Apache Camel

Apache Camel is an open source integration framework. It lets you connect systems and move or change data using routes written in Java, YAML or XML.

Camel provides hundreds of connectors for databases, message brokers, web APIs and cloud services. A route describes where messages come from, which steps they go through and where they are sent. The steps can filter, split, transform and aggregate messages, following the Enterprise Integration Patterns catalog. You can run a route with the Camel CLI for quick tests, or package it in a Spring Boot or Quarkus application for production. The project also includes components for AI agents and MCP.

• Write routes in Java, YAML or XML
• Connect to Kafka, JDBC, REST, AWS and many more
• Use Enterprise Integration Patterns for routing and transforms
• Run on Spring Boot, Quarkus or standalone with the CLI
• Export to Maven and deploy with any CI pipeline

Java developers and integration engineers who move data between systems will find it familiar. Teams that prefer YAML for simple routes can start with the CLI and move to a larger application later.

Apache Camel is free to use under the Apache License 2.0, and it has many contributors. It is a framework rather than a hosted service, so you run and operate it yourself. Routes are as reliable as the systems they touch, so testing and monitoring each connector matters in production.