Apache Airflow vs. Microsoft Power BI

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Apache Airflow
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Apache Airflow is an open source tool that can be used to programmatically author, schedule and monitor data pipelines using Python and SQL. Created at Airbnb as an open-source project in 2014, Airflow was brought into the Apache Software Foundation’s Incubator Program 2016 and announced as Top-Level Apache Project in 2019. It is used as a data orchestration solution, with over 140 integrations and community support.N/A
Microsoft Power BI
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Power BI is a visualization and data discovery tool from Microsoft. It allows users to convert data into visuals and graphics, visually explore and analyze data, collaborate on interactive dashboards and reports, and scale across their organization with built-in governance and security.
$10
per month per user
Pricing
Apache AirflowMicrosoft Power BI
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Apache AirflowMicrosoft Power BI
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Apache AirflowMicrosoft Power BI
Considered Both Products
Apache Airflow
Chose Apache Airflow
Much easy to deploy Apache Airflow as opposed to other products, with flexible deployment options as well as flexible integration with other tools and platforms.
Microsoft Power BI

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Apache AirflowMicrosoft Power BI
Workload Automation
Comparison of Workload Automation features of Product A and Product B
Apache Airflow
8.2
9 Ratings
0% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Multi-platform scheduling8.89 Ratings00 Ratings
Central monitoring8.49 Ratings00 Ratings
Logging8.19 Ratings00 Ratings
Alerts and notifications7.99 Ratings00 Ratings
Analysis and visualization7.99 Ratings00 Ratings
Application integration8.49 Ratings00 Ratings
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Apache Airflow
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.2
139 Ratings
12% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings7.0119 Ratings
Customizable dashboards00 Ratings7.7139 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings7.0127 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Apache Airflow
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.3
140 Ratings
10% below category average
Drill-down analysis00 Ratings7.2139 Ratings
Formatting capabilities00 Ratings6.5138 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings7.8103 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings7.7135 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Apache Airflow
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.9
134 Ratings
5% below category average
Publish to Web00 Ratings7.9129 Ratings
Publish to PDF00 Ratings8.2122 Ratings
Report Versioning00 Ratings7.5102 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.9104 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings7.174 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Apache Airflow
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.8
136 Ratings
3% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings7.4131 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings7.4122 Ratings
Predictive Analytics00 Ratings7.3102 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Apache Airflow
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.1
127 Ratings
5% below category average
Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings8.3121 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings7.7103 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings8.9111 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings7.52 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings8.295 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Apache Airflow
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
118 Ratings
0% below category average
Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings8.0112 Ratings
Mobile Application00 Ratings7.894 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings7.8113 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Apache Airflow
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.5
81 Ratings
7% above category average
REST API00 Ratings8.773 Ratings
Javascript API00 Ratings8.657 Ratings
iFrames00 Ratings8.055 Ratings
Java API00 Ratings8.747 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings8.664 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings8.444 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Apache AirflowMicrosoft Power BI
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

Cyfe
Cyfe
Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
ActiveBatch Workload Automation
ActiveBatch Workload Automation
Score 8.4 out of 10
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Redwood RunMyJobs
Redwood RunMyJobs
Score 9.3 out of 10
Jaspersoft Community Edition
Jaspersoft Community Edition
Score 9.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Apache AirflowMicrosoft Power BI
Likelihood to Recommend
7.3
(9 ratings)
7.4
(141 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(57 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.5
(52 ratings)
User Testimonials
Apache AirflowMicrosoft Power BI
Likelihood to Recommend
Apache
For a quick job scanning of status and deep-diving into job issues, details, and flows, AirFlow does a good job. No fuss, no muss. The low learning curve as the UI is very straightforward, and navigating it will be familiar after spending some time using it. Our requirements are pretty simple. Job scheduler, workflows, and monitoring. The jobs we run are >100, but still is a lot to review and troubleshoot when jobs don't run. So when managing large jobs, AirFlow dated UI can be a bit of a drawback.
Read full review
Microsoft
In operations we use the tool for many different topics, from factory quality systems to high level reviews. We have created kind of an internal "App Store" based on Power BI where you have a lot of different dashboards for different solutions (cost, cash, health and safety, sales, factories, distribution centers...) and you as an user just need to get in that "App Store" and enter in whatever tool can be useful for you. It is open to all the operations employees and can use on demand. Also it has raised the imagination of our colleagues, as they are not only working by themselves creating new reports, but also raising fantastic ideas that can be extended for the usage of all the community.
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Pros
Apache
  • In charge of the ETL processes.
  • As there is no incoming or outgoing data, we may handle the scheduling of tasks as code and avoid the requirement for monitoring.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Quickly filter and view granular data sets with easily configurable reporting figures.
  • The ability to quickly switch between tabs allows for historical data comparisons and progress tracking.
  • It's helpful to dive into the data and break it down from high levels to small.
  • Achieve actionable insights faster by using real-time data. It's incredible to have online access to reports.
Read full review
Cons
Apache
  • they should bring in some time based scheduling too not only event based
  • they do not store the metadata due to which we are not able to analyze the workflows
  • they only support python as of now for scripted pipeline writing
Read full review
Microsoft
  • The desktop app is great but needs a lot of performance improvements
  • No MacOS Version for the Desktop app, this is a big limitation for business since executives prefer Macs
  • Premium Cloud Version of Power BI is awfully expensive
  • On-Premise Version of the Power BI Reports Server is bundled only with SQL Server Enterprise License and cannot be purchased separately and requires Software Assurance Subscription
  • On-Premise Power BI Report Server doesn't support ADFS, AzureAD or any Claims-Based authentication platform, a sad disadvantage for enterprises
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Likelihood to Renew
Apache
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
I find it helpful and easy to use
Read full review
Usability
Apache
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
At this point, I think we all know who has taken the lead in the business intelligence and analytics market worldwide. With fresh new updates every other day on top of an already robustly built product with all features that one can dream of is a no brainer, I feel. Microsoft will invariably be synonymous with quality and professionalism.
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Support Rating
Apache
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
I can't really speak to the support overall, [but] I will say that in the almost three years I have used the system, I have only needed to contact their support team once. I think the team was helpful, but it did take some time for us to resolve the issues/ request that they had. I guess the good news is that the system is pretty stable, and I personally have rarely needed to contact their technical support team.
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Alternatives Considered
Apache
There are a number of reasons to choose Apache Airflow over other similar platforms- Integrations—ready-to-use operators allow you to integrate Airflow with cloud platforms (Google, AWS, Azure, etc) Apache Airflow helps with backups and other DevOps tasks, such as submitting a Spark job and storing the resulting data on a Hadoop cluster It has machine learning model training, such as triggering a Sage maker job.
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Microsoft
[Microsoft] Power BI is practical and effective, like a hammer for a nail, it is easy to use and produces very quickly the results that in most cases are urgently required by clients (nice reports to share on the web). To start using [Microsoft] Power BI you need a business email address, with that you create an account in Power BI Service and in less than 1 hour you will have installed Power BI Desktop, a report will have been created and it will have been published on the web .
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Return on Investment
Apache
  • A lot of helpful features out-of-the-box, such as the DAG visualizations and task trees
  • Allowed us to implement complex data pipelines easily and at a relatively low cost
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Microsoft
  • It helps us track and achieve company goals.
  • It shows us [our] performance in areas we could not previously track and allows us to see and work on how to improve their performance.
  • Quick easy access for executives to use in helping teams and addressing issues.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Microsoft Power BI Screenshots

Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Turns insights into impact for business usersScreenshot of Power BI integrates easily with Microsoft 365Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - AI-Powered CapabilitiesScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Copilot can be used to create reportsScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Data HubScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Scales as organizational needs grow