Alation Data Lineage vs Apache Atlas
Alation Data Lineage
alation.com
Apache Atlas
atlas.apache.orgSide by side
| Figure | Alation Data Lineage | Apache Atlas |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Data Lineage Tools | 7.8 (#15) | 8.9 (#3) |
| Deployment | Alation documentation applies lineage to both Alation Cloud Service and customer-managed instances. | The repository provides Docker build instructions and produces server, source and multiple hook distribution archives. |
| Founded | 2012 | 2015 |
| Integrations | Alation says it offers more than 120 connectors, including connectors for databases and BI platforms, and supports custom connector development through its Open Connector Framework SDK. | Documented metadata sources include Hive, Sqoop, Falcon, Storm and HBase. |
| Purpose | Maps data flows, transformations, and dependencies so users can trace data from source to destination. | Apache Atlas provides open metadata management and governance capabilities to catalog, classify, govern, and support collaboration around data assets. |
| Security | Alation says Cloud Service customer data is encrypted and not accessible to its site engineers. | Atlas supports fine-grained access controls for metadata entities and classification operations. |
Plans
In their own words
Alation Data Lineage
Alation Data Lineage has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Apache Atlas
Apache Atlas is open-source software for managing metadata and governance around data assets. It supports cataloging, classification, governance, and collaboration, with predefined metadata types and tools for defining custom types, entities, and relationships. Teams can create classifications, associate them with multiple entities, and propagate them through data lineage. The interface displays lineage, and REST APIs can access and update it. Metadata search works by type, classification, attribute value, or free text, including through a SQL-like language. Fine-grained access controls apply to metadata entities and classification operations. Integration with Apache Ranger can use classifications for authorization and data masking. Atlas exposes REST endpoints for metadata types, entities, lineage, and discovery; documented integrations include Hive, HBase, Sqoop, Storm, and Kafka. Atlas is server software for self-hosted deployment, built and packaged for an environment with HBase and Solr. It is listed for Linux, web, API, and self-hosted use, at free.