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Prefect vs Dagster: catalog facts
Prefect	Dagster
Freemium Open source core is free; the hosted platform has a free start and paid plans.	Freemium The open-source core is free; Dagster+ is a paid hosted service.
Web, Self-hosted, Command line	Web, Self-hosted
Plain Python decorators define flows and tasks Built-in retries and scheduling	Asset-based model with lineage and freshness tracking Self-hostable open-source core
Aimed at Python users Some features belong to the paid hosted platform	Aimed at data engineering teams, not general automation Announced merger with Prefect makes the roadmap uncertain
Self-hosted, Hosted service	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.