# Apache Airflow / Dagster

Pipelines you schedule. Airflow is Apache-2.0; Dagster is Apache-2.0 — Astronomer without the Airflow seat.

**Replaces:** Astronomer

**Tier:** Medium

## Problem

Astronomer is hosted Apache Airflow. You wanted the scheduler on hardware you control. Apache Airflow is Apache-2.0 (apache/airflow). Dagster is Apache-2.0 (dagster-io/dagster) if you want that asset-oriented orchestrator. This is not every Astronomer Cloud SKU, Astro CLI deploy, or a Fivetran connector pack — ELT stays on /replace/fivetran. dbt stays on /replace/dbt-cloud.

## Stack

- [Apache Airflow](https://airflow.apache.org/) — Apache-2.0 workflow authoring, scheduling, and monitoring
- [Dagster](https://dagster.io) — Apache-2.0 data-asset orchestrator if you want that lineage

## Estimated SaaS cost saved

| You stop paying | Typical / year | Self-host instead |
|---|---:|---|
| Astronomer (small team) | $1,200 | Airflow or Dagster |

**About $1,200 / year** on a small team, before you count lock-in.

## Deploy on Railway

Placeholder: Airflow (webserver + scheduler + worker + Postgres + a volume for DAGs) or Dagster + a database. This is several processes. No one-click template in this repo yet — Start on Railway. ELT stays on /stacks/meltano-elt; transforms on /stacks/dbt-core-transform.

[Start on Railway](https://c17.io/go/railway/airflow-orchestrate?from=%2Fstacks%2Fairflow-orchestrate.md)

[Meltano if this is extract-and-load, not the scheduler](https://c17.io/stacks/meltano-elt)

## AGENT_PROMPT

```
Replace Astronomer with Apache Airflow (preferred if you already have DAGs) or Dagster.

- Official compose: metadata DB, scheduler, webserver, worker. Persist logs. Import one DAG you actually run.
- Do not claim every Astronomer Cloud feature. Write AGENT_PROMPT.md.
- ELT stays on /stacks/meltano-elt. dbt stays on /stacks/dbt-core-transform.
```

## FAQ

### Airflow or Dagster?

Airflow if you already live in DAGs (the Astronomer shape). Dagster if you want assets. Pick one orchestrator.

### Is this Fivetran or dbt?

No. Fivetran is extract — /replace/fivetran. dbt is SQL transforms — /replace/dbt-cloud. This page schedules those jobs.

### Is Airflow OSI?

Yes. Apache License 2.0 on apache/airflow. Astronomer is the hosted product this page leaves.

Source: https://c17.io/stacks/airflow-orchestrate