Assembly Line

Shifu

Kubernetes-native IoT gateway

Shifu is an open-source industrial connectivity project on GitHub under the Apache-2.0 license (permissive), with 1.4k stars. It is built with Go. Its last push was 7 days ago.

Stars
1.4k
License
Apache-2.0
Activity
Active
Latest release
v0.108.0

Code on GitHub Website

Judgement

What it is
Framework or platform
What it does
A Kubernetes-native IoT gateway that represents each physical device as a digital twin running in the cluster, exposing it through standard APIs.
Adopt it when
Your edge sites already run Kubernetes and you want devices managed with the same tooling as your services.
Watch out
Requires Kubernetes at the edge, which is a heavy prerequisite for small deployments; still at 0.x versions.
Ready for
Usable
Runs as
Self-hosted server
Built with
Go and Kubernetes
How established
Established: started 5 years ago, latest release v0.108.0.
What the license allows
You can build it into a product you sell, as long as you keep its copyright notice.

Judged on 2026-11-03 from the project's README and GitHub data. The license and age lines are worked out directly.

Built from

Go

Follow it down: Shifu → Go → runs on a microchip

How compilers were built, back to punched paper tape

Open-source alternatives to Shifu

  1. 1
    FUXA frangoteam

    Web-based Process Visualization (SCADA/HMI/Dashboard) software

    Complete system Usable A plant or integrator wants browser-based HMI screens without licensing a commercial SCADA package.

    ★ 5.2k MIT JavaScript Active, pushed yesterday
  2. 2
    Dgiot dgiot

    Open Source Industrial IoT Platform | 300+ protocols | 6-min deploy | Modbus OPC UA MQTT | 12K Stars

    Framework or platform Usable You are building an industrial IoT deployment with many devices and have staff able to operate Erlang, PostgreSQL and TDengine.

    ★ 4.9k Apache-2.0 Erlang Active, pushed 20 days ago
  3. 3
    Open62541 open62541

    Open source implementation of OPC UA (OPC Unified Architecture) aka IEC 62541 licensed under Mozilla Public License v2.0

    Building block Production-ready You are writing firmware or software that must speak OPC UA and want a portable, open implementation.

    ★ 3.3k MPL-2.0 C Active, pushed 5 days ago
  4. 4
    Magistrala absmach

    IoT Platform Framework

    Framework or platform Usable You are building your own IoT service and want multi-protocol messaging and device management as a base instead of writing it.

    ★ 2.7k Apache-2.0 Go Active, pushed 7 days ago
  5. 5
    Thingsboard-gateway thingsboard

    Open-source IoT Gateway - integrates devices connected to legacy and third-party systems with ThingsBoard IoT Platform using Modbus, CAN bus, BACnet, BLE, OPC-UA, MQTT, ODBC and REST protocols.

    Integration Production-ready You run ThingsBoard and need to bring legacy or fieldbus devices into it.

    ★ 2.2k Apache-2.0 Python Active, pushed 5 days ago
  6. 6
    PLC4X apache

    PLC4X The Industrial IoT adapter

    Building block Usable Your software must read from PLCs of several brands and you would rather not write each driver yourself.

    ★ 1.8k Apache-2.0 Java Active, pushed 5 days ago
  7. 7
    NodeOPCUA node-opcua

    Unlocking the Full Potential of OPC UA with Typescript and NodeJS - http://node-opcua.github.io/

    Building block Production-ready You are writing industrial software in JavaScript or TypeScript that has to talk OPC UA.

    ★ 1.7k MIT TypeScript Active, pushed yesterday
  8. 8
    Opcua-asyncio FreeOpcUa

    OPC UA library for python >= 3.10

    Building block Production-ready You need to read from or expose OPC UA data in a Python script or service.

    ★ 1.5k LGPL-3.0 Python Active, pushed 23 days ago

Commercial industrial connectivity libraries and gateways (OPC UA, Modbus)

  1. 1
    Kepware KEPServerEX PTC

    Integration Production-ready A plant needs to pull data from a mix of PLC brands into SCADA, MES or historian systems.

    Commercial
  2. 2
    Ignition Inductive Automation

    Ignition is the universal industrial platform for SCADA, MES, IIoT and more. Connect all your data across your entire enterprise and applications.

    Framework or platform Production-ready A manufacturer or integrator wants to build plant-wide SCADA and dashboards without per-tag or per-client licensing.

    Commercial
  3. 3
    HighByte Intelligence Hub HighByte

    Architect your digital transformation and AI use cases with proven Industrial DataOps software from HighByte. Let

    Integration Usable A manufacturer wants clean, modelled machine data flowing to cloud analytics or a unified namespace across plants.

    Commercial

Stars, license and activity come from GitHub and refresh on a rolling hourly schedule. The project's own description is quoted as written.