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Index › IT › Data platform › ETL › dbt vs Apache Airflow
ETL and ELT · November 2026 Edition

dbt vs Apache Airflow

Zero of fourteen models named dbt first on the direct prompt; zero named Apache Airflow. dbt was named by thirteen of the fourteen models and Apache Airflow by ten and dbt carries 42 labels and Apache Airflow 21, so the shares are not directly comparable.

dbt

accepted challenger

Named in six categories this edition.

Apache Airflow

accepted challenger

Named in two categories this edition.

First-choice share4%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate5%10%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#4#6A position in a field of 19; printed, not drawn.
Labels4221A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, dbt reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Fivetran was named alongside these two in thirteen of the fourteen direct answers. Airbyte vs dbt · Airbyte vs Apache Airflow · Fivetran vs dbt

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the ETL and ELT page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
dbtFirst choices, of fourteen modelsApache Airflow
Direct00
Paraphrase201 against Apache Airflow
Comparative201 against dbt
Budget-constrained01
Scale-constrained00
Negative111 against dbt · 1 against Apache Airflow
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where dbt and Apache Airflow stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.20
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
dbt Apache Airflow first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, dbt on the left and Apache Airflow on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where dbt and Apache Airflow stood in it.

Neither was the first choice, one was named

5 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Gemini 3.5 FlashFivetran alternatives: Airbyte, Matillion, Rivery, dbt
Grok 4.20Integrate.io alternatives: Airbyte, Fivetran, Matillion, dbt
Kimi K2Integrate.io alternatives: Airbyte, Apache Airflow, Fivetran, Kleene.ai, dbt
MiniMax M2.5Integrate.io alternatives: Airbyte, Apache Airflow, Fivetran, dbt
GPT-6 LunaFivetran alternatives: Airbyte, dbt

Neither was named

9 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
GPT-5.4 miniFivetran alternatives: Airbyte, Matillion
Perplexity SonarHevo Data alternatives: Airbyte, Fivetran, Integrate.io, Matillion
Mistral SmallFivetran alternatives: Integrate.io, Kleene.ai, Matillion
DeepSeek V4 FlashFivetran alternatives: Airbyte, Hevo Data, Integrate.io
Llama 4 MaverickFivetran, Integrate.io, Kleene.ai
Qwen 3.7 FlashFivetran alternatives: Airbyte, Matillion
GLM 4.7 FlashXIntegrate.io alternatives: Airbyte, Fivetran, Hevo Data, Matillion, Stitch
Muse Glimmer 30BIntegrate.io, Kleene.ai alternatives: Airbyte, Fivetran, Hevo Data

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
dbt leads by two points.
dbt2%#6 of 15
Apache Airflow0%#14 of 15
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
dbt leads by two points.
dbt4%#4 of 19
Apache Airflow2%#6 of 19
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
dbt leads by four points.
dbt6%#4 of 14
Apache Airflow2%#8 of 14
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about dbt

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of five in this category shown.

“dbt's recent model-based pricing controversies, which have drawn significant criticism” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Not a general-purpose extraction and loading tool.” GPT-6 Luna · comparative prompt · soft negative
“recommend Cloud-Native ELT tools (like Fivetran, Airbyte, or dbt)” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · first choice
“Choose Fivetran + dbt if you want a modern, low-maintenance ELT stack” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Transform: Use dbt to build tested, documented SQL models” GPT-6 Luna · paraphrase prompt · first choice

What the models said about Apache Airflow

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. One of one in this category shown.

“Apache Airflow or Airbyte are popular choices because they're free, have strong community support” Claude Haiku 4.5 · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared
Airbyte vs dbtAirbyte vs Apache AirflowFivetran vs dbtFivetran vs Apache AirflowIntegrate.io vs dbtIntegrate.io vs Apache Airflowdbt vs Hevo DataHevo Data vs Apache AirflowAll fifteen head-to-head pages and the full ETL standing

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.