Introduction: The challenge with Camunda 7 and the end of support
Many companies – especially in security-critical industries such as finance and banking – have been using Camunda 7 as a BPM platform for years to efficiently automate business processes. However, Camunda has announced that it will discontinue support for the Camunda 7 Community Edition (CE) in October 2025 heise.de. For paying Enterprise customers, there will still be full support until 2027 and security updates until 2030, but for the free version, the official maintenance period will end with the 7.24 release in fall 2025 heise.de. What does this mean for companies that have opted for Camunda 7?
From October 2025, no new updates, bug fixes or security patches will be provided for Camunda 7 (Community). This poses a significant risk – especially in regulated areas such as finance, where outdated software without support is a no-go. Camunda itself therefore recommends that affected users migrate to Camunda 8 as soon as possible forum.camunda.io, but many companies are unsure whether this is the right path to take. A migration to Camunda 8 brings with it numerous challenges. In this blog article, we explain why switching directly to Camunda 8 can be problematic and introduce CIB Seven, an attractive alternative that allows you to seamlessly continue your Camunda 7 workflows.
Why not Camunda 8? – Hurdles and risks of migration
Camunda 8 is positioned by Camunda as the successor platform to version 7. However, it is a completely new product in terms of technology, so migration is anything but trivial. Below are some of the biggest hurdles when switching to Camunda 8:
- Not an easy upgrade path: Camunda 8 is based on a new architecture (cloud-native, microservices engine Zeebe) and differs fundamentally from Camunda 7 heise.de. A direct in-place upgrade is not possible – existing workflows and integrations have to be practically re-implemented, as the differences are too great pretius.com. Experts advise against attempting a purely technical 1-to-1 move from Camunda 7 to 8, as this would be “a recipe for disaster” pretius.com. Instead, Camunda 8 would have to be set up again and the processes migrated manually – a huge investment in time and resources.
- High costs due to new license model: Camunda 7 was available as a free open source version, but Camunda 8 is only available as a commercial product pretius.compretius.com. Camunda 8 no longer offers a free community edition for productive use heise.de – after a limited evaluation phase, a paid license (self-managed or as SaaS) is mandatory. This means considerable additional license costs for existing Camunda 7 users, which must be taken into account in the budget. The financial leap to Camunda 8 is an important factor, especially if you have previously used Camunda 7 free of charge.
- Limited support for some use cases: Certain usage types of Camunda 7 are no longer supported by Camunda 8. One example is embedded operation: Many companies have integrated Camunda 7 as an embedded engine directly into their applications – this model cannot be implemented in this way with Camunda 8 heise.de. Camunda 8 generally runs as an independent service (cluster on Kubernetes) and no longer as a lightweight Java library within an application. This means significant architectural changes for existing systems if they are migrated. In addition, Camunda 8 relies on other technology stacks (e.g. an event-driven workflow engine with document-oriented data storage instead of relational DB), which entails a steep learning curve for the development team and possible loss of functionality.
In summary, the switch to Camunda 8 is associated with risks, high costs and considerable effort. Companies must carefully weigh up whether the new features and scalability of Camunda 8 justify this effort – or whether there are more sensible alternatives to ensure the continuity of their process platform cib.de.
CIB Seven as an alternative: advantages and key features of the Camunda 7 fork
There is good news for anyone facing the Camunda 8 dilemma: With CIB Seven, an attractive alternative is available to continue your Camunda 7 workflows beyond 2025. But what exactly is CIB Seven? It is an open source fork of Camunda 7, initiated by the German software company CIB. This fork project aims to further develop and supportthe Camunda 7 engine independently in the long term heise.de. CIB Seven makes it possible to continue using the proven Camunda 7 technology without having to forego important support or take the high hurdle of Camunda 8 migration. The advantages and key features of CIB Seven at a glance:
- Open source & no license fees: CIB Seven is offered under the Apache 2.0 open source licenseheise.de. For users, this means: no ongoing license fees – the system remains permanently free to use, on-premise or in the cloud. Companies retain digital sovereignty over their process platform and avoid vendor lock-in, as the source code is open and is maintained independently of the original manufacturer heise.de.
- Full compatibility with Camunda 7: The CIB Seven Engine is compatible with existing Camunda 7 processes and APIs. You can continue to use your existing BPMN models, decisions and integrations unchangedcibseven.org. The familiar functionality is retained for the specialist department – the process logic does not have to be redeveloped. This investment security is a key argument in favor of CIB Seven.
- Long-term support & maintenance: CIB Seven guarantees continued support, updates, bug fixes and security patches for the Camunda 7 Engine, even after Camunda has discontinued official support heise.de. CIB Seven is backed by CIB (and a network of partners) as a reliable provider that provides regular updates. This allows companies to operate their workflow platform securely without interruption, safe in the knowledge that any problems that arise will be resolved and security gaps closed. According to press releases, users will have no migration costs and will continue to receive updates openpr.com – their previous investments are protected.
- Extended functions and a modern interface: CIB Seven is not just limited to keeping Camunda 7 alive, but will be actively developed and expanded. For example, a new, modern user interface (“Web Modeler” and admin tools) is planned, which should offer significant added value compared to the old Camunda 7 UI heise.de. In addition, a plugin marketplace is planned where third-party providers and CIB itself can offer extensions – over 200 modules (including from the low-code area and AI functions) are already available as candidates heise.de. This means that users will benefit from a growing ecosystem around CIB Seven in the long term. The integration of AI-supported workflow components is also part of the roadmap to enable modern intelligent processes openpr.com. Important: All these new features are optional – the core remains lean and compatible, but anyone who wants to can seamlessly integrate additional functions.
- Flexible operation (on-premise or cloud): Like Camunda 7, CIB Seven can also be operated in different infrastructures – in your own environment (on-premises) or in the cloud of your choice cibseven.org. It therefore meets the requirements of banks and insurance companies, which often prefer on-premise solutions, as well as those of modern companies that rely on cloud deployments. Digital independence is maintained as there is no link to a proprietary cloud platform.
In summary, CIB Seven offers a fully-fledged Camunda 7 alternative that combines open availability, cost benefits and future-proofing. In the next section, we will take a look at how a migration from Camunda 7 to CIB Seven actually works and why this changeover is significantly easier than the jump to Camunda 8.
Easy migration from Camunda 7 to CIB Seven: how to make the switch smoothly
One of the most convincing arguments in favor of CIB Seven is the almost seamless migration from Camunda 7. Since CIB Seven is technically based on Camunda 7, existing installations can be converted with minimal effort. CIB has paid particular attention to making the changeover as smooth as possible for users:
- “Drop-in replacement: CIB Seven provides a drop-in version (v1.0) for testing and evaluation purposes. This version can replaceyour existing Camunda 7 engine practically one-to-one, without the need for code adaptations openpr.com. You simply replace the engine component and all previous processes and interfaces continue to run unchanged. This allows you to check very quickly in a test environment that everything works as usual.
- Production-ready with minimal adjustments: There is an optimized version 1.1 for productive use, where internal namespaces and packages have been renamed to “CIB” to make the fork unique. Minor adjustments to the code are therefore necessary (especially the import paths) – however, CIB provides a migration script that largely automates these changes openpr.com. Apart from these syntactical adjustments, the functionality remains identical. In other words, switching to CIB Seven requires significantly less effort than migrating to Camunda 8, which would mean a complete reimplementation.
- Low migration effort and costs: Thanks to full compatibility and the supporting tools, migration costs remain extremely low. In many cases, the changeover can be accomplished in days or a few weeks instead of months-long projects. No new hardware investments or major retraining of the development team are necessary – your team continues to work with the familiar technology. CIB claims that there are no significant migration costsfor users openpr.com, which is a huge advantage compared to the expensive Camunda 8 migration.
- Proven partner support: You are not on your own when it comes to migration. CIB works with a network of partners – including ONLU AG in Switzerland – who offer consulting and migration support for CIB Seven. Our experts know both Camunda 7 and CIB Seven in detail and can help you make the switch quickly and without risk. From the analysis of your existing processes to the production changeover, experienced consultants are on hand to ensure a smooth process.
Overall, the switch from Camunda 7 to CIB Seven is relatively straightforward. Your business processes will continue to run during the changeover and, thanks to the high level of continuity, neither users nor developers will have to do much rethinking. In the next step, we will look at what long-term prospects CIB Seven offers your company so that you can set the right course for the future today.
Long-term perspective with CIB Seven: support, partner network and further development
CIB Seven is more than just a short-term stopgap – the solution offers a sustainable, future-proof perspective for your process management. This is a crucial point, especially for companies that rely on consistency and planning security. Let’s take a look at the long-term aspects:
- Long-term support and further development: CIB Seven gives you planning security far beyond 2025. CIB has clearly communicated that the fork will be supported in the long term – with regular updates, bug fixes and new versions. For example, CIB Seven 2.0 has been announced for April 2025, which will incorporate all the changes from Camunda 7.23 and already include a new web interface openpr.com. Another version is also due to integrate the latest changes from Camunda 7.24 at the end of 2025openpr.com. This roadmap shows: All innovations from Camunda 7 will be transferred to CIB Seven so that nothing is lost. At the same time, improvements are constantly being incorporated to increase stability and security openpr.com. Your system remains technically up-to-date without you having to make the leap to Camunda 8.
- Active partner and community ecosystem: CIB Seven is backed not only by CIB GmbH itself, but also by a growing ecosystem of partners and the open source community. Thanks to the open source character, developers and companies can get involved, contribute enhancements and benefit from each other. CIB plans to launch a community platform for CIB Seven by Q1 2025 to promote exchange cibseven.org. There is also ONLU, which offers support and consulting services. This network ensures that you have access to expertise at all times – be it for technical questions, training or individual customizations. This means that you are not dependent on a single provider, but can rely on a broad base. This contributes significantly to digital sovereignty, as you retain full control over your processes and data heise.de.
- Future-proof and innovative: Unlike a pure “extended support” approach, CIB Seven stands for continuous innovation. New technological trends can be incorporated without you having to change platform. The planned new user interface and the module marketplace are examples of how CIB Seven will soon grow beyond the original functional scope of Camunda 7 heise.de. Nevertheless, you will remain in the familiar ecosystem. For the coming years, this means that your company can continuously optimize and modernize its business processes on the basis of CIB Seven without having to face another end-of-life problem. CIB Seven thus protects your existing investments and at the same time offers a perspective for future requirements – be it increasing process volumes, cloud strategies or the use of AI in the workflow.
In summary, CIB Seven provides you with a sustainable solution for your BPM. Your company gains the flexibility to consider switching to Camunda 8 at a time that suits you – or to rely on CIB Seven in the long term when it fully meets your requirements. There is no time pressure as CIB Seven provides the support you need to plan with peace of mind heise.de.
Conclusion & Call to Action: Set the course now – the ONLU will support you
The end of support for Camunda 7 need not be a reason to panic. Instead of rushing to migrate to Camunda 8 and accepting the associated hurdles, companies can take a confident, cost-efficient path with CIB Seven. The Camunda 7 engine lives on – in the form of an open fork that offers you familiar functionality, low migration effort and long-term security. For many companies successfully using Camunda 7, CIB Seven is the smart alternative to future-proof their process landscape without having to start from scratch.
Our recommendation: Evaluate CIB Seven as an option for your company. The advantages are obvious – especially if you operate in an industry that values stable, proven solutions. With CIB Seven, you save costs, minimize risks and retain control over your processes. At the same time, you remain flexible for future developments.
As an IT consulting service provider with a focus on the financial and banking sector in Switzerland, ONLU AG knows the challenges you are facing right now. We are already helping companies make the right decision for the time after Camunda 7. Contact us today to learn more about CIB Seven and discuss a customized migration roadmap. Together, we’ll find the best way to take your process platform into the future sustainably and successfully – so you can continue to focus on your core business while we take care of a smooth technology transformation.
Rely on CIB Seven and the expertise of ONLU AG – for a seamless Camunda 7 migration and future-proof process automation!
