Comparison

dbt Core vs dlt

No clear leader: dlt (66.1) and dbt Core (64.9) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

dbt Core full profile →dlt full profile →

Machine formatsJSON Markdown GraphQLor send Accept: application/json

dbt Core65

dlt66

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	dbt Core	dlt
Vioscale score	65 / 100high · 77%	66 / 100low · 49%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	open_source	commercial
Price levelpricing.price_level	free	low
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	✓
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	6	28
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	-	✓
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	✓	✓
Iso27001security.iso27001	✓	-
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	6	-
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	Count: 4 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=dbt-core&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	553	23
Github starsadoption.github_stars	13,694	5,779
Package downloads weeklyadoption.package_downloads_weekly	21,005,917	-
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	100	52
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	2	12
Historyrelease.history	20 items	20 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	Apache-2.0	Apache-2.0
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	Rust	Python
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide · Popular in US	Available worldwide · HQ DE

Score

Vioscale score

dbt Core65 / 100high · 77%

dlt66 / 100low · 49%

Pricing

Free tier

dbt Core✓

dlt✓

Model

dbt Coreopen_source

dltcommercial

Price level

dbt Corefree

dltlow

Transparent

dbt Core✓

dlt✓

Integrations

Count

dbt Core6

dlt28

Security

Disclosure policy

dbt Core–

dlt✓

Gdpr

dbt Core✓

dlt✓

Iso27001

dbt Core✓

dlt–

Scorecard

dbt Core6

dlt–

Vulnerabilities

dbt CoreCount: 4 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=dbt-core&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

dbt Core✓

dlt✓

Adoption

Dependent repos

dbt Core553

dlt23

Github stars

dbt Core13,694

dlt5,779

Package downloads weekly

dbt Core21,005,917

dlt–

Activity

Commits last 30d

dbt Core100

dlt52

Release

Cadence days

dbt Core2

dlt12

History

dbt Core20 items

dlt20 items

License

Spdx

dbt CoreApache-2.0

dltApache-2.0

Language

Primary

dbt CoreRust

dltPython

Market

Availability

dbt CoreAvailable worldwide · Popular in US

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	dbt Core	dlt
Core
Tool role	Transformation	ELT / ingestion
Processing paradigm	Batch	Batch + streaming
Connectivity
Connector count	6+ named integrations with broader ecosystem	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

dbt CoreTransformation

dltELT / ingestion

Processing paradigm

dbt CoreBatch

dltBatch + streaming

Connectivity

Connector count

dbt Core6+ named integrations with broader ecosystem

dlt5,000+

CDC / log-based replication

dbt Core-

dlt✓

Transformation

In-warehouse transformation (push-down)

dbt Core-

dlt✓

dbt-native orchestration

dbt Core✓

dlt-

Deployment

Self-hosted / open-source available

dbt Core✓

dlt✓

Managed cloud available

dbt Core✓

dlt✓

Governance

Data lineage / asset catalog

dbt Core✓

dlt✓

Authoring

Python-first authoring

dbt Core-

dlt✓

Execution

Incremental / partition-aware runs

dbt Core-

dlt✓

Quality

Built-in data quality / tests

dbt Core✓

dlt✓

Scale

Horizontal scale (distributed executor)

dbt Core-

dlt-

What each one is

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

dbt Core

dbt is a framework that enables data teams to transform data using SQL-based development practices similar to software engineering, with built-in testing, version control, and deployment capabilities. It provides lineage tracking, documentation, and can run locally or in the cloud.

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.

dbt Core

from $100/moHybridFree tier14-day trial

Free Developer tier, $100/seat/month for Starter, custom pricing for Enterprise

DeveloperFree
- Browser-based IDE
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- Job scheduling
- Keep on the latest dbt release
Starter$100/seat/month
- All Developer features
- dbt Catalog basic
- dbt Semantic Layer basic
- dbt Copilot code generation
- API access
EnterpriseContact sales
- All Starter features
- dbt Catalog advanced
- dbt Semantic Layer advanced
- dbt Copilot
- dbt Canvas
- +2 more
Enterprise+Contact sales
- All Enterprise features
- PrivateLink
- IP Restrictions
- Rollback
- Hybrid projects

as of 2026-08-05verify ↗

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	dbt Core	dlt
WebPlatforms	✓	✓
macOSPlatforms	✓	✗
WindowsPlatforms	✓	✗
LinuxPlatforms	✓	✗
CLIPlatforms	✓	✓
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✓
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✓
HybridDeployment	✗	✓

Platforms

Web

dbt Core✓

dlt✓

macOS

dbt Core✓

dlt✗

Windows

dbt Core✓

dlt✗

Linux

dbt Core✓

dlt✗

CLI

dbt Core✓

dlt✓

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

dbt Core✓

dlt✓

Self-hosted

dbt Core✓

dlt✓

Hybrid

dbt Core✗

dlt✓

Integrations

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

In common (3)

OpenAI
Snowflake
Databricks

dbt Core

6 total - 3 not shared

Tableau
Fivetran
Azure AI

Independently observed

dlt

28 total - 25 not shared

Salesforce
PostgreSQL
HubSpot
BigQuery
MotherDuck
DuckDB
SQLite
MySQL
Amazon S3
Google Cloud Storage
Microsoft Azure
SFTP
Parquet
Apache Delta
Apache Iceberg
DuckLake
Pydantic Logfire
Arize
Langfuse
LangChain
Apache Airflow
Dagster
AWS Lambda
Marimo
+1 more

Independently observed

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