For readers choosing data-pipeline software, the useful question is not only what a tool does, but whether its project shows strong current health and shipping activity. This October 2026 comparison uses the supplied ToolVitals records, including project descriptions, ToolVitals scores, health scores, shipping scores, openness labels, license labels, and first-party project links.
The ranking includes open/source-visible tools and orders them by ToolVitals score descending, then by health and shipping for equal composite scores. GitHub stars are context only and do not determine the ordering.
Rankings
| Rank | Tool | Openness | License | Health | Shipping | GitHub Stars | Score | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apache Airflow | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 98 | 97 | 47147 | 97 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 2 | dbt | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 98 | 97 | 13996 | 97 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 3 | Bruin | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 97 | 97 | 1778 | 97 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 4 | Feldera | OSI-approved OSS | MIT | 97 | 97 | 2120 | 97 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 5 | Dagster | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 97 | 96 | 16265 | 96 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 6 | Debezium | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 97 | 96 | 13209 | 96 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 7 | texera | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 97 | 95 | 320 | 96 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 8 | AtroCore | OSI-approved OSS | GPL-3.0 | 96 | 96 | 238 | 96 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 9 | CloudQuery | OSI-approved OSS | MPL-2.0 | 96 | 96 | 6542 | 96 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 10 | HPCC Systems | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 96 | 96 | 616 | 96 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 11 | Pixeltable | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 96 | 95 | 1639 | 95 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 12 | Open Wearables | OSI-approved OSS | MIT | 96 | 94 | 2637 | 95 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 13 | Sail | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 96 | 94 | 3428 | 95 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 14 | CocoIndex | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 95 | 94 | 11672 | 95 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 15 | Unstract | OSI-approved OSS | AGPL-3.0 | 95 | 94 | 7278 | 94 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 16 | MLRun | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 95 | 93 | 1703 | 94 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 17 | Meltano | OSI-approved OSS | MIT | 95 | 93 | 2653 | 94 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 18 | Altimate Code | OSI-approved OSS | MIT | 94 | 94 | 809 | 94 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 19 | Jitsu | OSI-approved OSS | MIT | 93 | 96 | 5107 | 94 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 20 | Apache DevLake | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 95 | 91 | 3162 | 93 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 21 | PRQL | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 94 | 92 | 10922 | 93 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 22 | Arroyo | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 85 | 78 | 5054 | 82 | 🟢 Excellent |
| 23 | Mage | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 76 | 61 | 8827 | 70 | 🟢 Good |
| 24 | Multiwoven | OSI-approved OSS | AGPL-3.0 | 71 | 64 | 1680 | 68 | 🟢 Good |
| 25 | DocETL | OSI-approved OSS | MIT | 69 | 48 | 4130 | 61 | 🟢 Good |
| 26 | aisheets | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 54 | 34 | 1651 | 46 | 🟡 Fair |
| 27 | HRFlow | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 10 | 2 | 41 | 7 | 🔴 Needs Attention |
| 28 | cptn.io | OSI-approved OSS | MIT | 7 | 0 | 492 | 4 | 🔴 Needs Attention |
| 29 | Automate DV | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 6 | 0 | 597 | 4 | 🔴 Needs Attention |
| 30 | Documind | OSI-approved OSS | AGPL-3.0 | 1 | 0 | 1525 | 1 | 🔴 Needs Attention |
| 31 | Neosync | OSI-approved OSS | MIT | 0 | 0 | 4135 | 0 | 🔴 Needs Attention |
| 32 | Orchest | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 0 | 0 | 4131 | 0 | 🔴 Needs Attention |
| 33 | Ploomber | OSI-approved OSS | Apache-2.0 | 0 | 0 | 3619 | 0 | 🔴 Needs Attention |
Top 3 Highlights
Apache Airflow ranks first with a ToolVitals score of 97, a health score of 98, and a shipping score of 97. Its supplied description identifies it as a platform for programmatically authoring, scheduling, and monitoring workflows. ToolVitals labels it OSI-approved OSS and Apache-2.0. The snapshot lists 47,147 GitHub stars as context only.
dbt ranks second with a ToolVitals score of 97, a health score of 98, and a shipping score of 97. Its supplied description focuses on helping data analysts and engineers transform data using practices associated with software engineering. ToolVitals labels it OSI-approved OSS and Apache-2.0. The snapshot lists 13,996 GitHub stars as context only.
Bruin ranks third with a ToolVitals score of 97, a health score of 97, and a shipping score of 97. Its supplied description presents it as a data pipeline platform combining SQL, Python, and quality checks. ToolVitals labels it OSI-approved OSS and Apache-2.0. The snapshot lists 1,778 GitHub stars as context only.
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