#1
Great Expectations (GX Core)
Best forPython data engineers who want code-defined data tests in pipelines at no license cost
Open-source Python library for testing data with declarative 'Expectations'.
Free plan · #2 overall
8.8/10
Best Free File Testing Tools in 2026: What Each Free Plan Includes
Great Expectations (GX Core), Soda have free plans. The highest-ranked is Great Expectations (GX Core) (8.8/10): GX Core open-source library (Apache-2.0), self-hosted
File testing tools validate data files such as CSV, JSON, XML, Excel and Parquet: that each file has the expected structure, that its values pass your rules, and that its contents match the database it was loaded into or extracted from. They are used for vendor data feeds, data lake ingestion and file-based migrations.
Free plans compared
| Tool | Score | Free plan | Paid from (annual) | CSV, JSON and XML files | Excel files | Parquet or Avro files | File-to-database comparison | Schema / format validation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Expectations (GX Core) | 8.8/10 | Yes | See vendor | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Soda | 8.2/10 | Yes | See vendor | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Tool | What the free plan includes | First paid plan |
|---|---|---|
| Great Expectations (GX Core) | GX Core open-source library (Apache-2.0), self-hosted | See vendor |
| Soda | Free plan with free Soda Processing Units (SPUs), unlimited users, pipeline testing, metrics observability and alerting; no credit card. Soda Core library is also free to use (Elastic License 2.0). | See vendor |
The free options
#2
Soda
Best forData engineering teams that want data contracts and pipeline tests with a free tier and published team price
Data quality platform built around data contracts, with metric monitoring and a Python engine (Soda Core).
Free plan · paid from $750/mo · #5 overall
8.2/10
Frequently asked questions
Is Great Expectations (GX Core) free?
Yes. GX Core open-source library (Apache-2.0), self-hosted Paid plans start at see vendor.
Is Soda free?
Yes. Free plan with free Soda Processing Units (SPUs), unlimited users, pipeline testing, metrics observability and alerting; no credit card. Soda Core library is also free to use (Elastic License 2.0). Paid plans start at see vendor.
Sources
- Great Expectations (GX Core): official pricing page · GX Core GitHub repository (fivetran/great_expectations) · Great Expectations blog: An update from Great Expectations · Fivetran press release on GX Core stewardship · GX Core checkpoint actions source · PyPI great-expectations · GX Cloud pricing page · GX docs: Connect to filesystem data · GX API reference: PandasFilesystemDatasource · GX docs: Schema data quality use case · great_expectations GitHub repository
- Soda: official pricing page · Soda pricing page · Soda docs index (profiling, metric monitoring, freshness, Slack/Teams) · Soda docs: deployment options · Soda Core GitHub repository and LICENSE · Soda home page · Soda Core v3 release notes · Soda docs: DuckDB data source (v4) · soda-core LICENSE (GitHub)
Scores come from published, repeatable data (features, free plan, entry price, pricing transparency). No vendor can pay to change a score. Read the methodology · Disclosure.