Apache Airflow vs Flyte
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted automation & workflows options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Apache Airflow
Programmatically author, schedule and monitor workflows
VS
Flyte
Kubernetes-native workflow orchestration for data and ML
| Feature | Apache Airflow | Flyte |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 4,096 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 46,409 | ★ 7,184 |
| First released | 2015 | 2019 |
| Replaces | AWS Step Functions, Azure Data Factory | Apache Airflow |
Why pick each one
Choose Flyte if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 7.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Apache Airflow or Flyte better?
Neither is universally better. Apache Airflow has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Apache Airflow and Flyte free and open-source?
Yes. Apache Airflow is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Flyte under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apache Airflow and Flyte with Docker?
Apache Airflow: yes. Flyte: check the project docs for container support.