Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow)
Google Cloud's fully managed Apache Airflow service, formerly called Cloud Composer.
Updated · AppBreakup editorial · Web
Is Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) free?
No, it's a paid product
- Starting price:
- $0.06 per DCU-hour (Composer 3, us-central1)
Checked on Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow)'s site Nov 8, 2026
3 alternatives with a free option Full Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) pricing and plansSwitch from Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) to
All 5
Astronomer (Astro)Starting price: Deployments from $0.35/hr (Developer)
Amazon MWAAComparePaid
Apache AirflowOpen source
- Verified facts
- 7 of 7
- Alternatives ranked
- 5
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow)
Cloud Composer, which Google is renaming Managed Service for Apache Airflow, runs Apache Airflow for you inside Google Cloud. You write the same Python DAGs you would for open-source Airflow, upload them to a Cloud Storage bucket, and Google provisions and scales the scheduler, workers, web server and metadata database. It integrates with BigQuery, Dataflow, Dataproc, Cloud Storage and Google's identity and networking, so pipelines can reach your data without extra plumbing, and it can still orchestrate jobs on other clouds or on-premises. Billing is pay-as-you-go based on the compute units an environment has provisioned plus storage, with no separate licence fee. It suits data teams already on Google Cloud who want Airflow without running it themselves; teams on several clouds may prefer a vendor-neutral managed Airflow, and small workloads can find an always-on environment costly.
Best for: Data teams on Google Cloud who want managed Airflow next to BigQuery and Dataflow.
Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) pricing (checked Nov 8, 2026)
Each line is quoted from Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow)'s own site, with the page it came from.
| Plan or term | What it says | Checked | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billing unit | Compute units (DCU-hours) | Nov 8, 2026 | cloud.google.com |
| Starting price | $0.06 per DCU-hour (Composer 3, us-central1) | Nov 8, 2026 | cloud.google.com |
| Gen 2 small environment fee | $0.35 per hour | Nov 8, 2026 | cloud.google.com |
| Gen 2 large environment fee | $0.85 per hour | Nov 8, 2026 | cloud.google.com |
Pros and cons
What works
- Runs standard Apache Airflow DAGs
- Close integration with BigQuery and other Google Cloud services
- No servers to patch or scale
Why people leave
- Environments cost money even when idle
- Tied to Google Cloud
- New Airflow versions arrive later than upstream
Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) vs Astronomer (Astro), Amazon MWAA 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 | Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) | Astronomer (Astro) | Amazon MWAA | Apache Airflow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid | Paid | Open source |
| Verified price | $0.06 per DCU-hour (Composer 3, us-central1) | Deployments from $0.35/hr (Developer) | — | — |
| 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 Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) vs Amazon MWAA comparison
Top Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) alternatives
See all 5- 1Astronomer (Astro)68.8
Managed Airflow from the project's main commercial backer, runnable on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud.
- 2Amazon MWAA64.8
The AWS equivalent, with a serverless option, if your data lives in S3 and Redshift.
- 3Apache Airflow61.8
Run open-source Airflow yourself for free if you have the ops capacity to host it.
- 4
Prefect59.4A Python-first orchestrator with a free tier, without Airflow's DAG and scheduler model.
- 5
Argo Workflows57.5Kubernetes-native engine where each step runs as a container, so you can orchestrate pipelines on your own GKE cluster instead.
Why people left Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow)
In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.
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Reviews
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Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow): common questions
What is Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow)?
Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow): Google Cloud's fully managed Apache Airflow service, formerly called Cloud Composer. Best for data teams on Google Cloud who want managed Airflow next to BigQuery and Dataflow. Available for Web.
Is Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) free?
No, Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) is a paid product. Starting price: $0.06 per DCU-hour (Composer 3, us-central1) (checked on Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow)'s own site).
How much does Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) cost?
Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) is a paid product. Billing unit: Compute units (DCU-hours); Starting price: $0.06 per DCU-hour (Composer 3, us-central1); Gen 2 small environment fee: $0.35 per hour; Gen 2 large environment fee: $0.85 per hour. Checked on Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow)'s own site, November 2026.
Is Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) open source?
No, Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) is not open source. Open-source alternatives include Apache Airflow, Prefect and Argo Workflows.
What platforms does Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) run on?
Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) is available for Web.
What are the best alternatives to Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow)?
The highest-ranked Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) alternatives right now are Astronomer (Astro), Amazon MWAA and Apache Airflow. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.
Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) vs Astronomer (Astro): what's the difference?
Both Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) and Astronomer (Astro) are paid products. Verified prices: Google Cloud Composer (Managed Airflow) $0.06 per DCU-hour (Composer 3, us-central1), Astronomer (Astro) Deployments from $0.35/hr (Developer). Both run on Web.