ONAP

ONAP is a network service orchestration platform for providers and enterprises coordinating physical, virtual, and cloud-native network functions. It suits teams with the Kubernetes expertise and infrastructure to run a modular, large-scale system; its breadth is valuable for network operations but excessive for ordinary workflow automation.

Overview

ONAP brings service design, implementation, analytics, orchestration, and lifecycle management into a vendor-agnostic framework for network and edge services. Its policy-driven approach is built for coordinating services at scale, rather than automating general business processes. Teams can select individual orchestration functions instead of adopting every component, a practical way to align the platform with a particular network environment.

The Linux Foundation formed ONAP in 2017 by merging the open source ECOMP and OPEN-O projects. The project is open to community participation, with documentation, developer guidance, mailing lists, project calls, and regular Technical Steering Committee meetings.

Key features

ONAP supports synchronous orchestration of physical and virtual network functions, along with configuration management, workflow orchestration, and network testing. Its runtime combines monitoring, analytics, alarm and event correlation, and closed-loop automation. That combination is useful for operations teams managing ongoing services and responding to changing conditions, not just triggering isolated tasks.

The Portal Framework provides role-based access to design-time and runtime environments for service designers and operations personnel. This division supports collaboration between teams responsible for building services and those running them. Published blueprints span 5G, virtual CPE, broadband service, VoLTE, cross-domain VPN, and multi-domain optical network service, offering concrete starting points for network use cases.

The 5G blueprint was developed with 3GPP, TM Forum, ETSI, and the O-RAN Software Community. The Paris release also supports generative AI solutions powered by large language models and enhancements for intent-driven networks and Model-As-a-Service. These capabilities broaden the platform’s direction, while its core appeal remains orchestration and lifecycle automation.

ONAP’s security work includes HTTPS ports, removing hard-coded passwords, non-root Kubernetes pods, CVE mitigation, and Istio and Ingress Gateway for secure component communications in the Paris release. Its CPS and Policy Framework projects achieved OpenSSF Gold Badging, and ONAP adopted the OpenSSF Best Practice Badge Program. The project accepts vulnerability reports through its security mailing list, with trusted community security experts handling reports confidentially.

Pricing

ONAP is open source and free: the ONAP plan costs nothing. There is no free trial because the software is already available without charge. The free plan gives organizations the platform without a subscription price, but they need to account for deploying and operating it themselves.

ONAP is deployed on Kubernetes through the ONAP Operations Manager. A full deployment calls for 224 GB RAM, 160 GB disk, and 112 vCores; selecting only needed components can reduce those requirements substantially. This makes modular adoption important for teams with limited infrastructure, though even a selective deployment requires the capacity to manage a Kubernetes-based system.

Free Linux Foundation introductory eLearning courses can help teams get started, while ONAP Fundamentals is a paid course. The project directs users to individual project release notes for known issues and limitations, and does not describe a product support service.

Platforms

ONAP supports API, Linux, self-hosted, and web environments. Its Operations Manager uses Kubernetes to deploy, monitor, and manage component lifecycles; official integration documentation describes Kubernetes on bare metal or environments such as OpenStack, Azure, and AWS. This flexibility suits organizations with suitable infrastructure, but the operational burden makes ONAP a poor fit for teams seeking a lightweight hosted tool.

Who it's for

Network operators, cloud providers, enterprises, and developers are the clearest audience, particularly where services span physical network functions, virtual network functions, and cloud-native network functions. Teams working on 5G, broadband, virtual CPE, VoLTE, or cross-domain services can draw on relevant blueprints and lifecycle automation. Organizations without Kubernetes and network engineering capacity, or those needing only routine workflow automation, are better served by a narrower tool.

Pros and cons

• Broad network lifecycle coverage: Design, synchronous orchestration, analytics, and closed-loop automation work together for teams managing services over time.
• Modular adoption: Selecting components can lower the infrastructure requirement compared with a full deployment.
• Open and free: There is no software subscription price, with community resources and free introductory courses available.
• Substantial full deployment: The 224 GB RAM and 112 vCores requirement puts a complete installation beyond many smaller teams’ infrastructure.
• Specialized scope: ONAP is centered on network and edge service orchestration, so it is not the right choice for general-purpose task automation.
• Self-managed operations: Kubernetes deployment and component lifecycle management require technical capacity; the project does not describe a product support service.

Alternatives

For network orchestration, start with the Network Automation Software category; for a broader workload focus, compare the IT Orchestration Software category. If the job is general workflow or task automation rather than network function lifecycle management, the alternatives below may be a better starting point.

• Kestra is another free, open-source option, with a free trial and support for API, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, web, and Windows platforms.
• Windmill may suit teams wanting a freemium option with a published free plan covering 3 workspaces, 50 users, 10 GiB workspace object storage, and 100 guest app users per month.
• AWS Step Functions offers a freemium API and web option; its Free Tier does not expire after the 12-month AWS Free Tier term and is available indefinitely to new and existing AWS customers.
• Google Cloud Workflows has an Always Free tier with monthly limits of 5,000 internal steps and 2,000 external steps, plus a pay-as-you-go plan priced at $0.01 a month.
• Orkes Conductor offers a Developer Edition with all Conductor OSS features, enterprise features, early access to new features, and pre-built workflow templates.
• StackStorm is a free, open-source alternative available for API, Linux, self-hosted, and web environments.
• HCL Workload Automation is a paid workload automation product with a free trial and custom pricing.
• ActiveBatch is a paid alternative with custom pricing.

Verdict

Choose ONAP if your organization needs policy-driven orchestration and lifecycle automation for complex network services and can support a Kubernetes deployment. Its modular, open-source platform combines service design with runtime operations without a software subscription fee. Look elsewhere if you need lightweight, general-purpose workflow automation or cannot commit the infrastructure and engineering capacity a full deployment demands.