Dagster vs Hatchet (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Hatchet grades higher than Dagster: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Dagster grades higher on platforms. Hatchet grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Dagster
Asset-based data orchestration platform, now part of Prefect
Hatchet
Open-source task queue and durable workflow engine
Which one is for you
Pick Dagster if
- Fits if your team writes Python and thinks of pipelines as tables and files
- Works for data teams that want a hosted console but can self-host the core later
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you can't write Python, as pipelines are code
- Tight if you're not paying: no free hosted plan, only a 30-day trial
- Watch out: credits are charged per asset and per op on top of $10 or $100 a month
- Watch out: the site says Dagster is now part of Prefect, so plans and branding may change
Pick Hatchet if
- Fits if you're replacing a queue like Celery with durable workflows
- Works for engineers who want to start free and self-host later
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't write code, as tasks are defined in an SDK
- Tight if you won't add a card, because the free tier is 2,000 runs a day with 1-day retention
- Watch out: on the free tier, new tasks are dropped past the limit
- Watch out: failed runs count as runs, and SSO and audit logs need Custom
How we grade them
| 2.0GPADagsterFair | 2.2GPAHatchetFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CSolo is $10 a month and Starter $100, but every asset and op also costs a credit ($0.040 or $0.035), so the bill isn't just the headline. The category's middle is $19.99. | BStarts at $0, then $30 per million runs and $5 per million events, with 1 million of each free a month when a card is on file. |
| Free plan and trial | C30-day trial with everything on, and the core framework can be self-hosted for nothing. There's no free hosted plan, so after a month you pay or run it yourself. | BWith a card on file: 1M runs and 1M events a month free. Without one, 2,000 runs and events a day and 1 day of retention. |
| Features | COrchestration, catalog, data quality checks and cost insights. Cost tracking, project-level roles and several alert types are Pro only. | CTask queues and workflows. SSO, RBAC, audit logs and a HIPAA BAA are listed only on Custom. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. You define pipelines as Python code and run or host a code location, which is a developer's setup, not a click-through one. | DNo store rating on record. You write the tasks in code and run workers. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb console with integrations for dbt, Snowflake, Databricks, AWS and Airbyte. No desktop or phone apps. | CWeb dashboard only, and no integrations list on the listing. |
| Best for | Python data pipelines built around assets | background task queues for engineering teams |
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: Dagster and Hatchet. How we grade
Where they differ
- Dagster also covers dashboards.
- Hatchet also covers AI agents and job scheduling.
At a glance
| Dagster | Hatchet | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $10 per month plus $0.040 per credit (Solo) | $0, then $30 per million runs and $5 per million events |
| Free plan | None | Pay-as-you-go: 1M runs and 1M events free every month, 100 workers, 10 tenants and 50 users with a card on file. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial with access to everything Dagster offers | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Prefect Technologies, Inc. | Hatchet Technologies, Inc. |
| Price read from | dagster.io | hatchet.run |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Dagster
- Usage is billed in credits: one per asset materialized and one per op executed, on top of the monthly fee.
- There is no free hosted plan; the trial lasts 30 days, though the core framework can be self-hosted.
- Cost tracking, role scoping by project and several alert types are limited to the Pro plan.
- The site says Dagster is now part of Prefect, so plans and branding may change.
Hatchet
- Without a card on file the free tier is limited to 2,000 task runs and 2,000 events a day, with 1-day retention.
- If a limit is passed on the free tier, new tasks are dropped and creation errors appear.
- Retries are not billed, but failed runs count as runs.
- SSO, RBAC, audit logs and HIPAA BAA are listed only on the Custom plan.
Key features
Dagster
- Asset-based orchestration
- Pipelines are modeled as assets with dependencies, alongside workflow-based orchestration for work that is not tied to a data asset.
- Data catalog and lineage
- Asset metadata, asset-level lineage and, on Starter and above, catalog search; column lineage is listed on the comparison table.
- Data quality checks
- Asset checks, freshness policies and dbt test integration surface the health of each asset.
- Insights and alerts
- Pipeline metrics with a 30-day lookback and alerts by email, Slack or Teams; cost tracking for BigQuery and Snowflake is a Pro feature.
- Hybrid or Serverless compute
- Run on Dagster Serverless, billed at $0.010 a minute, or on your own infrastructure in Hybrid mode with no compute charge from Dagster.
- Open-source core
- The core orchestration framework is open source on GitHub and can be self-hosted; Dagster+ adds branch deployments, RBAC and cost insights.
Hatchet
- Durable execution
- Workflows and agents are checkpointed so work resumes after a failure. A failed task can be retried automatically or replayed by hand.
- Background tasks and cron
- Runs background jobs at scale and creates dynamic cron schedules for recurring workflows.
- Webhooks and events
- Events and webhooks can trigger workflows, and events can satisfy wait conditions inside a running workflow.
- Observability
- Traces, logs, metrics and alerts are available for each run, with 7 days of retention on the paid-card pay-as-you-go tier.
- Self-hosting
- The pricing page says Hatchet is 100% open source under the MIT license, and the Custom plan covers self-hosted and hybrid setups.
Plans
Dagster
Solo$10
per month, plus $0.040 per credit
1 user, 1 code location and 1 deployment for personal projects. Serverless compute is $0.010 a minute.
Starter$100
per month, plus $0.035 per credit
Up to 3 users, 5 code locations, 1 deployment and catalog search. Serverless compute is $0.010 a minute.
ProCustom
Unlimited code locations and deployments, cost tracking and insights, uptime SLAs and a private Slack channel. Sold through sales.
Hatchet
Pay-as-you-go$0
to start, then usage-based
1M runs and 1M events free each month, then $30 per million runs, $5 per million events and $0.10 per GB of durable streams.
CustomCustom
For 100M+ runs a month: dedicated capacity, SSO, RBAC, audit logs, HIPAA, SLAs, and self-hosted or BYOC support.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Dagster or Hatchet?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Dagster starts at $10 per month plus $0.040 per credit (Solo), and Hatchet starts at $0, then $30 per million runs and $5 per million events.
Which has a free plan, Dagster or Hatchet?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Hatchet has a free plan. Dagster does not, though it has a free trial.
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.