dolphinscheduler
Apache DolphinScheduler is the modern data orchestration platform. Agile to create high performance workflow with low-code
The Lens
By Erik Loyd, SaaS CEO and former COO/CFO of an AWS Premier Partner.
Updated Mar 2026
DolphinScheduler handles that. Basically, it's a visual workflow scheduler where you drag and drop tasks into a pipeline and it manages dependencies, retries, and scheduling.
It is an Apache project backed by a real community. Supports tasks in Python, Shell, SQL, Spark, Flink, and more. The visual DAG editor makes it accessible to people who are not writing code for a living.
The catch: it is Java-based and the self-hosted setup is not trivial; you need ZooKeeper and a database. The UI is functional but dated compared to newer tools like Dagster or Prefect. And the documentation has rough patches, especially for non-Chinese-speaking users (the project originated in China).
Free vs Self-Hosted vs Paid
fully freeFully open source under Apache 2.0. No paid tier, no hosted version from the project itself. You self-host everything.
Free. Self-host only; needs ZooKeeper + database.
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Trust Signals
License: Apache License 2.0
Use freely. Patent grant included.
Commercial use: ✓ Yes
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