Best Astronomer Alternatives (2026)

Astronomer alternatives at a glance

1. 1

   Airbyte

   Data

   Open-source data integration.

   Airbyte built its reputation as the scrappy open-source alternative to Fivetran and Stitch, and that DNA shows — the free tier is genuinely generous. They're not trying to be the enterprise-first premium play; they're going after cost-conscious data teams who want flexibility without a five-figure contract.

   Plans: Free $0/mo · Individual $29/mo · Team $299/mo · Custom Contact Sales

   From $29/mo Free plan · Astronomer vs Airbyte → Airbyte pricing →
2. 2

   Census

   Data

   Reverse ETL from your warehouse.

   Opaque custom pricing across all paid tiers signals they're not trying to win on being the cheapest option — they're positioning against tools like Hightouch and Segment as a data activation layer for teams already invested in a modern data stack. The free tier and 14-day trial per connection are the low-friction entry points to get teams hooked before the sales motion kicks in.

   Plans: Free $0/mo · Standard Contact Sales · Enterprise Contact Sales · Business Critical Contact Sales

   Custom pricing Free plan Free trial · Astronomer vs Census → Census pricing →
3. 3

   Dagster

   Data

   Data orchestration for ML and analytics.

   At $10-$100/mo for self-serve tiers, Dagster is undercutting Prefect and positioning against Airflow's operational overhead cost rather than competing on raw price with open-source. They're going after the mid-market data team that wants managed orchestration without paying Astronomer-level enterprise prices.

   Plans: Solo Plan $10/mo · Starter Plan $100/mo · Pro Plan Contact Sales

   From $10/mo Free trial · Astronomer vs Dagster → Dagster pricing →
4. 4

   Databricks

   Data

   Unified data and AI platform.

   Databricks plays in the premium enterprise data platform space, competing directly with Snowflake and Google BigQuery — they're not trying to win on price, they're winning on unified platform breadth (data engineering + ML + warehousing in one place). The all-custom pricing signals they're targeting mid-market and enterprise accounts with real budget, not self-serve startups.

   Plans: Data Engineering Contact Sales · Data Warehousing Contact Sales · Interactive workloads Contact Sales · Operational Database Contact Sales · Artificial Intelligence Contact Sales · Genie Contact Sales · Platform Contact Sales

   Custom pricing Free trial · Astronomer vs Databricks → Databricks pricing →
5. 5

   dbt Labs

   Data

   Analytics engineering workflow.

   At $100/seat, they're not cheap — that's squarely mid-to-premium for a data transformation tool, putting them above scrappier open-source-first competitors but below full-stack data platform pricing. They're clearly targeting data-mature teams at growth-stage and enterprise companies, not early-stage shops watching every dollar.

   Plans: Developer $0/mo per seat · Starter $100/mo per seat · Enterprise Contact Sales · Enterprise+ Contact Sales

   From $100/mo Free plan Free trial · Astronomer vs dbt Labs → dbt Labs pricing →
6. 6

   Dremio

   Data

   Lakehouse query platform (now part of SAP) priced at $0.20 per Dremio Compute Unit, plus contact-sales Enterprise.

   Dremio's undercutting the classic 'pay for idle warehouse time' model that Snowflake and Databricks are historically criticized for, positioning itself as the leaner lakehouse query engine. It's aimed at data teams who want Snowflake-like SQL performance without committing to a warehouse-sized budget before proving out the use case.

   Plans: Dremio Cloud $0/mo · Dremio Enterprise Contact Sales

   From $0/mo Free trial · Astronomer vs Dremio → Dremio pricing →
7. 7

   Fivetran

   Data

   Automated data movement platform.

   Fivetran sits at the premium end of the ELT connector market — they're not trying to win on price, they're selling reliability and connector breadth against cheaper alternatives like Airbyte or Stitch. The custom pricing wall signals they're targeting mid-market and enterprise data teams with budget, not scrappy startups watching every dollar.

   Plans: Free $0/mo · Standard Contact Sales · Enterprise Contact Sales · Business Critical Contact Sales

   Custom pricing Free plan Free trial · Astronomer vs Fivetran → Fivetran pricing →
8. 8

   Hevo

   Data

   No-code data pipelines.

   Hevo sits in the mid-market of the ETL/ELT space — more affordable than Fivetran at scale but positioned above scrappy open-source alternatives. They're going after data teams that want a managed pipeline without enterprise pricing, likely competing hardest against Airbyte Cloud and Stitch.

   Plans: FREE $0/mo · STARTER $299/mo · PROFESSIONAL $849/mo · BUSINESS CRITICAL Contact Sales

   From $299/mo Free plan Free trial · Astronomer vs Hevo → Hevo pricing →
9. 9

   Hightouch

   Data

   Composable CDP on your warehouse.

   Hightouch is positioning as the premium, warehouse-native alternative to legacy CDPs like Segment or mParticle — they're not competing on price, they're competing on architecture. The free tier undercuts traditional CDPs on entry cost, but the custom pricing on upper tiers signals they're hunting mid-market and enterprise deals where ACV justifies a sales motion.

   Plans: Basic Reverse ETL $0/mo · Agentic Marketing Platform Contact Sales · Composable CDP Contact Sales

   Custom pricing Free plan · Astronomer vs Hightouch → Hightouch pricing →
10. 10

    Matillion

    Data

    Cloud data integration (Data Productivity Cloud) with credit-based consumption pricing across Developer, Teams, and Scale plans.

    Hiding all pricing behind 'contact sales' signals a mid-to-premium enterprise play rather than a self-serve tool competing on sticker price. They're clearly chasing data teams already committed to a cloud DW (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift) who need production-grade orchestration, not indie developers comparing costs on a pricing page.

    Plans: Developer Contact Sales · Teams Contact Sales · Scale Contact Sales

    Custom pricing Free trial · Astronomer vs Matillion → Matillion pricing →

None of these fit? Browse the full pricing directory →

What is the best alternative to Astronomer?

Airbyte is the closest Astronomer alternative we track for data. Paid plans start at $29/mo, and there is a free plan to start on. Census and Dagster are also worth a look.

Are there free alternatives to Astronomer?

Yes — Airbyte, Census, dbt Labs and 3 more offer a free plan, so you can switch without paying up front.

How much do Astronomer alternatives cost?

Entry prices range from $0/mo (Dremio) to $299/mo (Hevo). Each product page has the full verified tier breakdown.