Keboola
Keboola's AI data assistant Kai reaches GA for multi-tenant customers, with MCP one-click login simplifying AI tool access across projects.
Comparison · Analytics
Hex vs Apache Storm
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Hex and Apache Storm — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Hex vs Apache Storm: at a glance
| Feature | Hex | Apache Storm |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Analytics | Analytics |
| Velocity score | 6.3 | 6.3 |
| Sparks · 30d | 1 | 0 |
| Top themes | analytics, ai-agents, data-science, agentic-workflows | stream-processing, modernization, security, scheduler |
| Last editorial update | 15h ago | 1mo ago |
| Website | — | Visit → |
What is Hex?
Hex's chat agent can now build and publish Hex projects — analytics is going fully agentic.
Hex has crossed from AI-assisted analysis into AI-driven analytics: the platform's agent can now create Hex projects directly from chat, publish versioned eval suites, and operate end-to-end across the CLI and API. The last six weeks have added BYOK AI providers, direct code editing in generative apps, and CSV scheduling — each release expanding what the agent can autonomously do rather than assist with.
What is Apache Storm?
Storm 3.0 finishes removing the Clojure it was built in, and moves to a Java 21 baseline.
Storm is running two lines: a 2.8.x maintenance branch that is mostly Dependabot traffic punctuated by real security releases, and the new 3.0.0 line cut on 22 July. 3.0.0 removes all remaining Clojure from the codebase, raises the baseline to Java 21 (with master already on 25), and ships throughput work — zstd compression for thrift cluster state, tuple compression between workers, and decoupling of the control plane from the data plane on receive queues. The 2.8.6 and 2.8.7 releases earlier in the window carried four CVEs, including a deserialization RCE reachable by any user with topology submission rights.
Hex vs Apache Storm: editorial side-by-side
Hex
6.3ANALYTICS
Hex's chat agent can now build and publish Hex projects — analytics is going fully agentic.
◆ Current state
Hex has crossed from AI-assisted analysis into AI-driven analytics: the platform's agent can now create Hex projects directly from chat, publish versioned eval suites, and operate end-to-end across the CLI and API. The last six weeks have added BYOK AI providers, direct code editing in generative apps, and CSV scheduling — each release expanding what the agent can autonomously do rather than assist with.
◆ Where it's heading
Hex is building an agentic analytics platform where humans set objectives and the AI builds, iterates, and publishes the work. The emerging architecture — eval suites, approval gates, model choice, Slack-native agent, CLI API access — mirrors enterprise software delivery pipelines, with Hex as the execution layer for data products.
◆ Prediction
Hex will likely add agent-to-agent composability or workflow triggers so Generative Apps can call each other; the eval suite versioning and skip-approval capabilities point directly at automated, approval-gated data pipelines.
Apache Storm
6.3ANALYTICS
Storm 3.0 finishes removing the Clojure it was built in, and moves to a Java 21 baseline.
◆ Current state
Storm is running two lines: a 2.8.x maintenance branch that is mostly Dependabot traffic punctuated by real security releases, and the new 3.0.0 line cut on 22 July. 3.0.0 removes all remaining Clojure from the codebase, raises the baseline to Java 21 (with master already on 25), and ships throughput work — zstd compression for thrift cluster state, tuple compression between workers, and decoupling of the control plane from the data plane on receive queues. The 2.8.6 and 2.8.7 releases earlier in the window carried four CVEs, including a deserialization RCE reachable by any user with topology submission rights.
◆ Where it's heading
The project is converting itself from a legacy JVM codebase into an ordinary modern Java one, and the 3.0 work shows where that energy goes next: scheduling and queueing. Recent PRs add AIMD dynamic batch sizing to JCQueue, jitter metrics and a jitter-aware stream grouping, round-robin rebalance onto returning supervisors, and several fixes for stale or orphaned worker heartbeats. Alongside that, the distribution is being slimmed — optional Hadoop and Kafka dependencies were unbundled and shared jars de-duplicated. The 2.x branch is being kept alive for security and dependency currency, not for features.
◆ Prediction
Expect 3.0.x point releases to concentrate on the scheduler and worker-lifecycle fixes that 3.0.0 opened up, and expect the 2.8.x line to keep receiving CVE backports while feature work stays on 3.x. The Java 25 baseline already on master suggests the next minor will move the floor again.
Alternatives to Hex and Apache Storm
Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Hex or Apache Storm.
Cribl
Cribl Stream patches five 4.20.0 regressions while quietly shrinking its SDK surface.
OpenReplay
OpenReplay handles dynamic HTML root swaps and iterates user journey analytics
Omni
Omni ships dbt on Trino and MCP app management, extending AI-native BI coverage
Microsoft Clarity
Microsoft Clarity builds out AI visibility analytics with bot page classification
OpenHouse
OpenHouse fixes a production query outage while advancing Iceberg view infrastructure — then reverts both
See all Hex alternatives → · See all Apache Storm alternatives →
Recent activity from Hex and Apache Storm
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoHexExplore and share insights from Generative Apps
- 8d agoHexPublish eval suites, skip approvals, and build Hex projects from your chat agent ⚡
- 13d agoHexMore control over Generative app iteration
- 27d agoHexChart controls and easier collaboration
- 1mo agoHexStart building an app right from your conversation
- 1mo agoHexTune how the agent runs
- 2mo agoApache StormStorm 3.0 drops Clojure entirely and moves to Java 21 ⚡
- 2mo agoApache Storm2.8.9 is a dependency sweep with one Flux viewer guard
- 2mo agoApache Storm2.8.8 backports a Kafka topology-lag fix
- 5mo agoApache StormTwo TLS CVEs fixed: JVM-wide downgrade and auth bypass
- 5mo agoApache StormDeserialization RCE and stored XSS in the UI are fixed
- 6mo agoApache Storm2.8.5 is dependency upgrades plus small logging fixes
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Hex and Apache Storm?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Hex and Apache Storm are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 6.3 vs 6.3, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Hex better than Apache Storm?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Hex and Apache Storm are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 6.3 vs 6.3, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Hex?
Top Hex alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Hex alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/hex for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Apache Storm?
Top Apache Storm alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Apache Storm alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/storm for the full list with editorial commentary on each.