Dagu vs Prefect
Dagu
dagu.shPrefect
prefect.ioSide by side
| Figure | Dagu | Prefect |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $50/mo | $100/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 4 |
| Spec score · Workload Automation Software | 8.3 (#11) | 8.0 (#12) |
| Integrations | Built-in integration actions include HTTP, mail, SSH, SFTP, Git, S3, Redis, LLM, browser, computer, SQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and DuckDB. | The integrations directory lists AWS, Azure, Bitbucket, Dask, Databricks, dbt, Docker, GCP, GitHub, Kubernetes, Slack, Snowflake, and other integrations. |
| Purpose | Dagu is a self-hosted workflow engine that lets users define DAG workflows in YAML and manage runs, logs, and retries through a built-in web UI. | Prefect is a workflow orchestration platform for data, machine learning, and agents, with workflows written as plain Python. |
| Security | Dagu's privacy policy says hosted service data is on Google Cloud Platform and uses encryption in transit and at rest, access controls, and tenant isolation safeguards. | Prefect states that it is SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR compliant, and describes itself as HIPAA ready. |
| Support | Team and Pro include standard support, Enterprise includes priority support, and support is handled directly by Dagu's maintainer. | The pricing comparison lists Community as Hobby's support channel, and the homepage says every enterprise plan has a 30-minute response SLA. |
Plans
In their own words
Dagu
Dagu is a self-hosted workflow engine for defining DAG workflows in YAML and managing runs, logs and retries through a built-in web interface. It runs as a single binary locally or across distributed workers, without an external database or message broker. Workflows can run shell scripts, Docker containers, SSH commands, SQL queries, HTTP requests, chat completion steps and Agent Harness steps. Scheduling supports cron timezones, catchup windows, overlap and retry policies, zombie detection, lifecycle handlers and notifications. Built-in actions cover HTTP, mail, SSH, SFTP, Git, S3, Redis, LLM, browser, computer, SQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite and DuckDB. Dagu also supports MCP connections from clients including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Zed and Cline. The project is open source under GNU GPL v3.0. Its free Community plan includes unlimited servers and workers, with up to two API keys. Team is $50 a month and Pro is $150 a month; both add SSO, role-based access, audit logging, incident routing and standard support.
Prefect
Prefect is a workflow orchestration platform for data, machine learning and agent workflows written in Python. Its open-source framework lets users add decorators to existing Python code to create workflows, without a rigid DAG structure or custom DSL. Execution features include state tracking, automatic retries, caching and recovery from failures. For observability, Prefect provides run timelines, logs and alerts for failures, missed SLAs and late runs. Workflows can run on cron or event-driven schedules, support backfills, and be triggered by webhooks, cloud events or state changes. Deployment choices include managed serverless execution, hybrid execution in a customer’s infrastructure, and self-hosted orchestration. In hybrid mode, workers connect through outbound-only connections while code and data stay in the customer’s infrastructure; Prefect Cloud hosts the control plane and metadata. The free Hobby plan is limited to two users, five deployments, 500 minutes of monthly serverless credits and seven days of run retention. Paid plans start at $100/mo.