Dagster

dagster.io
Data Integration
Weekend Project

Your platform for AI and data pipelines

How to Replace Dagster

Overview

Dagster is a unified control plane for teams to build, scale, and observe their AI & data pipelines with confidence. It provides battle-tested data orchestration for running critical data flows, from pipelines and transformations to full-scale AI and ML operations.

Features

41 features across 15 categories

AI/ML(3)

AI & ML WorkflowsAI

Accelerate ML development with pipelines that streamline data prep, model training, and experiment tracking

Ask-AIAIPremium

AI-powered assistant for Dagster questions

Compass - AI Data AnalystAIPremium

Turn warehouse data into instant, trustworthy answers for every stakeholder, right inside Slack and other tools they already use

Automation(1)

Event-based Automations

Trigger pipelines based on events

Also in: monday.com, Notion, Airtable

Compliance(1)

SOC 2 Type II & HIPAA CompliancePremium

Independently audited and compliant with SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA standards

Also in: Insider CDP, Airtable, 1Password

Cost Management(1)

Cost Tracking for BigQuery and SnowflakePremium

Track and analyze costs for BigQuery and Snowflake compute

Data Governance(6)

Asset Metadata in UI

View and manage asset metadata through the user interface

Asset-level Lineage

Track data lineage at the asset level

Catalog Focus-modePremium

Simplified catalog view for less technical stakeholders

Catalog SearchPremium

Search and discover assets in the data catalog

Column-level LineagePremium

Track data lineage at the column level

Data Catalog & Lineage

Empower teams to discover and understand datasets with clear ownership, lineage, and auto-generated documentation that stays current

Data Integration(1)

ETL & ELT Pipelines

Build reliable pipelines to move data from SaaS apps and APIs to warehouses like Snowflake or BigQuery

Data Processing(3)

Backfills

Rerun historical data through pipelines

Data Transformation

Orchestrate dbt, Databricks, or Python transformations to produce clean, modeled data that powers analytics and BI

Partitions

Partition data and pipelines for scalability

Data Quality(2)

Asset Freshness ChecksPremium

Monitor and ensure asset data freshness

Asset Quality ChecksPremium

Define and monitor data quality checks at the asset level

Deployment(4)

Branch Deployments

Deploy and test pipeline branches in isolated environments

Flexible Deployment OptionsPremium

Run Dagster on your cloud or theirs, with support for North American and European regions

Multi-tenant InstancesPremium

Keep code and data isolated with multi-tenant code deployments

Serverless Deployments

Deploy pipelines on serverless compute infrastructure

Development(1)

Local Dev Workflow

Development environment for local pipeline development

Integration(1)

Integration with dbt TestsPremium

Integrate dbt tests into Dagster pipelines

Monitoring(7)

Alerts

Alert system for pipeline events and issues

Custom MetricsPremium

Define and track custom metrics

Integrated Observability

See everything, catch issues fast, and keep your data trusted with built-in lineage, alerting, and real-time health metrics

Metrics-based Alerts

Create alerts based on custom metrics

Monitoring & AlertingAI

Stay ahead of data incidents with intelligent alerts in Slack, and streamlined resolution workflows with AI-powered debugging and impact analysis

Platform and Pipeline Metrics

Comprehensive metrics on platform and pipeline performance

Realtime Health Metrics

Track freshness, performance, costs, and reliability to keep pipelines healthy and stakeholders confident in their data

Orchestration(2)

Asset-based Orchestration

Core framework for defining and orchestrating data assets

Workflow-based Orchestration

Traditional workflow-based orchestration capabilities

Security(5)

Audit LogsPremium

Track all activity and changes made to the system

Role-based Access Control

Granular RBAC permissions for users and teams

SAML IntegrationPremium

SAML-based authentication for SSO

SAML SyncPremium

Sync user groups and roles via SAML

SSO & SCIMPremium

Single Sign-On and SCIM user provisioning support

Support(3)

Dedicated Slack or Microsoft Teams ChannelPremium

Direct communication channel with Dagster team

Personalized Onboarding SupportPremium

Dedicated onboarding assistance from Dagster team

Premium SupportPremium

Priority support from Dagster experts

Pricing

Solo Plan

$10/mo or $120/year
  • 7.5k credits/month
  • 1 User
  • 1 Code location
  • 1 Deployment
  • 30-day free trial
  • Asset-based orchestration
  • Workflow-based orchestration
  • Local dev workflow
  • Event-based automations
  • Alerts
  • Partitions
  • Backfills
  • Asset metadata in UI
  • Asset-level lineage
  • Platform and pipeline metrics
  • Metrics-based alerts
  • Serverless deployments
  • Ask-AI (Dagster community)

Starter Plan

$100/mo or $1,200/year
  • 30k credits/month
  • Up to 3 Users
  • 5 Code locations
  • 1 Deployment
  • Catalog Search
  • 30-day free trial
  • Asset-based orchestration
  • Workflow-based orchestration
  • Local dev workflow
  • Branch deployments
  • Event-based automations
  • Alerts
  • Partitions
  • Backfills
  • Asset quality checks
  • Asset freshness checks
  • Integration with dbt tests
  • Asset metadata in UI
  • Asset-level lineage
  • Catalog search
  • Catalog focus-mode for less technical stakeholders
  • Platform and pipeline metrics
  • Metrics-based alerts
  • Cost tracking for BigQuery and Snowflake
  • Role based access control (per deployment)
  • Billing support
  • Serverless deployments

Pro Plan

Popular
Contact Sales
  • Unlimited code locations
  • Unlimited deployments
  • Cost Tracking and Insights
  • Personalized Onboarding Support
  • Support Private Slack channel
  • Uptime SLAs
  • Custom Security Questionnaires
  • Asset-based orchestration
  • Workflow-based orchestration
  • Local dev workflow
  • Branch deployments
  • Event-based automations
  • Alerts
  • Partitions
  • Backfills
  • Asset quality checks
  • Asset freshness checks
  • Integration with dbt tests
  • Asset metadata in UI
  • Asset-level lineage
  • Column-level lineage
  • Catalog search
  • Catalog focus-mode for less technical stakeholders
  • Platform and pipeline metrics
  • Metrics-based alerts
  • Custom metrics
  • Cost tracking for BigQuery and Snowflake
  • Role based access control (per project)
  • Audit logs
  • SAML integration
  • SAML sync
  • Personalized onboarding support
  • Dedicated Slack or Microsoft Teams channel
  • Premium support
  • Serverless deployments
  • Customized compute resourcing

Enterprise Plan

Contact Sales
  • SSO, RBAC and SCIM provisioning
  • SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA and beyond
  • Flexible deployment options
  • Multi-tenant instances
  • Audit logs and retention policies
  • Enterprise support
  • All Pro plan features

Cost Calculator

Keep Paying Dagster

Monthly$10/mo
Yearly$120/yr
5-Year Total$600

Build It Yourself

Est. Build Time~3 hrs
Hosting$20/mo
DifficultyVery Easy

Total Cost Comparison

1 Year
SaaS
$120
DIY
$240
3 Years
SaaS
$360
DIY
$720
5 Years
SaaS
$600
DIY
$1.2k

DIY hosting estimate based on Vercel + Supabase free/pro tiers (~$20/mo). Build time estimated from 41 features at very easy complexity.

Build vs Buy

Should you build a Dagster alternative or buy the subscription? Estimate based on 41 features.

Buy Dagster

Better Value
Monthly cost$100/mo
3-year total$3,600
Time to deployDays

Build Your Own

Development cost$24,000
Maintenance$360/mo
3-year total$36,960
Dev time~2 months

Buying Dagster saves ~$33,360 over 3 years vs building.

Estimates based on 41 features and a BuildScore of 5/5. Actual costs vary.

Integrations

10 known integrations