SHSelfHostIndex

Dagster vs Mage

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?
Dagster Data orchestrator for the full development lifecycle VS MA Mage Open-source data pipeline tool for transforming and integrating data
FeatureDagsterMage
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score95 · Excellent88 · Excellent
CategoryAutomation & WorkflowsAutomation & Workflows
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguagePythonPython
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM2,048 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, helmdocker, kubernetes, helm
GitHub stars★ 16,199★ 8,826
First released20192022
ReplacesAWS Step Functions, Azure Data FactoryAzure Data Factory, Apache Airflow

What are Dagster and Mage?

Dagster

Dagster is an orchestration platform for data assets that emphasizes testability and observability. It models pipelines around the assets they produce and can be fully self-hosted.

  • Asset-oriented orchestration
  • Built-in testing and typing
  • Integrated data lineage
  • Web-based control plane

Read the full Dagster guide →

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

Read the full Mage guide →

Dagster vs Mage: key differences

Both projects are written in Python. Dagster is the more established project (first released 2019), while Mage arrived in 2022.

Why pick each one

Choose Dagster if…

  • Strong developer tooling
  • Great for data-centric teams

Watch out for

  • Conceptual model takes time to learn
Dagster details

Choose Mage if…

  • Friendly for data scientists
  • Quick to get started

Watch out for

  • Younger than Airflow
Mage details

Frequently asked questions

Is Dagster or Mage better?

Neither is universally better. Dagster has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Dagster and Mage free and open-source?

Yes. Dagster is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Mage under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Dagster and Mage with Docker?

Dagster: yes. Mage: yes.

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