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Comparison · Analytics
dbt Core vs Marquez
A side-by-side editorial comparison of dbt Core and Marquez — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
dbt Core vs Marquez: at a glance
What is dbt Core?
dbt's 1.x releases now point users at v2 straight from the command line.
dbt 2.0 GA split the project into a proprietary 'dbt' binary and dbt-oss, and the 2.0 dev channel has since added read-only Databricks Unity Catalog access through Lake Compute. The 1.x line is still shipping: 1.13.0b1 adds an opt-in --use-v2-parser that hands parsing to the Fusion parser, and today's 1.12.6 prints a v2 availability notice on dbt --version and relays Fusion parser logs through the otel log format.
What is Marquez?
Marquez spent 2024 turning a lineage store into a UI, then stopped releasing
Marquez is the reference metadata server for OpenLineage, and this window captures a concentrated push on its web interface: a column-lineage page and redesigned lineage graph in 0.45.0, data quality and job status displays in 0.47.0, and a data observability dashboard in 0.50.0 showing event stats over 24-hour and 7-day windows with per-source, per-dataset and per-job views. The API side moved in step — job tagging, dataset schema versions, paging on jobs and dataset versions, job-to-job lineage, richer metrics labels. One contributor accounts for nearly all the web work in these entries. Note that the 0.45 through 0.49 releases were all stamped within three minutes of each other and in reverse version order, so publication timestamps here do not reflect release order.
dbt Core vs Marquez: editorial side-by-side
dbt Core
6.3ANALYTICS
dbt's 1.x releases now point users at v2 straight from the command line.
◆ Current state
dbt 2.0 GA split the project into a proprietary 'dbt' binary and dbt-oss, and the 2.0 dev channel has since added read-only Databricks Unity Catalog access through Lake Compute. The 1.x line is still shipping: 1.13.0b1 adds an opt-in --use-v2-parser that hands parsing to the Fusion parser, and today's 1.12.6 prints a v2 availability notice on dbt --version and relays Fusion parser logs through the otel log format.
◆ Where it's heading
The 1.x branch is being turned into an on-ramp for v2: a PyPI banner in 1.12.5, a CLI notice in 1.12.6, deprecated-version warnings and the Fusion parser opt-in in 1.13. Meanwhile 2.0 work concentrates on adapter parity (ClickHouse, Databricks) and Lake Compute.
◆ Prediction
Expect 1.13 to reach GA with the v2 parser opt-in and more migration prompts, and 2.0.x to extend Lake Compute past read-only Unity access. The entries don't show an end-of-life date for 1.x.
Marquez
0.0ANALYTICS
Marquez spent 2024 turning a lineage store into a UI, then stopped releasing
◆ Current state
Marquez is the reference metadata server for OpenLineage, and this window captures a concentrated push on its web interface: a column-lineage page and redesigned lineage graph in 0.45.0, data quality and job status displays in 0.47.0, and a data observability dashboard in 0.50.0 showing event stats over 24-hour and 7-day windows with per-source, per-dataset and per-job views. The API side moved in step — job tagging, dataset schema versions, paging on jobs and dataset versions, job-to-job lineage, richer metrics labels. One contributor accounts for nearly all the web work in these entries. Note that the 0.45 through 0.49 releases were all stamped within three minutes of each other and in reverse version order, so publication timestamps here do not reflect release order.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc is a backend project growing a front end: lineage data that existed in the API was progressively given pages, panels and paging, and by 0.50.0 the framing had shifted from lineage graph to observability dashboard. Tagging deepened in the same period, moving from dataset tags to field-level tags to job tags. That arc stops abruptly — 0.50.0 in October 2024 is the last entry, with nothing published in the roughly two years since.
◆ Prediction
The entries give no roadmap signal past 0.50.0, and the job-to-job lineage change was explicitly framed as a prompt for a wider parent/child hierarchy discussion that no later release picks up, so that hierarchy work is best read as unfinished rather than planned.
Alternatives to dbt Core and Marquez
Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either dbt Core or Marquez.
OpenReplay
OpenReplay moves its Go backend to pgx v5 and patches vulnerable deps across 1.25–1.27.
Basedash
Basedash automations can now attach scheduled CSV exports to Slack and email.
OpenPanel
OpenPanel tags three more note-free builds in one evening, reaching 3.16.4.
Fulcrum
Fulcrum turns on Insights, its AI assistant for field data, for every customer.
Holistics
Holistics lets admins put a key dashboard on everyone's Home page.
See all dbt Core alternatives → · See all Marquez alternatives →
Recent activity from dbt Core and Marquez
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 15d agodbt Coredbt 1.12.6 points users to v2 and fixes Fusion parser logging
- 15d agodbt Coredbt 1.11.16 fixes nested wildcard selectors, adds tarball path check
- 15d agodbt Coredbt-core 1.13 beta adds opt-in Fusion parser and dbt login
- 1mo agodbt CoreLake Compute gains Databricks Unity Catalog read access
- 1mo agodbt Coredbt v2.0.0 ⚡
- 1mo agodbt Coredbt v1.12.5
- 2y agoMarquezMarquez 0.50.0 adds a data observability dashboard
- 2y agoMarquezMarquez 0.45.0 ships a column lineage page and redesigned graph
- 2y agoMarquezMarquez 0.46.0 cleans up the UI and fixes streaming terminal events
- 2y agoMarquezMarquez 0.47.0 adds data quality and job status views, job tagging
- 2y agoMarquezMarquez 0.49.0 adds job-to-job lineage to the API
- 2y agoMarquezMarquez 0.48.0 adds paging and dataset schema versions
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between dbt Core and Marquez?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. dbt Core is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is dbt Core better than Marquez?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. dbt Core is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to dbt Core?
Top dbt Core alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "dbt Core alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/dbt-core for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Marquez?
Top Marquez alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Marquez alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/marquez for the full list with editorial commentary on each.