ZenML
Compare ZenML vs

Orchestrate Your Data Pipelines with Ease

Discover how ZenML stacks up against Dagster in the world of data pipeline orchestration. While Dagster offers a flexible, open-source platform for building and managing data pipelines, ZenML provides a more specialized solution focused on machine learning workflows. Compare ZenML's ML-centric features and integrations with Dagster's general-purpose pipeline orchestration capabilities. Learn how ZenML can streamline your ML operations with its intuitive pipeline definition, built-in experiment tracking, and seamless integration with popular ML frameworks, while Dagster caters to a broader range of data engineering and ETL use cases.

ZenML
vs
Dagster

Start locally without complicated setup hassle

  • ZenML is available as a simple pip package that lets you run and track pipelines locally.
  • ZenML integrates with your orchestration layer of choice, avoiding having to learn different paradigms for dev, staging, and prod.
  • ZenML integrates with your orchestration layer of choice or can be extended with your own orchestration service.
Dashboard mockup showing local-to-production workflow

Abstract away infrastructure complexity

  • Most orchestrators assume some form of infrastructure knowledge to use them maximally — ZenML abstracts that complexity away.
  • ZenML separates infrastructure setup like Docker building from the application logic, and automates the tedious parts.
  • ZenML focuses on the handovers between MLOps Engineers, ML Engineers, and Data Scientists.
Dashboard mockup showing collaboration features

Switch between orchestrators depending on your context

  • You can switch between different orchestration services with a single click — from dev to staging to production.
  • The more engineering-minded in the team still retain control over their productionalization because the framework is extensible.
  • ZenML handles the pain of packaging your code into Docker to be deployed to your orchestration service of choice.
Dashboard mockup showing productionalization workflow

Feature-by-feature comparison

Explore in Detail What Makes ZenML Unique

Feature
ZenML ZenML
Dagster Dagster
ML Workflow Orchestration Specialized for machine learning pipelines General-purpose data pipeline orchestration not purpose-built for MLOps
ML Framework Integration Built-in integrations with popular ML frameworks (scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch) Requires custom integration with ML frameworks
Experiment Tracking Built-in experiment tracking and comparison Relies on external tools for experiment tracking
Model Registry Integrated model registry for versioning and deployment No built-in model registry
Data Processing Supports data processing tasks within ML pipelines Robust support for data processing and ETL workflows
Pipeline Definition Clean and intuitive pipeline definition using Python decorators Flexible pipeline definition using Python or YAML
Cloud Integration Built-in support for popular cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) Integrates with various cloud platforms and data stores
Scalability Scales ML workloads across different compute backends Scales data pipelines through various execution engines
Workflow Scheduling Supports scheduled execution of ML pipelines Robust scheduling and triggering of data pipelines
Community and Ecosystem Growing community focused on ML workflows Large and active community around data engineering and ETL

Code comparison

ZenML and Dagster side by side

ZenML ZenML
from zenml import pipeline, step
from sklearn.ensemble import RandomForestRegressor
from sklearn.metrics import mean_squared_error

@step
def ingest_data():
    return pd.read_csv("data/dataset.csv")

@step
def train_model(df):
    X, y = df.drop("target", axis=1), df["target"]
    model = RandomForestRegressor(n_estimators=100)
    model.fit(X, y)
    return model

@step
def evaluate_model(model, df):
    X, y = df.drop("target", axis=1), df["target"]
    rmse = mean_squared_error(y, model.predict(X)) ** 0.5
    print(f"RMSE: {rmse}")

@pipeline
def ml_pipeline():
    df = ingest_data()
    model = train_model(df)
    evaluate_model(model, df)

ml_pipeline()
Dagster Dagster
from dagster import pipeline, solid
from sklearn.ensemble import RandomForestRegressor
from sklearn.metrics import mean_squared_error

@solid
def ingest_data(_):
    return pd.read_csv("data/dataset.csv")

@solid
def train_model(_, df):
    X, y = df.drop("target", axis=1), df["target"]
    model = RandomForestRegressor(n_estimators=100)
    model.fit(X, y)
    return model

@solid
def evaluate_model(_, model, df):
    X, y = df.drop("target", axis=1), df["target"]
    rmse = mean_squared_error(y, model.predict(X)) ** 0.5
    print(f"RMSE: {rmse}")

@pipeline
def ml_pipeline():
    df = ingest_data()
    model = train_model(df)
    evaluate_model(model, df)

ml_pipeline.execute_in_process()
ML-Centric Design

ML-Centric Design

ZenML is purpose-built for machine learning workflows, providing a more specialized and optimized experience compared to Dagster's general-purpose pipeline orchestration.

Seamless Integration with ML Frameworks

Seamless Integration with ML Frameworks

ZenML offers built-in integrations with popular ML frameworks, such as scikit-learn, TensorFlow, and PyTorch, making it easier to incorporate ML tasks into your pipelines.

Built-in Experiment Tracking and Model Registry

Built-in Experiment Tracking and Model Registry

With ZenML, you can leverage built-in experiment tracking and model registry capabilities, streamlining the management of your ML experiments and model versions.

Intuitive Pipeline Definition

Intuitive Pipeline Definition

ZenML provides a clean and intuitive way to define ML pipelines using Python decorators, allowing you to focus on the core logic of your workflows.

Strong Focus on MLOps and Reproducibility

Strong Focus on MLOps and Reproducibility

ZenML places a strong emphasis on MLOps best practices, ensuring your ML workflows are reproducible, traceable, and compliant with governance requirements.

Outperform Orchestrators: Book Your Free ZenML Strategy Talk

Orchestrator Showdown

Explore the Advantages of ZenML Over Other Orchestrator Tools

Expand Your Knowledge

Broaden Your MLOps Understanding with ZenML

Dynamic Pipelines: A Skeptic's Guide

Dynamic Pipelines: A Skeptic's Guide

Agentic RAG without guardrails spirals out of control. Here's how ZenML's dynamic pipelines give you fan-out, budget limits, and lineage without limiting the LLMs.

Streamline Your ML Workflows with ZenML

  • Discover how ZenML's ML-centric design can simplify and optimize your machine learning pipelines
  • Leverage built-in integrations with popular ML frameworks and benefit from experiment tracking and model registry capabilities
  • Experience the power of intuitive pipeline definition and strong MLOps principles with ZenML