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 Cloud Standard at $1,500 / month often 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 gap.
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 at three workload sizes
| Workload | Airflow | Dagster |
|---|---|---|
| Self-managed K8s + 0.5 FTE | $11,250-$13,500/mo | $13,000/mo (Standard hybrid) |
| MWAA small + workers | $1,200-$2,000/mo | $1,500/mo |
| Astronomer + Dagster Cloud Pro | $2,500-$5,000/mo | $3,000-$6,000/mo |
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 Cloud Standard
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.