AWS Glue
AWS's serverless ETL service with a central data catalog and Spark-based jobs.
Updated · AppBreakup editorial · Web
Is AWS Glue free?
No, it's a paid product
- ETL price:
- $0.44 per DPU-hour
- Data Catalog free tier:
- 1M objects and 1M requests per month
Checked on AWS Glue's site Nov 8, 2026
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About AWS Glue
AWS Glue is Amazon's serverless data integration service for moving and reshaping data inside AWS. Its Data Catalog stores table definitions that Athena, Redshift and EMR can query, and crawlers can scan data in S3 and databases to fill that catalog automatically. Transformation jobs run on a managed Apache Spark engine or as small Python shell jobs; you write the code yourself, use notebooks with interactive sessions, or build pipelines visually in Glue Studio, which generates the script for you. It also offers data quality rules, streaming ETL, schedulers and triggers, and connections to more than 70 data sources. There are no servers or clusters to manage, and it fits data engineers whose warehouse or lake already lives on AWS. Billing is by Data Processing Unit hours, metered per second with a short minimum; the Data Catalog has a monthly free allowance for metadata storage and requests. The trade-offs are Spark tuning, slow job start-ups compared with always-on clusters, and limited use outside AWS. It is managed through the AWS console, CLI and APIs.
Best for: Data engineers building Spark-based ETL and a data catalog for an AWS data lake or warehouse.
AWS Glue pricing (checked Nov 8, 2026)
Each line is quoted from AWS Glue's own site, with the page it came from.
| Plan or term | What it says | Checked | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ETL price | $0.44 per DPU-hour | Nov 8, 2026 | aws.amazon.com |
| Billing | Per second, 1-minute minimum (Glue 2.0+) | Nov 8, 2026 | aws.amazon.com |
| Data Catalog free tier | 1M objects and 1M requests per month | Nov 8, 2026 | aws.amazon.com |
Pros and cons
What works
- Serverless Spark jobs with no cluster to run
- Central Data Catalog shared by Athena, Redshift and EMR
- Visual job editor that generates editable code
- Per-second billing with a 1-minute minimum on current versions
Why people leave
- Few ready-made SaaS connectors compared with Fivetran or Airbyte
- Spark jobs need tuning and can be slow to start
- Little value if your data platform isn't on AWS
AWS Glue vs Airbyte, Talend (Qlik Talend Cloud) and Fivetran
From each app's listing and the prices verified on its own site. A dash means we haven't verified it yet.
| Attribute | AWS Glue | Airbyte | Talend (Qlik Talend Cloud) | Fivetran |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Open source | Paid | Free plan + paid |
| Verified price | $0.44 per DPU-hour | $20/month (cloud) | — | Usage-based; $5 monthly base charge per standard connection |
| Free plan | 1M objects and 1M requests per month | Free app | No | Yes |
| Open source | No | Yes | No | No |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes | No | No |
| Platforms | Web | Web, Self-hosted | Web, Self-hosted | Web |
Full AWS Glue vs Airbyte comparisonFull AWS Glue vs Fivetran comparison
Top AWS Glue alternatives
See all 5- 1
Airbyte76.8Open-source ELT with hundreds of connectors you can self-host, avoiding per-DPU billing and AWS lock-in.
- 2
Talend (Qlik Talend Cloud)68.8Mature visual ETL suite with many connectors that runs across clouds and on premises, not just AWS.
- 3
Fivetran64.8Managed connectors that load SaaS and database data into a warehouse without writing or tuning Spark jobs.
- 4
dbt59.4Handles the transform step in SQL inside your warehouse, replacing Spark ETL scripts with version-controlled models.
- 5
Databricks50.0Runs the same Spark ETL jobs with notebooks and Delta tables, and works across AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.
Why people left AWS Glue
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AWS Glue: common questions
What is AWS Glue?
AWS Glue: AWS's serverless ETL service with a central data catalog and Spark-based jobs. Best for data engineers building Spark-based ETL and a data catalog for an AWS data lake or warehouse. Available for Web.
Is AWS Glue free?
No, AWS Glue is a paid product. ETL price: $0.44 per DPU-hour (checked on AWS Glue's own site).
How much does AWS Glue cost?
AWS Glue is a paid product. ETL price: $0.44 per DPU-hour; Billing: Per second, 1-minute minimum (Glue 2.0+); Data Catalog free tier: 1M objects and 1M requests per month. Checked on AWS Glue's own site, November 2026.
Is AWS Glue open source?
No, AWS Glue is not open source. Open-source alternatives include Airbyte and dbt.
What platforms does AWS Glue run on?
AWS Glue is available for Web.
What are the best alternatives to AWS Glue?
The highest-ranked AWS Glue alternatives right now are Airbyte, Talend (Qlik Talend Cloud) and Fivetran. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.
AWS Glue vs Airbyte: what's the difference?
AWS Glue is a paid product; Airbyte is free and open source. Verified prices: AWS Glue $0.44 per DPU-hour, Airbyte $20/month (cloud). Airbyte is open source and AWS Glue is not. Both run on Web.