Apache Airflow Reviews (130)

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Apache Airflow Reviews (130)

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4.4
130 reviews

What do users say?

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Users consistently praise Apache Airflow for its flexibility and powerful scheduling capabilities, which make it ideal for orchestrating complex workflows. The intuitive web UI enhances monitoring and debugging, allowing users to manage dependencies effectively. However, many note a common challenge with the steep learning curve and initial setup complexity, particularly for those new to Python or workflow orchestration.

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Saketh K.
SK
Saketh K.
Data Engineer
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Airflow vs Cron: When Simplicity Matters"
3.5/5
What do you like best about Apache Airflow?

Opensource, UI to track almost every aspect of each job, python friendly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Airflow?

While Apache Airflow is powerful, it often complicates simple tasks with added abstractions like custom directives and inter-task communication. Job scheduling isn’t intuitive—requiring attention to interval ends—and log loading can be sluggish. Though opinions may vary, I personally find traditional cronjobs a simpler and more effective solution for managing a large number of jobs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Computer Software
UC
Verified User in Computer Software
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Airflow Orchestration of various Data Pipelines"
5/5
What do you like best about Apache Airflow?

Airflow has capabilities that overcomes traditional CRON jobs sscheduling, I have been using it since last 6+ years and it is helping me a lot to built robust pipelines with ease in backfilling tasks when any issue comes in. Also it has a good customer support when it comes to its upgradation Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Airflow?

I do not dislike anything in terms of Airflow as it is already a best tool for data engineers and AI data engineers.It provides seamless integration. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Tobias S.
TS
Tobias S.
Sr. BI Manager
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Great DAG Frontend, But Feels Outdated"
3.5/5
What do you like best about Apache Airflow?

It has a nice user interface for viewing the status of DAGs, which has become an industry standard. Additionally, when jobs fail, the logs are very helpful for tracking down what went wrong. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Airflow?

The setups feel outdated and unnecessarily complex. In comparison, tools such as dbt, and especially Databricks, have made significant improvements recently. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Rahul D.
RD
Rahul D.
Program Analyst
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Powerful and flexible workflow orchestration tool"
5/5
What do you like best about Apache Airflow?

Apache Airflow offers excellent flexibility in defining, scheduling, and monitoring complex workflows. The DAG-based approach is intuitive for data engineers, and the extensive operator ecosystem allows easy integration with various systems. Its UI makes tracking and debugging workflows straightforward, and its scalability ensures smooth operation even with large pipelines. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Airflow?

The initial setup and configuration can be challenging, especially for beginners. Managing dependencies and scaling in production requires strong infrastructure knowledge. Some tasks may require custom operators or plugins, which can be time-consuming to develop. The web UI, while functional, could benefit from more modern UX improvements. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Nirbhay K.
NK
Nirbhay K.
Customer Support Operations Manager
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Powerful Workflow Orchestration with Flexibility and Scalability"
5/5
What do you like best about Apache Airflow?

Apache Airflow excels in orchestrating complex workflows with ease. Its DAG-based approach makes task dependencies clear and manageable. The web UI is intuitive for monitoring and debugging jobs, and the integration options with cloud services and databases are extensive. Being open-source, it has strong community support and frequent updates, making it adaptable to evolving needs. Scalability is another plus — it can handle everything from small pipelines to enterprise-scale workloads efficiently. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Airflow?

The initial setup and configuration can be challenging for beginners, especially when deploying in a distributed environment. Documentation, while extensive, can sometimes be overwhelming or outdated. Resource usage can become heavy for very large DAGs, requiring careful optimization. Additionally, the learning curve for custom operators and plugins can be steep for new developers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Financial Services
IF
Verified User in Financial Services
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Streamlining Complex Data Pipelines with Ease"
4/5
What do you like best about Apache Airflow?

What I like best about Apache Airflow is its ability to orchestrate complex workflows with clear visibility and control. The DAG-based structure makes it easy to design, monitor, and modify data pipelines, while the scheduler ensures tasks run reliably and in the right sequence. Its modularity and integration capabilities with various data sources and tools make it extremely versatile. The web UI is also a huge plus, as it provides real-time monitoring and quick debugging, which saves time during development and production. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Airflow?

While Apache Airflow is powerful, it does come with a steep learning curve for beginners, especially when setting up and configuring it for the first time. Deployments can be complex, and managing dependencies across environments requires careful attention. Additionally, for smaller projects, the overhead of running and maintaining Airflow can feel heavier compared to lightweight alternatives. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Mohammad M.
MM
Mohammad M.
Senior System Engineer
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Using Apache Airflow to orchestrate pipeline workflow for Databricks and EMR jobs"
4/5
What do you like best about Apache Airflow?

Very easy to understand and use

It is very good for defining complex workflows as code

has very good monitoring/observability features

Best part is we don't have to manage any infra if we use services like AWS MWAA for apache airflow. Very easy to implement.

Has good customer support via email or support tickets

We use it day in day out few projects for managing workflow for bedrock for using AI integrations, databricks and emr.

We use it along with AWS S3, Bedrock and Postgres SQL and Github Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Airflow?

It doesn't have any tracking mechanism and makes it hard to track any changes made or revert back a version of code

Doesn't support live streaming processing Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Usman M.
UM
Usman M.
Backend Software Engineer
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Powerful Workflow Automation with Some Learning Curve"
5/5
What do you like best about Apache Airflow?

Apache Airflow excels in workflow automation and scheduling, making it ideal for complex data pipelines. Key strengths:

Flexibility: Define workflows as code (Python) for full customization.

Scalability: Handles large workflows with distributed execution (e.g., Celery/Kubernetes).

Extensibility: Rich library of operators/integrations (AWS, GCP, Snowflake, etc.).

UI/Visibility: Intuitive dashboard for monitoring DAGs (Directed Acyclic Graphs) and task statuses.

Community/Open Source: Active community and frequent updates. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Airflow?

While powerful, Airflow has drawbacks:

Steep Learning Curve: New users struggle with concepts like DAGs, XComs, and executors.

Complex Setup: Local deployment (e.g., Docker/Celery) can be tricky; managed services (Astro, MWAA) simplify this.

Limited Real-Time Processing: Designed for batch workflows, not streaming.

Debugging: Logs can be fragmented, and dynamic pipeline generation is unintuitive.

Scaling Costs: Self-hosted clusters require significant DevOps effort. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Atin K.
AK
Atin K.
Senior Analyst (Planning and Replenishment)
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Airflow makes my data tasks so much easy"
4.5/5
What do you like best about Apache Airflow?

I like that it makes all my data jobs run on time without me sitting and doing everything manualy. The schedualing is super helpful and once I set it up, it just works in the background. Makes my work alot easier. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Airflow?

Sometimes setting it up in the start feels a bit confusing, and if something breaks it can take time to figure out why. The UI also feels a bit old, wish it was more simple to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

AC
Angelo C.
Data Analyst
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Powerful and intuitive application, but the updates are too frequent"
5/5
What do you like best about Apache Airflow?

A powerful and intuitive application that allows you to perform many tasks and schedule automations, all through a simple, clean, and modern interface. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Airflow?

Installation and updates can often be cumbersome.

Updates are too frequent and occasionally introduce minor bugs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.