 2026. The project has 47k stars on GitHub.

Serverless: open-source alternative to AWS Lambda

About Serverless

The Serverless Framework is an open-source tool for building and deploying serverless applications on AWS Lambda. It allows developers to define functions and events using YAML syntax and deploy infrastructure and code with a single command.

The framework includes built-in metrics and alerts for tracking usage, performance, and errors. It supports plugins to extend use cases and integrate with other tools.

Key features

Define AWS Lambda functions and triggers with YAML syntax
Deploy infrastructure and code with a single command
Built-in metrics and alerts for monitoring
Plugin ecosystem for extending functionality

Good fit for

Deploy APIs
Schedule tasks
Build event-driven applications

Built with: JavaScript tools
Tags: serverless; aws lambda; deployment; framework; cloud

Serverless: questions and answers

What is Serverless used for?: Serverless is a framework for building and deploying serverless applications on AWS Lambda. It is a good fit for deploy APIs, schedule tasks and build event-driven applications.
Is Serverless open source?: Yes. Serverless is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at serverless/serverless and is written mainly in JavaScript.
Is Serverless free?: Yes. Serverless is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.
Can I self-host Serverless?: Yes. Serverless can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Serverless an alternative to?: Serverless is an open-source alternative to AWS Lambda and Azure Functions. Other open-source alternatives to AWS Lambda include Fission, Fn and Nuclio.
Is Serverless actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Serverless was on 13 October 2026. The project has 47k stars on GitHub.