Apache Airflow vs Dagster
Apache Airflow
The most widely deployed open-source workflow orchestrator, scheduling DAGs of Python-defined tasks across a huge provider ecosystem.
Full directory entry →Dagster
A Python orchestrator that models pipelines as software-defined assets with built-in lineage, scheduling, and observability.
Full directory entry →Facts, side by side
| Apache Airflow | Dagster | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | free | freemium |
| Pricing notes | Apache 2.0 licensed; managed offerings are sold separately by Astronomer, Google (Cloud Composer), and AWS (MWAA). | Open-source Dagster is free to run yourself. Dagster+ hosted plans: Solo $10/mo (1 user), Starter $100/mo (up to 3 users), Pro by sales quote — all with a usage component billed in credits ($0.035–0.04 each), where a credit is one asset materialization or op executed. 30-day free trial on all plans. |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes — Runs anywhere from a single machine to Kubernetes; most production teams either self-host on k8s or buy a managed flavor. | Yes — Apache 2.0; the OSS deployment runs the full orchestrator, with Dagster+ adding hosted control plane, alerting, and insights. |
| Categories | Orchestration | Orchestration |
| Who it's for | data engineers | data engineers |
| Integrations listed | 4 | 18 |
Directory entries last updated: Apache Airflow 2026-07-18 · Dagster 2026-07-18.
In brief
Apache Airflow — The most widely deployed open-source workflow orchestrator, scheduling DAGs of Python-defined tasks across a huge provider ecosystem. Pricing: free. Apache 2.0 licensed; managed offerings are sold separately by Astronomer, Google (Cloud Composer), and AWS (MWAA). Self-hosting: Yes — Runs anywhere from a single machine to Kubernetes; most production teams either self-host on k8s or buy a managed flavor.. Listed integrations: bigquery, snowflake, clickhouse, dbt.
Dagster — A Python orchestrator that models pipelines as software-defined assets with built-in lineage, scheduling, and observability. Pricing: freemium. Open-source Dagster is free to run yourself. Dagster+ hosted plans: Solo $10/mo (1 user), Starter $100/mo (up to 3 users), Pro by sales quote — all with a usage component billed in credits ($0.035–0.04 each), where a credit is one asset materialization or op executed. 30-day free trial on all plans. Self-hosting: Yes — Apache 2.0; the OSS deployment runs the full orchestrator, with Dagster+ adding hosted control plane, alerting, and insights.. Listed integrations: dbt, bigquery, snowflake, clickhouse, databricks, duckdb, fivetran, airbyte, dlt, sling, spark, kubernetes, great-expectations, tableau, powerbi, looker, sigma, slack.
Which one, when
Derived mechanically from the structured facts above — deltas only, not an editorial verdict. Where the facts tie, read both entries.
- its pricing model is free, where Dagster is freemium
No structural edge in the directory facts — the differences are qualitative. Read the full entry.