  Context. The Kepler space mission led to a large amount of high-precision
time series of solar-like oscillators. Using a Bayesian analysis that combines
asteroseismic techniques and additional ground-based observations, the mass,
radius, luminosity, and distance of those stars can be estimated with good
precision. This has given a new impetus to the research field of galactic
archeology. Aims. The first data release of the Gaia space mission contains the
TGAS catalog with parallax estimates for more than 2 million stars, including
many of the Kepler targets. Our goal is to make a first proper comparison of
asteroseismic and astrometric parallaxes of a selection of dwarfs, subgiants,
and red giants observed by Kepler for which asteroseismic distances were
published. Methods. We compare asteroseismic and astrometric distances of
solar-like pulsators using an appropriate statistical errors-in- variables
model on a linear as well as on a logarithmic scale. Results. For a sample of
22 dwarf and subgiant solar-like oscillators, the TGAS parallaxes considerably
improved the Hipparcos ones, yet the excellent agreement between asteroseismic
and astrometric distances still holds. For a sample of 938 Kepler pulsating red
giants, the TGAS parallaxes are much more uncertain than the asteroseismic
ones, making it worthwhile to validate the former with the latter. From
errors-in-variables modelling we find a significant discrepancy between the
TGAS parallaxes and the asteroseismic ones. Conclusions. For the sample of
dwarfs and subgiants, the comparison between astrometric and asteroseismic
parallaxes does not require a revision of the stellar models on the basis of
TGAS. For the sample of red giants, we identify possible causes of the
discrepancy, which we will likely be able to resolve with the more precise Gaia
parallaxes of the upcoming releases.
