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Great Expectations (GX Core) review

#6 in Data Quality ToolsScore 7.9/10Checked Nov 15, 2026By BestSoftwareGuides Editorial Team

Great Expectations (GX Core) is an open-source Python library for testing data with declarative 'Expectations'. It ranks #6 of 17 in our data quality tools list (7.9/10). Best for python data engineers who want code-defined data tests in pipelines at no license cost.

Also ranked in File Testing Tools (#2, 8.8/10).

Price: Free plan.

Visit Great Expectations (GX Core)Full pricingAlternatives

What Great Expectations (GX Core) is

GX Core lets you define Expectations (unit tests for data), run them through Checkpoints and generate human-readable validation documentation. It is Apache-2.0 open source; Fivetran became steward of the project in 2026, and the hosted GX Cloud product was sold to FICO and stopped being publicly available on 1 June 2026.

Pros and cons

Where it wins
  • Free and open source (Apache-2.0), about 11.9k GitHub stars
  • Large library of built-in Expectations, extensible with custom ones
  • Checkpoint actions can notify Slack, Microsoft Teams, email, PagerDuty, Opsgenie or an API endpoint
  • Actively released: version 1.25.0 published on PyPI on 2026-11-12
Where it falls short
  • GX Cloud (the hosted UI) is no longer publicly available, so there is no vendor-hosted option
  • Code-first; requires Python skills to set up and maintain
  • No built-in ML anomaly detection or data cleansing stated
  • Long-term roadmap under Fivetran stewardship not yet detailed

Great Expectations (GX Core) pricing

Great Expectations (GX Core) pricing plans
PlanBilled annuallyBilled monthlyAnnual savingNotes
GX Core (open source)FreeFree—Apache-2.0; pip install great_expectations

USD, per user per month unless noted. "—" means the price is not published or we could not confirm it. Last checked Nov 15, 2026. Status: verified on Great Expectations (GX Core)'s pricing page.

Key facts

Free planYes. GX Core open-source library (Apache-2.0), self-hosted
Free trialNot advertised
Paid fromSee vendor
Minimum seats1
PlatformsSelf-hosted (Python library), Python library (self-hosted), Cloud (SaaS)
Compliance and securitySSO (GX Cloud, plan not stated in text)
SupportCommunity Slack, Docs, Standard support, Dedicated Slack channel (higher tiers)
Data profilingNot confirmed
Custom rule checksYes
ML anomaly detectionNot confirmed
Data cleansing / correctionNot confirmed
Open sourceYes
Facts checkedNov 15, 2026 · verified on the vendor's own site (source)

Also ranked in

Great Expectations (GX Core) is ranked in 3 of our lists: #6 of 17 in Data Quality Tools, and:

#2 of 10 in File Testing Tools
Score 8.8/10
#3 of 3 in Open-Source Data Quality Tools

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Great Expectations (GX Core) compared

Frequently asked questions

How much does Great Expectations (GX Core) cost?

Great Expectations (GX Core) has a free plan. Prices last checked Nov 15, 2026.

Is Great Expectations (GX Core) free?

Yes. GX Core open-source library (Apache-2.0), self-hosted

What are the best Great Expectations (GX Core) alternatives?

Soda (8.7/10), Deequ (8.4/10), Elementary (8.4/10) are the highest-scoring alternatives in our data quality tools ranking.

Sources