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Apache Airflow vs Dagster: catalog facts
Apache Airflow	Dagster
Free Free and open source, developed as an Apache Software Foundation project.	Freemium The open-source core is free; Dagster+ is a paid hosted service.
Web, Self-hosted	Web, Self-hosted
Workflows are plain Python, so tasks can be generated dynamically Web UI with status and logs for every task run	Asset-based model with lineage and freshness tracking Self-hostable open-source core
Requires Python knowledge to define workflows You run and maintain the scheduler, workers and web server yourself	Aimed at data engineering teams, not general automation Announced merger with Prefect makes the roadmap uncertain
Self-hosted	Self-hosted, Hosted service
Open source	Open source
License: Apache-2.0	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.