Comparison

Apache Airflow vs dlt

On the evidence we track, Apache Airflow leads this comparison with a composite score of 73/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Apache Airflow full profile →dlt full profile →

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★Apache Airflow73

dlt66

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	Apache AirflowLeader	dlt
Vioscale score	73 / 100medium · 66%	66 / 100low · 49%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	open_source	commercial
Price levelpricing.price_level	free	low
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	✓
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	100	28
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	-	✓
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	-	✓
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	7.3	-
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	Count: 1 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=apache-airflow-providers-common-sql&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0 · Max severity: HIGH	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=dlt&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0
Reliability
Status pagereliability.status_page	-	✓
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	189	23
Github starsadoption.github_stars	46,610	5,779
Package downloads weeklyadoption.package_downloads_weekly	3,883,451	-
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	100	52
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	13	12
Historyrelease.history	20 items	20 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	Apache-2.0	Apache-2.0
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	Python	Python
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	-	Available worldwide · HQ DE

Score

Vioscale score

Apache Airflow73 / 100medium · 66%

dlt66 / 100low · 49%

Pricing

Free tier

Apache Airflow✓

dlt✓

Model

Apache Airflowopen_source

dltcommercial

Price level

Apache Airflowfree

dltlow

Transparent

Apache Airflow✓

dlt✓

Integrations

Count

Apache Airflow100

dlt28

Security

Disclosure policy

Apache Airflow–

dlt✓

Gdpr

Apache Airflow–

dlt✓

Scorecard

Apache Airflow7.3

dlt–

Vulnerabilities

Apache AirflowCount: 1 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=apache-airflow-providers-common-sql&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0 · Max severity: HIGH

dltCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=dlt&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Reliability

Status page

Apache Airflow–

dlt✓

Adoption

Dependent repos

Apache Airflow189

dlt23

Github stars

Apache Airflow46,610

dlt5,779

Package downloads weekly

Apache Airflow3,883,451

dlt–

Activity

Commits last 30d

Apache Airflow100

dlt52

Release

Cadence days

Apache Airflow13

dlt12

History

Apache Airflow20 items

dlt20 items

License

Spdx

Apache AirflowApache-2.0

dltApache-2.0

Language

Primary

Apache AirflowPython

dltPython

Market

Availability

Apache Airflow–

dltAvailable worldwide · HQ DE

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for data engineering tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for Data Engineering Tools
Capability	Apache Airflow	dlt
Core
Tool role	Orchestrator	ELT / ingestion
Processing paradigm	Batch	Batch + streaming
Connectivity
Connector count	100+	5,000+
CDC / log-based replication	-	✓
Transformation
In-warehouse transformation (push-down)	-	✓
dbt-native orchestration	✓	-
Deployment
Self-hosted / open-source available	✓	✓
Managed cloud available	✓	✓
Governance
Data lineage / asset catalog	✓	✓
Authoring
Python-first authoring	✓	✓
Execution
Incremental / partition-aware runs	✓	✓
Quality
Built-in data quality / tests	-	✓
Scale
Horizontal scale (distributed executor)	✓	-

Core

Tool role

Apache AirflowOrchestrator

dltELT / ingestion

Processing paradigm

Apache AirflowBatch

dltBatch + streaming

Connectivity

Connector count

Apache Airflow100+

dlt5,000+

CDC / log-based replication

Apache Airflow-

dlt✓

Transformation

In-warehouse transformation (push-down)

Apache Airflow-

dlt✓

dbt-native orchestration

Apache Airflow✓

dlt-

Deployment

Self-hosted / open-source available

Apache Airflow✓

dlt✓

Managed cloud available

Apache Airflow✓

dlt✓

Governance

Data lineage / asset catalog

Apache Airflow✓

dlt✓

Authoring

Python-first authoring

Apache Airflow✓

dlt✓

Execution

Incremental / partition-aware runs

Apache Airflow✓

dlt✓

Quality

Built-in data quality / tests

Apache Airflow-

dlt✓

Scale

Horizontal scale (distributed executor)

Apache Airflow✓

dlt-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Apache Airflow

Leader

A community-built orchestration system that enables users to define data pipelines and tasks in Python, execute them on distributed workers, and monitor progress through a web-based interface. It supports dynamic pipeline generation, extensive third-party integrations, and operates best for batch-oriented workflows.

Independently observed

dlt

A hosted service combining the open-source dlt Python library with managed infrastructure, observability, data quality testing, and team collaboration features for building and running data pipelines.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Apache Airflow

Leader

Open sourceFree tier

Free, open-source project. Managed cloud versions available through third parties.

as of 2026-08-14verify ↗

dlt

from $0.80/moHybridFree tier14-day trial

From $1,190/month with 500 included credits. Free open-source tier. 14-day free trial with $30 credits.

dltFree
- Apache 2.0 open-source license
- Code-first ingestion library
- Reliable ingestion and loading
- Limited verified OSS connectors
- AI help and community support
- +2 more
dltHub$1,190/month base + $0.80–$1.00/credit for usage beyond 500 credits/month. 5% discount on annual commitment.
- Everything in dlt, plus:
- Managed runtime
- Hosted Marimo notebooks
- AI Workbench (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor)
- Data quality metrics and checks
- +6 more
EnterpriseContact sales
- Custom credits and volume pricing
- Enterprise security and governance controls
- Role-based access control (RBAC) and audit logs
- SLA and tailored support options
- Custom onboarding and architecture guidance

as of 2026-08-13verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Apache Airflow	dlt
WebPlatforms	✓	✓
LinuxPlatforms	✓	✗
CLIPlatforms	✓	✓
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✓
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✓
On-premiseDeployment	✓	✗
HybridDeployment	✓	✓

Platforms

Web

Apache Airflow✓

dlt✓

Linux

Apache Airflow✓

dlt✗

CLI

Apache Airflow✓

dlt✓

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

Apache Airflow✓

dlt✓

Self-hosted

Apache Airflow✓

dlt✓

On-premise

Apache Airflow✓

dlt✗

Hybrid

Apache Airflow✓

dlt✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

In common (8)

Microsoft Azure
Databricks
Snowflake
Salesforce
PostgreSQL
MySQL
OpenAI
SQLite

Apache Airflow

Leader

50 total - 42 not shared

Amazon Web Services
Google Cloud Platform
dbt Cloud
Slack
Tableau
MongoDB
Redis
Kubernetes
Docker
Apache Spark
Apache Kafka
Apache Cassandra
Apache Flink
Apache Druid
Elasticsearch
Datadog
Jenkins
GitHub
Anthropic
Cohere
Pinecone
Weaviate
Qdrant
Oracle
+18 more

Independently observed

dlt

28 total - 20 not shared

HubSpot
BigQuery
MotherDuck
DuckDB
Amazon S3
Google Cloud Storage
SFTP
Parquet
Apache Delta
Apache Iceberg
DuckLake
Pydantic Logfire
Arize
Langfuse
LangChain
Apache Airflow
Dagster
AWS Lambda
Marimo
Hugging Face

Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.