Introducing Prefect Serverless

Today, we're excited to announce Prefect Serverless – our fully managed compute platform that delivers infrastructure-free workflow execution in Prefect Cloud.

The Evolution of Workflow Orchestration

When we launched Prefect 3.0 ten months ago, adoption of our open-source project soared from 300K to 1.8M downloads per week – a nearly 500% increase. This growth validated our vision for flexible workflow orchestration and revealed a clear need to serve teams at different stages of their infrastructure journey.

Prefect Cloud pioneered the hybrid execution model, separating the control plane from user-run compute. This remains the cornerstone of our platform and our most important security feature for enterprise teams requiring complete control over their data and compute resources.

But for some teams, spinning up Kubernetes or ECS clusters, configuring IAM roles, or managing networking rules creates unnecessary friction. They just need workflows to run—reliably and quickly.

Enter Prefect Serverless

Prefect Serverless provides a fully managed compute environment. You write workflows; we scale them up when needed and down to zero when idle. There's no container setup, cluster management, or infrastructure overhead.

Data teams come in all shapes and sizes. Some have dedicated platform engineers building robust infrastructure, while others are focused primarily on delivering insights and models. Prefect has always given leverage to platform teams through our hybrid model, and now with Prefect Serverless we're extending capabilities to teams that need to move quickly without building platform capabilities in-house.

With Prefect Serverless, you can:

• Start immediately: Deploy your first workflow in minutes.
• Scale effortlessly: Automatically match compute resources to your workload.
• Pay only for what you use: There's zero cost when nothing is running.
• Focus on your code: Worry less about the "how" and more about the "what."
• Stay secure: Enjoy enterprise-grade security without deep configuration.

Two Powerful Execution Models

All Prefect Cloud plans include Serverless execution credits, consumed only during actual runtime.

1. Hybrid Execution Model (bring your own compute)
   • Our flagship approach for teams with existing infrastructure or specific security and compliance requirements.
   • Complete control over your compute environment, data residency, and network policies.
   • Ideal for enterprise users with established platform teams.
2. Prefect Serverless (fully managed)
   • A complementary option for teams looking to get started quickly.
   • Perfect for those who prefer to focus on building workflows rather than maintaining infrastructure.
   • Great for organizations without dedicated platform engineering resources.

You can choose either model or both, depending on your needs.

Getting Started

Serverless execution is now available for all Prefect Cloud users. To try it:

1. Log in to your Prefect Cloud account (or sign up for free).
2. Create a workflow using the Prefect Python library.
3. Deploy with a single command – Prefect handles the infrastructure automatically.

A New Era for Data Workflows

As more teams choose Prefect Cloud for workflow orchestration, we're committed to providing flexible options that meet a broad range of needs. Whether you're leveraging Prefect to enhance your existing platform capabilities or looking to eliminate infrastructure management entirely, Prefect Cloud now provides the solution.

Prefect Serverless represents our commitment to meeting teams wherever they are in their cloud journey. We believe workflow orchestration should be about reliable automation and visibility, with the freedom to choose the infrastructure approach that works best for your organization.

We can't wait to see what you build. Check out our docs for details, or get started in just a few clicks.