Best Dagster Alternatives in 2025
Dagster's software-defined assets are powerful but complex. Here are alternatives to consider.
Top Dagster Alternatives
1. ShedBoxAI (Recommended)
Best for: Teams wanting configuration over code
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Pure YAML configuration | No asset graph UI |
| 5-minute setup | Different mental model |
| Built-in AI support | |
| No learning curve |
Compare ShedBoxAI vs Dagster →
2. Prefect
Best for: Python-native workflows
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Simpler than Dagster | Less opinionated |
| Good Python API | Cloud dependency |
| Active community |
3. Apache Airflow
Best for: Enterprise environments
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Massive ecosystem | Complex infrastructure |
| Battle-tested | DAG debugging |
| Many operators |
Quick Comparison
| Feature | ShedBoxAI | Prefect | Airflow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Config | YAML | Python | Python |
| Setup | 5 min | 30 min | 2+ hours |
| AI Native | Yes | No | No |
Getting Started
pip install shedboxai
shedboxai run config.yaml