Dagster — Developer Tools

What is Dagster?

Dagster is a modern data orchestrator that treats data pipelines as software assets, not just DAGs. It helps data teams build, observe, and deliver reliable data workflows — from simple ETL to complex AI pipelines. The open-source core is free, and Dagster+ adds cloud services, role-based access, and AI-powered operational insights for scaling teams.

What problem does it solve?

Dagster solves the chaos of managing data pipelines by providing asset-based lineage, built-in testing, and full observability. Instead of debugging broken pipelines after the fact, teams catch issues early with automatic dependency tracking, type checks, and a unified UI that shows run history, logs, and error stack traces. For production platforms, Dagster helps reduce pipeline execution time, eliminate manual tasks, and improve data freshness.

Who is it for?

Best for data engineers and platform teams building production-grade ETL/ELT pipelines, especially those migrating from Airflow. It is less suited for simple ad-hoc scripting without pipeline complexity. Use cases include scheduling dbt models, event-driven triggers via sensors, and managing data assets across S3, GCS, and Azure Blob storage.

• Asset-based pipelines — define data assets, not just tasks, for clear lineage and dependencies
• Lineage tracking — auto-generated dependency graph of all assets, end to end
• Testing framework — unit tests, integration tests, and type checks before deployment
• Scheduling & sensors — cron schedules and event-driven triggers (e.g. file drops)
• dbt integration — run dbt models as Dagster assets with zero downtime
• Cloud storage — read/write from S3, GCS, Azure Blob storage
• UI dashboard — run history, logs, and error debugging in one view

Dagster pricing: Free (open-source) · Dagster+ from $10/mo. Billing model: Freemium.

For comparison: the median starting price in Developer Tools is $19.99/month, measured across 301 tools we track. See the full SaaS Pricing Index →

Solo Plan — $10/month

For personal projects and simple pipelines. Includes 1 user, 1 code location, 1 deployment, pay-as-you-go compute ($0.040/credit, serverless $0.010/minute). 30-day free trial.

Starter Plan — $120/month

For small teams running production pipelines. Includes up to 3 users, 5 code locations, 1 deployment, Catalog Search, and pay-as-you-go compute ($0.035/credit, serverless $0.010/minute). 30-day free trial.

Pro Plan — Contact Sales

For teams scaling an enterprise data platform. Custom serverless compute, unlimited code locations and deployments, cost tracking and insights, personalized onboarding support, private Slack channel, uptime SLAs, custom security questionnaires.

Enterprise Plan — Contact Sales

For large-scale data platforms. Includes everything in Pro plus unlimited deployments, cost tracking, personalized support, uptime SLAs, and custom security. All paid plans come with a 30-day free trial.

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