# Apache Airflow vs dagster

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Apache Airflow | dagster |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 84/100 ✓ | 77/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 32 in Workflow Automation | #2 of 7 in Data Pipelines |
| GitHub stars | 47 301 ✓ | 16 348 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +344 ✓ | +150 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 28 ✓ |
| Latest release | providers-ydb/2.6.1 · 13 Oct 2026 | 1.13.27 · 26 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Advanced | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Python | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

Apache Airflow scores 84/100 against 77/100 for dagster, so it is the safer default.

dagster ships more often: 28 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for Apache Airflow.

Apache Airflow is growing faster right now (+344 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Apache Airflow](https://selfhost.directory/project/apache-airflow) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/apache-airflow.md)
- [dagster](https://selfhost.directory/project/dagster) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/dagster.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/apache-airflow-vs-dagster