Apache Airflow vs Mage
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted automation & workflows options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Apache Airflow | Mage |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 88 · Excellent |
| Category | Automation & Workflows | Automation & Workflows |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 46,957 | ★ 8,826 |
| First released | 2015 | 2022 |
| Replaces | AWS Step Functions, Azure Data Factory | Azure Data Factory, Apache Airflow |
What are Apache Airflow and Mage?
Apache Airflow
Apache Airflow is a platform to author, schedule and monitor workflows as directed acyclic graphs of tasks. It is widely used for data engineering pipelines and complex job orchestration.
- Workflows defined as Python code
- Rich scheduling and dependency management
- Extensive operator and provider ecosystem
- Web UI for monitoring DAGs
Mage
Mage is an open-source tool for building and running data pipelines that combine the ease of notebooks with engineering best practices. It can be self-hosted to schedule and monitor data workflows.
- Notebook-style pipeline building
- Built-in scheduling and monitoring
- Data integration connectors
- Modern web UI
Apache Airflow vs Mage: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Mage is the lighter option, starting around 2,048 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for Apache Airflow. Apache Airflow is the more established project (first released 2015), while Mage arrived in 2022. Apache Airflow has the considerably larger community, at 46,957 GitHub stars versus 8,826.
Why pick each one
Choose Apache Airflow if…
- Industry standard for data pipelines
- Huge ecosystem
Watch out for
- Heavy to operate
- Steep learning curve
Choose Mage if…
- Friendly for data scientists
- Quick to get started
Watch out for
- Younger than Airflow
Frequently asked questions
Is Apache Airflow or Mage better?
Neither is universally better. Apache Airflow has the larger community, while Mage is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Apache Airflow and Mage free and open-source?
Yes. Apache Airflow is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Mage under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apache Airflow and Mage with Docker?
Apache Airflow: yes. Mage: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Apache Airflow or Mage?
Mage has the smaller minimum footprint at 2,048 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for Apache Airflow. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.