Airbyte vs Kestra (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Kestra grades higher than Airbyte: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Kestra grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Airbyte
Data integration with a free self-hosted core and a managed cloud
Which one is for you
Pick Airbyte if
- Fits if you can host Core and want no per-row fees
- Works for small teams that start on a $20 cloud plan
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you can't run and maintain a self-hosted install
- Tight if you need syncs faster than hourly on Standard
- Pricey if you want 15-minute syncs or SSO, which need Plus at $189
- Watch out: Core is under the Elastic License 2.0, with community support only
Pick Kestra if
- Fits if you are an engineer who wants to own the orchestrator
- Works for data teams already using dbt, Spark or Kafka
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you do not write YAML or run servers
- Tight if you need SSO, roles, audit logs or multi-tenancy, as those are Enterprise
- Watch out: no Cloud or Enterprise price is published
- Watch out: you run and upgrade the platform yourself
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAirbyteFair | 2.4GPAKestraFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CCore is free but you host it. Cloud Standard is $20 a month with 5 credits included, then Plus is $189. | CThe open-source edition is $0 but needs your own servers, which is a C. Cloud and Enterprise prices are not published. |
| Free plan and trial | BCore is free to self-host, and the cloud has a 14-day trial with 400 credits and no card. | BFree to self-host under Apache 2.0, with unlimited flows and executions. You pay for the server. |
| Features | CConnectors and syncs. Standard is hourly at most; 15-minute syncs and SSO need Plus, and enterprise connectors are an add-on. | BDeclarative workflows, code and no-code editors, event-driven scheduling and over 2,600 plugins. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core work. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. Running Core means installing and maintaining it yourself. | DFlows are YAML, and self-hosting means running and upgrading it yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb console with connections to Airflow, Dagster, Prefect and Terraform. No desktop or phone apps. | BWeb interface with plugins for PostgreSQL, MySQL, Kafka, Terraform, dbt, Spark and Redis. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | moving data into a warehouse, self-hosted or cloud | workflows defined in YAML |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Airbyte and Kestra. How we grade
Where they differ
At a glance
| Airbyte | Kestra | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $20 per month (Standard, 5 credits included) | Not published |
| Free plan | Airbyte Core is free to self-host under the Elastic License 2.0; you run and maintain it yourself. | The open-source edition is free to self-host, with unlimited flows and executions. |
| Free trial | 14-day Cloud trial with 400 credits, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Airbyte | Kestra |
| Price read from | airbyte.com | kestra.io |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Airbyte
- Standard syncs at most hourly; 15-minute syncs and SSO need Plus at $189 a month or more.
- Enterprise connectors are an add-on on Standard and Plus, and AWS PrivateLink is an add-on on those plans.
- Core is licensed under the Elastic License 2.0 and you maintain it yourself, with community support only.
- Pro and Enterprise Flex prices are not published and need a quote.
Kestra
- No Cloud or Enterprise price is published; Cloud is by access request and Enterprise by contact with sales.
- SSO, role-based access, audit logs and multi-tenancy are Enterprise Edition features.
- Workflows are defined in YAML, so it assumes engineering skills.
- Self-hosting means running and upgrading the platform yourself.
Key features
Airbyte
- 700+ connectors
- Connectors cover sources and destinations, with CDC, schema propagation and column selection, and a Connector Builder for custom ones.
- Self-hosted or managed
- Airbyte Core runs on your own infrastructure for free; the cloud plans include hosting, upgrades and support.
- Credit-based usage pricing
- Standard and Plus bill by volume: 400 credits in the trial is about 100 GB of syncs, and 5 credits is about 1 GB.
- Capacity pricing
- Pro and Enterprise Flex price on Data Workers, dedicated compute units, so cost stays flat when data volume spikes.
- Orchestrator and developer access
- An Airbyte API, Terraform provider, PyAirbyte and integrations with Airflow, Dagster and Prefect are listed on the plan comparison.
Kestra
- Declarative workflows
- Workflows, triggers and dependencies are written as YAML, versioned in Git and deployed through CI/CD.
- Code and no-code editors
- Flows can be written in code or built in a visual editor.
- Event-driven scheduling
- Flows run on schedules, on events or through the API, with retries, backfills and failure handling.
- 2,600+ plugins
- Plugins and scripts orchestrate SQL, Python, shell, APIs, Terraform, dbt and Spark in one workflow.
- AI features
- An MCP server for AI agents is in open source; an agentic AI copilot on any LLM is an Enterprise feature.
- Enterprise governance
- Enterprise adds SSO, LDAP and SCIM, role-based access, audit logs, multi-tenancy and secrets management.
Plans
Airbyte
Core$0
Self-hosted edition you run and maintain yourself, under the Elastic License 2.0.
Standard$20
per month, 5 credits included
Managed cloud with syncs as often as hourly; 5 credits is about 1 GB of syncs. Pay for the data you sync.
Plus$189
per month for 40 credits
Adds SSO, 15-minute syncs, a 24-hour support SLA and 2 workspaces; packages run to 2,000 credits at $4,999 a month.
ProCustom
Flat annual capacity pricing on Data Workers, 5-minute syncs, RBAC, premium support and a dedicated Solutions Architect.
Enterprise FlexCustom
Everything in Pro with hybrid deployment in your own VPC, on-prem or multi-region.
Kestra
Open Source$0
Self-hosted under Apache 2.0. Unlimited flows and executions, queue on PostgreSQL or MySQL.
CloudCustom
Managed by Kestra with scaling and enterprise plugins; priced by usage, access by request.
Enterprise EditionCustom
Annual subscription per instance, with SSO, RBAC, audit logs, worker groups and SLA support.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Airbyte or Kestra?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Airbyte starts at $20 per month (Standard, 5 credits included), and Kestra publishes no starting price.
Which has a free plan, Airbyte or Kestra?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Airbyte and Kestra have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.