Free, reliable, and constantly improving.
I’ve spent enough money on SaaS tools to realize something harsh: most of them are just fancy wrappers around capabilities you can already manage with Python. The difference? They attach a subscription price tag and call it “automation.”
Today, I’ll show you 5 Python tools I actually trust more than their expensive SaaS alternatives. They’re free, open-source, and so powerful that once you learn them, you’ll wonder why you ever handed over your credit card.
Let’s dive in.
1. Apache Airflow (Replace Your $99/Month Workflow Automation SaaS)
You’ve probably seen tools like Zapier or Make charge every time you run a workflow. That’s like paying rent on code you could own.
Enter Airflow.
Airflow is an open-source workflow orchestrator built by Airbnb (fun fact: it’s now used by over 300 companies, including Slack, Stripe, and Robinhood). It lets you define workflows as Python code, schedule them, and monitor execution.
“`python
from airflow import DAG
from airflow.operators.python_operator import PythonOperator
from datetime import datetime
def say_hello():
print(“Hello from Airflow!”)
with DAG(‘hello_dag’,
start_date=datetime(2023, 1, 1),
schedule_interval=’@daily’) as dag:
task = PythonOperator(
task_id=’say_hello’,
python_callable=say_hello
)
“`
You write DAGs (Directed Acyclic Graphs) in Python. No drag-and-drop limits, no hidden pricing tiers. Just pure control.
Why I trust it more: Airflow scales. I’ve used it to schedule workflows that crunch terabytes of data — something that would cost thousands monthly on SaaS.
2. FastAPI (Better Than That $49/Month API Builder)
If you’ve ever tried “no-code API builders,” you know they fall apart once you need something custom. FastAPI doesn’t.
With just a few lines, you can spin up a production-grade API.
“`python
from fastapi import FastAPI
app = FastAPI()
@app.get(“/hello”)
def hello(name: str):
return {“message”: f”Hello, {name}”}
“`