head to head · open source
airflow vs Etl.Net
airflow has 47,350 GitHub stars, 18,299 forks, 1,831 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Etl.Net has 813 stars, 106 forks, 46 open issues and last shipped 25 days ago. airflow leads on adoption by 5,724% (47,350 vs 813 stars). airflow is written in Python under Apache-2.0; Etl.Net is written in C# under MIT. airflow has attracted 39% as many forks as stars, Etl.Net 13%. airflow was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (etl), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| airflow | Etl.Net | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 813 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 18K | ⑂ 106 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick airflow if
- You weight community size — 47K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Etl.Net if
- You want the Etl.Net feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and Etl.Net fits your workflow better
About airflow
Apache Airflow Apache Airflow (or simply Airflow) is a platform to programmatically author, schedule, and monitor workflows. When workflows are defined as code, they become more maintainable, versionable, testable, and collaborative. Use Airflow to author workflows (Dags) that orchestrate tasks. The Airflow scheduler executes your tasks on an array of workers while following the specified dependencies. Rich command line utilities make performing complex surgeries on Dags a snap. The rich user interface makes it easy to visualize pipelines running in production, monitor progress, and troubleshoot issues when…
read the full airflow overview →
About Etl.Net
Etl.Net Go to full documentation :rotating light: I need some help!!! :ambulance: I need some serious help for the following subject: :books: Documentation. The website of ETL.NET needs to be completed. It contains the essential to start and get in touch, but a dramatic amount of serious features is not documented in there. :heavy check mark: Unit tests. A proper test code coverage is the only real way to be taken seriously when it is about selecting the right open source library. There was a time when some units tests existed only for the reactive engine of the core (Paillave.EtlNet.Core). But it happened I had…
read the full Etl.Net overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is airflow or Etl.Net more popular?
airflow has 47,350 GitHub stars and Etl.Net has 813. airflow has the larger community by that measure.
Are airflow and Etl.Net free?
Both are open source. airflow is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Etl.Net under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between airflow and Etl.Net?
airflow is written in Python and Etl.Net in C#. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, airflow or Etl.Net?
Choose airflow if you want the larger community (47,350 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Etl.Net if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.