Amazon MWAA

AWS's managed Apache Airflow service, with provisioned and serverless options.

PaidWorkflow orchestration tools

Updated Nov 7, 2026 · AppBreakup editorial · Web

Visit Amazon MWAA See 5 alternatives

Is Amazon MWAA free?

No, it's a paid product

3 alternatives with a free option

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Astronomer (Astro)
Starting price: Deployments from $0.35/hr (Developer)
Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow)
Starting price: $0.06 per DCU-hour (Composer 3, us-central1)
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Apache Airflow
Open source

Verified facts: 8 of 8
Alternatives ranked: 5
Approved reviews: 0
Visits sent from here: 0

About Amazon MWAA

Amazon Managed Workflows for Apache Airflow (MWAA) runs Apache Airflow inside your AWS account so you don't have to install, patch or scale it. You put Python DAGs in an S3 bucket and MWAA runs them on managed schedulers and workers, with access controlled through IAM and logs in CloudWatch. Pipelines can call other AWS services such as Glue, EMR, Redshift, Lambda and SageMaker through Airflow's standard operators. There are two models: a provisioned environment billed by the hour for its size plus extra workers when it scales, and MWAA Serverless, which runs YAML or Python workflows on demand and bills per task for its running time. There are no upfront commitments or licence fees. It suits teams whose data platform is already on AWS and who want stock Airflow; teams on several clouds or wanting faster access to new Airflow releases may look at vendor-neutral managed Airflow instead.

Best for: AWS-based data teams who want stock Apache Airflow without running it.

Amazon MWAA pricing (checked Nov 8, 2026)

Each line is quoted from Amazon MWAA's own site, with the page it came from.

Plan or term	What it says	Checked	Source
Upfront cost	None	Nov 8, 2026	aws.amazon.com
Serverless billing	Per task, 1-minute minimum	Nov 8, 2026	aws.amazon.com
Small environment	$0.49 per hour (US East)	Nov 8, 2026	aws.amazon.com
Large environment	$0.99 per hour (US East)	Nov 8, 2026	aws.amazon.com
Small worker	$0.055 per hour (US East)	Nov 8, 2026	aws.amazon.com
Meta database storage	$0.10 per GB-month	Nov 8, 2026	aws.amazon.com

What works

Standard Apache Airflow, managed inside your AWS account
Serverless option billed per task
Uses IAM and CloudWatch you already have

Why people leave

Provisioned environments cost money even when idle
Tied to AWS
Setup involves VPC and IAM configuration

Amazon MWAA vs Astronomer (Astro), Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) and Apache Airflow

From each app's listing and the prices verified on its own site. A dash means we haven't verified it yet.

Attribute	Amazon MWAA	Astronomer (Astro)	Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow)	Apache Airflow
Pricing	Paid	Paid	Paid	Open source
Verified price	—	Deployments from $0.35/hr (Developer)	$0.06 per DCU-hour (Composer 3, us-central1)	—
Free plan	No	No	No	Free app
Open source	No	No	No	Yes
Self-hostable	No	No	No	Yes
Platforms	Web	Web, Self-hosted	Web	Linux, Self-hosted, Web

Full Amazon MWAA vs Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) comparison

Top Amazon MWAA alternatives

See all 5

1
Astronomer (Astro)
Managed Airflow from Airflow's main commercial backer, with faster version updates and multi-cloud support.
68.8
2
Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow)
Google Cloud's equivalent managed Airflow, if your data sits in BigQuery.
64.8
3
Apache Airflow
Self-host the open-source project for free if you can run and scale it yourself.
61.8
4
Prefect
Python-first orchestration with a free tier and a hybrid model that keeps execution on your infrastructure.
59.4
5
Argo Workflows
Runs each step as a container on Kubernetes, so teams already on EKS can orchestrate jobs without an Airflow environment.
57.5

Why people left Amazon MWAA

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

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Amazon MWAA: common questions

What is Amazon MWAA?

Amazon MWAA: AWS's managed Apache Airflow service, with provisioned and serverless options. Best for AWS-based data teams who want stock Apache Airflow without running it. Available for Web.

Is Amazon MWAA free?

No, Amazon MWAA is a paid product.

How much does Amazon MWAA cost?

Amazon MWAA is a paid product. Upfront cost: None; Serverless billing: Per task, 1-minute minimum; Small environment: $0.49 per hour (US East); Large environment: $0.99 per hour (US East). Checked on Amazon MWAA's own site, November 2026.

Is Amazon MWAA open source?

No, Amazon MWAA is not open source. Open-source alternatives include Apache Airflow, Prefect and Argo Workflows.

What platforms does Amazon MWAA run on?

Amazon MWAA is available for Web.

What are the best alternatives to Amazon MWAA?

The highest-ranked Amazon MWAA alternatives right now are Astronomer (Astro), Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) and Apache Airflow. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

Amazon MWAA vs Astronomer (Astro): what's the difference?

Both Amazon MWAA and Astronomer (Astro) are paid products. Both run on Web.

See all 5 Amazon MWAA alternatives

Amazon MWAA facts

8 of 8 verified

Upfront cost: None; Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab); “There are no minimum fees or upfront commitments.”
Serverless billing: Per task, 1-minute minimum; Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab); “You pay per task for its duration, for a minimum of 1 minute.”
Deployment options: Serverless or provisioned; Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab); “Choose between serverless or provisioned deployment options”
Workflow formats: YAML or Python; Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab); “YAML or Python-based workflows on-demand or on schedule.”
Small environment: $0.49 per hour (US East); Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab); “$0.49 (price per hour for a small environment in the US East (N.”
Large environment: $0.99 per hour (US East); Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab); “$0.99 (price per hour for a large environment in the US East (N.”
Small worker: $0.055 per hour (US East); Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab); “$0.055 (price per hour for a small worker in the US East (N.”
Meta database storage: $0.10 per GB-month; Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab); “Virginia) region) = $20.46 Meta database charge 40 GB of storage x $0.10 GB-month”