Dagster vs Prefect: Self-Serve Plans Compared

As of April 2026, the orchestration platforms Prefect Cloud and Dagster offer different pricing models and capabilities for small teams or solo projects. Dagster's new pricing model, effective May 1, 2026, removes previously included credits from its Solo and Starter plans, increasing costs significantly for users, with every credit now billed at $0.035–$0.040 each. Prefect Cloud, on the other hand, bases its pricing on seats and includes serverless hours in its plans, offering a more predictable cost structure. While Dagster focuses on a Software-Defined Assets model that structures code around an asset graph, Prefect uses Python decorators for flow and task management, requiring less initial restructuring of existing Python code. Both platforms allow hybrid deployments with user-supplied infrastructure, but differ in serverless compute charges, with Dagster charging $0.010/min and Prefect including serverless minutes in its plans. Additionally, both offer fully-featured open-source versions for self-hosting, providing flexibility for teams with budget constraints.

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