head to head · open source
airflow vs seatunnel
airflow has 47,301 GitHub stars, 18,202 forks, 1,831 open issues and last shipped yesterday. seatunnel has 9,768 stars, 2,444 forks, 705 open issues and last shipped yesterday. airflow leads on adoption by 384% (47,301 vs 9,768 stars). airflow is written in Python under Apache-2.0; seatunnel is written in Java under Apache-2.0. airflow has attracted 38% as many forks as stars, seatunnel 25%. airflow was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (apache, data-integration, elt), 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 | seatunnel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 9.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-10-28 | 2026-10-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 18K | ⑂ 2.4K |
| 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 seatunnel if
- You want the seatunnel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and seatunnel 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 seatunnel
Apache SeaTunnel Overview SeaTunnel is a multimodal, high performance, distributed data integration tool, capable of synchronizing vast amounts of data daily. It's trusted by numerous companies for its efficiency and stability. Why Choose SeaTunnel SeaTunnel addresses common data integration challenges: Diverse Data Sources : Seamlessly integrates with hundreds of evolving data sources. Multimodal Data Integration : Supports the integration of video, images, binary files, structured and unstructured text data. Complex Synchronization Scenarios : Supports various synchronization methods, including real time, CDC…
read the full seatunnel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is airflow or seatunnel more popular?
airflow has 47,301 GitHub stars and seatunnel has 9,768. airflow has the larger community by that measure.
Are airflow and seatunnel free?
Both are open source. airflow is licensed under Apache-2.0 and seatunnel under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between airflow and seatunnel?
airflow is written in Python and seatunnel in Java. 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 seatunnel?
Choose airflow if you want the larger community (47,301 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose seatunnel if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.