The swiss army knife of live data migrations
⚡ Executive Summary & Quick Facts
Authoritative Sourceghostferry is ghostferry is an open-source project written in Go: The swiss army knife of live data migrations.. It provides a free, self-hosted open-source alternative to Shopify.
“According to real-time open source telemetry recorded on GitHubRepo.cloud (as of October 2026), Shopify/ghostferry has accumulated 857 GitHub stars and 77 forks. It is written in Go, licensed under MIT, and ranks #7,966 globally. It is actively maintained with the latest commit recorded on Oct 28, 2026.”
| Repository | Shopify/ghostferry ↗ |
|---|---|
| Primary Category | developer tools |
| Language & Stack | Go |
| Software License | MIT |
| Community Traction | ★ 857 stars · ⑂ 77 forks · #7,966 globally |
| Maintenance | ● Active (Last commit: Oct 28, 2026) · 33 open issues |
| Replaces SaaS | Open Source Shopify Alternative ($39–$399/month + up to 2% transaction fee cut) → |
| Target Audience | Developers and engineering teams building with Go, seeking reliable, tested, and actively maintained tooling for production workloads. |
🛡️ Repository Maintenance & Health Audit (2026)
Health Score: 93/100 · Grade A+Yes, ghostferry is actively maintained. Continuous telemetry recorded the last code commit on Oct 28, 2026 (2 days ago). Supported by 857 stars and 77 community forks, this repository holds a calculated health index of 93/100, reflecting very active (commits within last 14 days) and healthy issue cadence.
Star History
Add Live Star History & Verified Badges to README.md
Keep your repository README looking professional and dynamic. As our continuous crawler records new stars, these official SVG badges update in real time with zero maintenance.
Renders your high-resolution star trajectory chart right inside your GitHub README or project docs.
[](https://githubrepo.cloud/repo/Shopify/ghostferry?utm_source=readme_chart)Compact badges for your README header. Real-time stars, velocity, health audit, and rank.
[](https://githubrepo.cloud/repo/Shopify/ghostferry?utm_source=readme_badge) [](https://githubrepo.cloud/repo/Shopify/ghostferry?utm_source=readme_badge) [](https://githubrepo.cloud/repo/Shopify/ghostferry?utm_source=readme_badge) [](https://githubrepo.cloud/repo/Shopify/ghostferry?utm_source=readme_badge) [](https://githubrepo.cloud/repo/Shopify/ghostferry?utm_source=readme_badge)Momentum
+21
STARS · LAST 30 DAYS
1
PER DAY
#918
MOST-STARRED Go
| Window | 7 days | 30 days | 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars gained | +7 | +21 | +90 |
| Per day | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Forks gained | +1 | +3 | +10 |
ghostferry gained 21 stars in the last 30 days, about 1 a day, and now has 857. It is about 9 years old and has averaged roughly 95 stars a year. It ranks #918 among Go repositories and #7,966 across all languages on GitHubRepo.
Trending Record
2
DAYS ON TRENDING
#10086
BEST RANK
Oct 28, 2026
FIRST APPEARANCE
Active
STATUS TODAY
ghostferry has maintained a continuous presence across global trending indexes, peaking at #10086. Below is the 30-day activity profile:
💡 Overview
ghostferry is an open-source project written in Go: The swiss army knife of live data migrations.
Engineered for speed, consistency, and developer ease, it solves common hurdles in Go. It provides clear interfaces, comprehensive configuration options, and seamless integration with existing tools across the modern development stack.
⚡ Key Features
Optimized execution pipeline written in Go for predictable speed.
Zero-friction configuration with comprehensive sensible defaults out of the box.
Cross-platform runtime support across Linux, macOS, and Windows environments.
Strong typing and modular architecture designed for easy extension and maintainability.
Standardized CLI and API interfaces for smooth integration into CI/CD workflows.
Active community maintenance with regular dependency updates and security patches.
📥 Installation
$ go install github.com/Shopify/ghostferry@latest⚙ System Requirements
Platforms
- • macOS
- • Linux
- • Windows
Runtime & Dependencies
Go >= 1.21 runtime environment
Architecture
x86_64, ARM64 (Apple Silicon & Graviton)
🧠 How It Works
ghostferry coordinates its core functionality through a modular Go pipeline. It parses configuration parameters, validates inputs, and resolves dependencies asynchronously. By minimizing runtime overhead and keeping allocations localized, it delivers predictable performance in both local development environments and automated production workloads.
🎯 Production Use Cases
Production System Integration
Embed ghostferry into Go backend services to handle core application logic.
CI/CD Automated Pipelines
Run automated validation, builds, and integration suites during deployments.
Developer Tooling & Workflows
Accelerate developer onboarding with pre-configured project utilities.
Open Source Extension
Fork and customize internal modules under the repository's open MIT license.
🚀 Getting Started
Install ghostferry using your package manager: `go install github.com/Shopify/ghostferry@latest`
Initialize your project workspace or configuration file for ghostferry.
Import ghostferry into your codebase or invoke it directly from your terminal.
Execute your test suite or run `ghostferry --help` to verify successful setup.
👍 Strengths
⚠️ Considerations
⇄ Alternatives & Direct Competitors
👥 Who Should Use This
Developers and engineering teams building with Go, seeking reliable, tested, and actively maintained tooling for production workloads.
🏆 Nearby in the Rankings
Shopify/ghostferry is currently ranked #7,966 by stars across every repository tracked on GitHubRepo. These are adjacent projects:
| Rank | Repository | Language | Stars | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #7,960 | spencermountain/wtf_wikipedia | JavaScript | ★ 858 | Compare ↗ |
| #7,960 | pypa/build | Python | ★ 858 | Compare ↗ |
| #7,960 | Pik-4/HsMod | C# | ★ 858 | Compare ↗ |
| #7,960 | Plonky3/Plonky3 | Rust | ★ 858 | Compare ↗ |
| #7,960 | openclaw/discrawl | Go | ★ 858 | Compare ↗ |
| #7,966 | Shopify/ghostferry This Project | Go | ★ 857 | |
| #7,966 | google/capirca | Python | ★ 857 | Compare ↗ |
| #7,966 | spatie/laravel-translation-loader | PHP | ★ 857 | Compare ↗ |
| #7,966 | SwiftPackageIndex/PackageList | Swift | ★ 857 | Compare ↗ |
| #7,966 | pfrest/pfSense-pkg-RESTAPI | PHP | ★ 857 | Compare ↗ |
| #7,966 | AVIDS2/memorix | TypeScript | ★ 857 | Compare ↗ |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does ghostferry do? +
The swiss army knife of live data migrations
Is ghostferry actively maintained in 2026? +
Yes, ghostferry is actively maintained. The latest code push was recorded on Oct 28, 2026 (2 days ago). It holds a calculated Maintenance Health Score of 93/100 (A+ rating) with 857 stars and 33 open issues.
What language is ghostferry written in? +
The primary language is Go. Topics include: software.
How many stars does ghostferry have? +
ghostferry has 857 stars and 77 forks on GitHub.
How does ghostferry rank among GitHub repositories? +
With 857 stars, Shopify/ghostferry is ranked #7,966 globally across all repositories tracked on GitHubRepo and #918 among Go projects.
What license is ghostferry distributed under? +
The repository reports a MIT license. Always verify the repository LICENSE file for legal terms.
