Compare
Airflow vs Dagster
Dagster models data as a graph of assets with materialisation, lineage, and freshness as core concepts. Airflow models work as a graph of tasks. Dagster+ Starter on Hybrid runs $100 / month plus $0.035 per credit, which lands near $3,600 / month at 100k credits and still beats self-managed Airflow once a 0.5 FTE is loaded; Airflow on MWAA closes the gap and Airflow 3.0's asset model narrows the conceptual one.
Pick Airflow when
- › The team is already deep in Airflow operators and ecosystem.
- › Largest community-contributed operator library matters.
- › Self-managed Kubernetes is in production already.
- › Airflow 3.0's asset model is sufficient.
Pick Dagster when
- › Pipelines are naturally asset-shaped (dbt + ML + reverse-ETL).
- › First-class lineage and asset checks are valuable.
- › Hybrid deployment keeps compute on customer infra without losing the control plane.
- › The team would rather pay for managed than carry 0.5 FTE.
Price comparison across workload sizes
| Workload | Airflow | Dagster |
|---|---|---|
| Single builder, light graph (10k credits) | Self-host + own time | Solo $410/mo ($10 + 10k x $0.040) |
| Small team, 30k credits, Hybrid | MWAA $1,200-$2,000/mo | Starter $1,150/mo ($100 + 30k x $0.035) |
| Mid-market, 100k credits, Hybrid | Astronomer ~$2,500/mo | Starter $3,600/mo ($100 + 100k x $0.035) |
| Self-managed K8s + 0.5 FTE | $11,250-$13,500/mo | Dagster OSS, same FTE line |
Estimates from each vendor's published pricing page. Tune to your shape with the /tco-calculator.
Decision aid
- Asset-graph fit: Dagster
- Ecosystem breadth: Airflow
- Lowest all-in: MWAA Airflow if you can avoid FTE drift
- Managed-first preference: Dagster+ Starter on Hybrid
Related
Written by Oliver Wakefield-Smith, Founder of Digital Signet. Independent reference, no vendor sponsorship.
Sources logged at /sources. Pricing-change history at /changelog. Last reviewed 2026-06-21.