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Comparison · Analytics
OpenReplay vs Apache Storm
A side-by-side editorial comparison of OpenReplay and Apache Storm — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
OpenReplay vs Apache Storm: at a glance
What is OpenReplay?
OpenReplay handles dynamic HTML root swaps and iterates user journey analytics
OpenReplay's recent releases are primarily stability improvements and UX iterations on session replay and user journey analytics. The HTML swap handler in 0916 resolves a recording gap where apps that dynamically swap the root DOM element produced broken replays. User journey analytics received several targeted fixes — titles, event properties in breakdowns, clickmap renderer tweaks. Pre-v1.28.0 fixed three docker-compose upgrade failures that had blocked self-hosted upgrades.
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.
OpenReplay vs Apache Storm: editorial side-by-side
OpenReplay
5.0ANALYTICS
OpenReplay handles dynamic HTML root swaps and iterates user journey analytics
◆ Current state
OpenReplay's recent releases are primarily stability improvements and UX iterations on session replay and user journey analytics. The HTML swap handler in 0916 resolves a recording gap where apps that dynamically swap the root DOM element produced broken replays. User journey analytics received several targeted fixes — titles, event properties in breakdowns, clickmap renderer tweaks. Pre-v1.28.0 fixed three docker-compose upgrade failures that had blocked self-hosted upgrades.
◆ Where it's heading
OpenReplay is iterating on analytics depth (user journeys, breakdowns, clickmaps) while filling in session recording edge cases. The docker-compose upgrade reliability work suggests v1.28.0 is in active preparation and self-hosted deployment is a priority — important for a product competing on 'open-source alternative to FullStory/Hotjar' positioning.
◆ Prediction
v1.28.0 will likely ship the user journey improvements alongside docker-compose upgrade stability, positioning OpenReplay's self-hosted option more competitively for teams with on-premise replay requirements.
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 OpenReplay 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 OpenReplay or Apache Storm.
Keboola
Keboola's AI data assistant Kai reaches GA for multi-tenant customers, with MCP one-click login simplifying AI tool access across projects.
Hex
Hex's chat agent can now build and publish Hex projects — analytics is going fully agentic.
Cribl
Cribl Stream patches five 4.20.0 regressions while quietly shrinking its SDK surface.
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
See all OpenReplay alternatives → · See all Apache Storm alternatives →
Recent activity from OpenReplay and Apache Storm
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoOpenReplaymain-backup-20260923095926: Increment db chart version to v1.27.4 (#4918)
- 1d agoOpenReplayFix: page title persistence across recording batches
- 5d agoOpenReplayFix: exclude users from breakdown analysis
- 5d agoOpenReplayRefactor: user journey metric title query
- 5d agoOpenReplayFix: spritemap restoration in session replay
- 5d agoOpenReplayUser journey patches: breakdown table, event properties, clickmap renderer, titles
- 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 OpenReplay and Apache Storm?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Apache Storm is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is OpenReplay better than Apache Storm?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Apache Storm is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to OpenReplay?
Top OpenReplay alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "OpenReplay alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/openreplay 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.