Comparison

dbt Core vs Mage

On the evidence we track, dbt Core leads this comparison with a composite score of 66/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

dbt Core full profile →Mage full profile →

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★dbt Core66

Mage59

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	dbt CoreLeader	Mage
vioscaleAI score	66 / 100medium · 73%	59 / 100medium · 74%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✗
Modelpricing.model	open_source	commercial
Price levelpricing.price_level	free	mid
Starting pricepricing.starting_price	-	$29
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	✓
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	6	5
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	-	✓
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	✓	✓
Iso27001security.iso27001	✓	-
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	6	-
Soc2security.soc2	-	✓
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	-
Reliability
Status pagereliability.status_page	✓	✓
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	553	-
Github starsadoption.github_stars	14,028	-
Package downloads weeklyadoption.package_downloads_weekly	21,005,917	-
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	100	-
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	2	-
Historyrelease.history	20 items	-
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	Apache-2.0	-
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	Rust	-
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide · Popular in US	Available worldwide
Content
Faqcontent.faq	8 items	6 items

Score

vioscaleAI score

dbt Core66 / 100medium · 73%

Mage59 / 100medium · 74%

Pricing

Free tier

dbt Core✓

Mage✗

Model

dbt Coreopen_source

Magecommercial

Price level

dbt Corefree

Magemid

Starting price

dbt Core–

Mage$29

Transparent

dbt Core✓

Mage✓

Integrations

Count

dbt Core6

Mage5

Security

Disclosure policy

dbt Core–

Mage✓

Gdpr

dbt Core✓

Mage✓

Iso27001

dbt Core✓

Mage–

Scorecard

dbt Core6

Mage–

Soc2

dbt Core–

Mage✓

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

Mage–

Reliability

Status page

dbt Core✓

Mage✓

Adoption

Dependent repos

dbt Core553

Mage–

Github stars

dbt Core14,028

Mage–

Package downloads weekly

dbt Core21,005,917

Mage–

Activity

Commits last 30d

dbt Core100

Mage–

Release

Cadence days

dbt Core2

Mage–

History

dbt Core20 items

Mage–

License

Spdx

dbt CoreApache-2.0

Mage–

Language

Primary

dbt CoreRust

Mage–

Market

Availability

dbt CoreAvailable worldwide · Popular in US

MageAvailable worldwide

Content

Faq

dbt Core8 items

Mage6 items

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	Mage
Core
Tool role	Transformation	Orchestrator
Processing paradigm	Batch	Batch + streaming
Connectivity
Connector count	6+ named integrations with broader ecosystem	12+
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

MageOrchestrator

Processing paradigm

dbt CoreBatch

MageBatch + streaming

Connectivity

Connector count

dbt Core6+ named integrations with broader ecosystem

Mage12+

CDC / log-based replication

dbt Core-

Mage✓

Transformation

In-warehouse transformation (push-down)

dbt Core-

Mage✓

dbt-native orchestration

dbt Core✓

Mage✓

Deployment

Self-hosted / open-source available

dbt Core✓

Mage✓

Managed cloud available

dbt Core✓

Mage✓

Governance

Data lineage / asset catalog

dbt Core✓

Mage✓

Authoring

Python-first authoring

dbt Core-

Mage✓

Execution

Incremental / partition-aware runs

dbt Core-

Mage✗

Quality

Built-in data quality / tests

dbt Core✓

Mage✓

Scale

Horizontal scale (distributed executor)

dbt Core-

Mage✓

What each one is

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

dbt Core

Leader

A data transformation framework that applies software engineering principles—such as version control, testing, and modularity—to SQL-based analytics workflows.

Independently observed

Mage

A platform combining AI orchestration, data validation, and automated issue resolution to manage and optimize production data workflows.

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

Leader

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 ↗

Mage

from $29/moSubscription7-day trial

From $29/month (Starter). Free 7-day trial, no credit card required.

Starter$29/month + $0.50 per CPU-hour. Includes 50 AI credits/month.
- Managed orchestration
- Alerts
- Monitoring
Team$100/month. Includes 250 shared AI credits/month.
- Advanced controls
- Lineage
- Deployment workflows
EnterpriseContact sales

as of 2026-10-07verify ↗

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	Mage
WebPlatforms	✓	✓
macOSPlatforms	✓	✗
WindowsPlatforms	✓	✗
LinuxPlatforms	✓	✗
CLIPlatforms	✓	✗
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✓
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✓
On-premiseDeployment	✗	✓
HybridDeployment	✗	✓

Platforms

Web

dbt Core✓

Mage✓

macOS

dbt Core✓

Mage✗

Windows

dbt Core✓

Mage✗

Linux

dbt Core✓

Mage✗

CLI

dbt Core✓

Mage✗

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

dbt Core✓

Mage✓

Self-hosted

dbt Core✓

Mage✓

On-premise

dbt Core✗

Mage✓

Hybrid

dbt Core✗

Mage✓

Integrations

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

dbt Core

Leader

6 total

Tableau
Fivetran
OpenAI
Snowflake
Azure AI
Databricks

Independently observed

Mage

15 total

Apache Spark
PySpark
Kafka
Stripe
Salesforce
BigQuery
AWS EMR
Kubernetes
EHR systems
Billing platforms
Lab systems
Clinical systems
MySQL
dbt
Slack

Independently observed

Still deciding?

dbt Core or Mage: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

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