Apache Airflow (Managed/Cloud)

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Apache Airflow (Managed/Cloud)

A curated collection of the 1 best self hosted alternatives to Apache Airflow (Managed/Cloud).

Astronomer Cloud is a managed Apache Airflow SaaS that runs, scales, and operates Airflow for scheduling and orchestrating data workflows (DAGs). It provides deployment, monitoring, security, and automated upgrades for production pipelines.

Alternatives List

#1
Dagu

Dagu

Self-hosted workflow scheduler that runs DAGs from YAML, with a web UI, retries, notifications, and logs for operational automation.

Dagu screenshot

Dagu is a lightweight workflow engine and scheduler for running tasks as Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs). Workflows are defined in simple YAML files and executed by an agent, with a built-in web UI for operations such as running, monitoring, and debugging.

Key Features

  • Define workflows as DAGs in YAML (steps, dependencies, schedules)
  • Built-in Web UI to view DAG status, runs, and execution history
  • Manual runs, scheduled runs (cron-style), and dependency-based execution
  • Retries, timeouts, and failure handling per step/workflow
  • Centralized logging and execution artifacts/history for troubleshooting
  • Notifications (e.g., via common channels like email/Slack) and callbacks/hooks for run events
  • Parameterization and environment variables for reusable workflows

Use Cases

  • Server and ops automation (backups, maintenance jobs, batch scripts)
  • Data/ETL-style pipelines that can be expressed as shell commands or scripts
  • Scheduled report generation or periodic integrations between systems

Dagu is a good fit when you want a simple, file-defined DAG scheduler with an operational UI, without adopting a heavier orchestration stack. It works well for teams that prefer Git-managed YAML workflows and straightforward deployment for internal automation.

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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running