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Prefect description
Prefect helps you automate tasks, especially those involving data. It's like a to-do list for your computer programs, making sure they run on time and without issues. It's built for data professionals but uses simple Python code, so it's easy to understand and use. Prefect monitors your tasks, alerting you to problems and offering quick recovery. You can test locally and then easily deploy to your preferred environment, having full control over where your code runs.
Who is Prefect best for
Prefect is a powerful automation tool designed for data professionals, particularly data engineers and machine learning engineers. Users praise its ease of use for Python users, flexibility, and excellent SDK. However, some find the documentation challenging and the UI overwhelming. Prefect excels at local testing and deployment to various environments, making it ideal for streamlining data pipelines and automating complex workflows.
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Ideal for small to medium-sized businesses, especially those with data-intensive operations.
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A good fit for data-driven industries seeking to streamline and automate their data processes.
Prefect features
| Supported Prefect supports staging environments through separate workspaces and environment promotion. |
| Supported Prefect offers customizable infrastructure through blocks, enabling granular control down to the individual flow. |
| Supported Prefect streamlines workflows by automating tasks, handling errors, and enabling flexible execution. |
| Supported Prefect supports conditional logic using native Python if/else statements within flows. |
| Supported Prefect supports automatic retries of failed tasks to improve workflow resilience. |
We evaluate the sentiment that users express about non-functional aspects of the software
Value and Pricing Transparency
Customer Service
Ease of Use
Reliability and Performance
Ease of Implementation
Scalability
Prefect reviews
We've summarised 123 Prefect reviews (Prefect G2 reviews) and summarised the main points below.
- Easy to use and set up, especially for Python users.
- Flexible and customizable for various workflows and deployments.
- Excellent Python SDK and decorator-based approach.
- Great for local testing and deployment to various environments.
- Active and helpful community and support team.
- Difficult documentation, especially for deployments and integrations.
- Steep learning curve for complex features and setups.
- Rapid updates and potential breaking changes can be challenging to keep up with.
- Limited integrations with some tools and platforms.
- UI can be overwhelming, especially for new users, and lacks some desired features like DAG visualization.
Prefect pricing
The commentary is based on 13 reviews from Prefect G2 reviews.
Prefect offers a free tier with 10,000 free task runs per month, suitable for smaller projects. While some users consider Prefect Cloud expensive for larger enterprises and startups, many appreciate its cost-effectiveness compared to alternatives like Airflow, especially for scaling data pipelines and reducing operational expenses.
Users sentiment
See the Prefect pricing page.
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Prefect has a free plan.
Free
Essential Prefect features, 5,000 runs/day rate limit, 2 users included.
Pro
Up to 20 users, SSO, extended data & log retention, 9x5 support.
Enterprise
Granular permissions, Directory Sync, IP allowlisting, PrivateLink, 24x7 support.
Prefect alternatives
Salesforce PlatformBetter fit for enterprise companies and generally larger teams. A broader solution for building custom applications, not just focused on data pipelines. Integrates with Salesforce CRM and other Salesforce products. More established, but slower growth. Negative sentiment around pricing.Read more
Python RPABetter suited for enterprise companies. A Prefect alternative geared towards cost-effectiveness and leveraging existing Python expertise for automation. Has faster website traffic growth.Read more
StreamSetsBetter fit for enterprise companies. Drag-and-drop interface for easier pipeline building. Has faster website traffic growth.Read more
TableauBetter fit for enterprise companies and various industries. More user-friendly for non-technical users with a drag-and-drop interface for data visualization. However, it has slower momentum and more negative pricing sentiment. A strong Tableau alternative for data professionals seeking automation and workflow management.Read more
ExploBetter for creating embedded dashboards and reports. Geared towards B2B SaaS companies needing customer-facing analytics. Explo has faster website traffic growth. Users highlight seamless data source integration and ease of use.Read more
AWS Step FunctionsBetter fit for enterprise users and those heavily invested in the AWS ecosystem. More focused on software and IT, less suitable for education, healthcare, finance, media, and professional services. Has a steeper learning curve, is more expensive, and has less flexible execution environments. Grows faster than Prefect.Read more
Prefect FAQ
What is Prefect and what does Prefect do?
Prefect is a dataflow automation platform for data engineers and scientists. Using Python, it orchestrates and monitors data workflows, ensuring reliable execution. Prefect simplifies complex data pipelines with easy deployment and recovery, offering a flexible solution for diverse data tasks.
How does Prefect integrate with other tools?
Prefect integrates with various tools through its flexible Python SDK and utilizes a decorator-based approach. While it boasts a supportive community and an active team, users have noted some difficulties with documentation around integrations. More specific details on individual integrations are limited.
What the main competitors of Prefect?
Top Prefect competitors include Apache Airflow, Dagster, and Flyte. These alternatives offer similar workflow orchestration and data pipeline management capabilities for data professionals. While Prefect excels in its Python-centric approach, these competitors offer diverse features and integrations.
Is Prefect legit?
Yes, Prefect is a legitimate and safe data automation platform. It's praised for ease of use and flexible workflows. However, users note documentation can be challenging and the UI overwhelming. It's best suited for Python-savvy data professionals.
How much does Prefect cost?
Prefect offers a Free plan with essential features and a 5,000 runs/day limit. Pro and Enterprise plans offer additional features and support with custom pricing based on your needs. Contact Prefect for a quote to determine if it's worth the cost for your product requirements.
Is Prefect customer service good?
Prefect's customer service receives positive feedback. Users highlight the helpful and responsive support team on Slack and the valuable assistance from the Prefect community. The availability of support through various channels helps users overcome challenges and quickly resolve issues.
Reviewed by
Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.
Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.