Spline review
A self-hosted, Spark-focused lineage tool with graph storage and web visualization.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Spline is an open-source data lineage tracking and visualization solution for data engineers and organizations working with Apache Spark and other data-processing technologies. It captures metadata from processing pipelines through agents, sends that metadata to a server over REST or Kafka, stores it in ArangoDB, and provides APIs and a web interface for querying and visualization. Its deployment options include web, API, and self-hosted components, making it suited to teams that want control over their lineage environment.
Its strongest fit is a Spark-centered ecosystem. The Apache Spark lineage agent supports Scala, Python, and Spark SQL, while a separate Python agent can track arbitrary Python functions. Spline also includes an OpenLineage metadata adapter proof of concept, REST Producer and Consumer APIs, and Kafka transport for lineage metadata. These pieces give engineering teams several ways to collect and move lineage information, while ArangoDB provides graph-based storage for the resulting relationships. Teams already working with Spark, Kafka, OpenLineage, or ArangoDB will find the integration model closely aligned with their stack.
Spline covers automated discovery, pipeline lineage, and column-level lineage through column selection. However, its deployment model is self-hosted, so teams must operate the server, storage, transport, and web interface themselves. Dataset-level backward and forward impact views were described as under development, which limits its fit for organizations that need mature impact-analysis workflows as a primary capability. Choose Spline for open-source, Spark-focused lineage tracking with APIs and a web UI; consider another tool if broad platform coverage or established dataset-level impact analysis is central to the purchase.
Spline pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Open-source with automated pipeline and data-lineage tracking
- Spark agents support Scala, Python, and Spark SQL
- REST, Kafka, OpenLineage, and ArangoDB support
- Where it doesn't
- Self-hosted deployment requires infrastructure management
- Dataset-level impact views are under development
- Focus is narrower outside Spark and Python workflows
Spline fact sheet, pricing and score →
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