10 Best ETL Tools for PostgreS Data Warehouses and Databases

With the exponential increase in the volume of data around us, finding ways to extract, load, or analyze data from various sources has become crucial. Are you also looking for easy ways to load data into your PostgreSQL database? Or are you trying to extract data from your PostgreSQL? Sit back and relax because we have the list of the best tools to make this job easy!

This blog will provide a detailed list of the best PostgreSQL ETL tools, their features, pros, cons, and pricing. 

What is PostgreSQL? 

You must be wondering why we must migrate data to/from PostgreSQL. Probably one of the many reasons why the decision to learn about PostgreSQL will be an essential career investment in your life, Postgres is a free, open-source, Object-relational Database Management System that is robust, scalable, and supports advanced data types and performance optimization features— it’s used for small projects and substantial enterprise systems alike.

Benefits of Using PostgreSQL

• Open Source
• Highly extensible
• Supports MVCC (Multi-version currency control)
• Point-in-Time Recovery
• Tablespaces
• Asynchronous replication
• Nested transactions

Why do we need to integrate Postgres with these ETL tools

Integrating ETL tools with PostgreSQL is essential for several reasons. ETL tools streamline the data migration process and are beneficial in various ways:

• Efficient and effortless data movement
• Maintains data integrity and consistency.
• Can handle complex transformations.
• Provides real-time data integration.
• Reduces the development and maintenance time of pipelines.

List of Top 10 ETL Tools for PostgreSQL

So now that we know why we need these PostgreSQL ETL tools, let’s examine some of the best ETL tools on the market.

1. Hevo

Hevo Data is one of the most highly rated ELT platforms that allows teams to rely on timely analytics and data-driven decisions. You can replicate streaming data from 150+ Data Sources, including BigQuery, Redshift, etc., to the destination of your choice without writing a single line of code. 

The platform processes 450 billion records and supports dynamic workload scaling based on user requirements. Hevo’s architecture ensures the optimal usage of system resources to get the best return on investment. Its intuitive user interface caters to more than 2,000 customers across 45 countries. 

Pros:

• No-code Platform
• Real-time data streaming
• Robust error handling and data validation mechanisms.
• Fault-tolerant architecture 
• Highest standards of data security
• Pre-Built 150+ connectors
• Great Customer Support

Pricing: 

Hevo provides the following pricing plan:

• Free
• Starter- $239/per month
• Professional- $679/per month
• Business Critical- Contact sales

Microsoft SSIS

SSIS is very versatile when dealing with data integration tasks: ETL processes, data migration, real-time data processing, etc. Users have often appreciated its usability, power in data transformation tools, scheduling, and a long list of available connectors. It enhances productivity and efficiency in any organization, allowing users to streamline data-related processes while improving the quality and consistency of data.

Pros

• Highly Flexible
• Easy to use
• Strong integration with Microsoft products
• Graphical tools for building packages.
• It provides a ‘Catalog database’ to store, run, and manage packages.

Cons

• Requires a license for SQL Server.
• Steeper learning curve
• Primarily designed for Microsoft ecosystems.
• SSIS can be complex and expensive.

Pricing: 

It has various pricing models depending on the plan and version of SSIS you want to purchase. You can choose from their available plans to meet your needs. 

3. Fivetran

Fivetran’s platform of valuable tools is designed to make your data management process more convenient. Within minutes, the user-friendly software retrieves the most recent information from your database, keeping up with API updates. In addition to ETL tools, Fivetran provides database replication, data security services, and round-the-clock support. 

Pros

• Free plan available
• Usage pricing reduces costs
• Easy to use for all users
• Automated connections
• 300-plus pre-built connectors

Cons

• Pricing isn’t transparent
• May not handle complex data transformation
• Expensive for larger companies
• Slow customer support

Pricing

Fivetran offers the following pricing plans:

• Free 
• Starter
• Standard
• Enterprise

4. IBM Datastage

IBM DataStage is an industry-leading data integration tool that helps you design, develop, and run jobs that move and transform data. At its core, the DataStage tool mainly helps extract, transform, and load (ETL) and extract, load, and transform (ELT) patterns.

Pros

• User-friendly service and client architecture.
• Enables parallel processing.
• The drag-and-drop feature makes creating pipelines easy.
• Reduced data movement costs

Cons

• Cloud integration for DataStage is more complex. 
• Licensing fees can vary
• Not a wide range of connectors is provided. 

Pricing

IBM DataStage’s pricing model is based on capacity unit hours. It also supports a free plan for small data.

5. Pentaho Data Integration(PDI)

Pentaho Data Integration is not just an ETL tool but a codeless data orchestration solution that consolidates several disparate data sources into one source of truth for further analysis and reporting.

They provide two tools- Spoon and Kitchen. Spoon enables the user to design these data tasks and transformations as the PDI client, which the Kitchen executes. Another example is using a PDI client when conducting real-time ETL with Pentaho Reporting.

Pros

• Flexible data integration
• Multi-cloud-based and hybrid architectures
• Highly scalable
• Provides flexible execution environments

Cons

• Limited documentation
• Occasional bugs and glitches
• Can be resource-intensive
• Limited customization options

Pricing

The software is available in free community and subscription-based enterprise editions. Users can choose one based on their needs.

6. Apache Airflow

Apache Airflow is an open-source framework for orchestrating and managing complex data operations. It was primarily developed to meet the requirements of Airbnb’s data infrastructure but is now maintained by the Apache Software Foundation. Airflow has become the top choice of data engineers, data scientists, and DevOps practitioners who build credentials to automate data engineering processes.

Pros

• Open-Source
• Numerous Integrations
• Airflow’s UI helps monitor and manage workflows
• Highly Scalable

Cons

• No versioning of workflows
• Insufficient documentation
• Challenging learning curve
• The complexity of the production setup and maintenance

Pricing

Free because it is open-source. 

7. Talend

Talend delivers a comprehensive contemporary data management platform that integrates with any data environment or architecture, reduces risk, and shortens time to value. As a cloud-independent solution, Talend enables you to operate seamlessly across your data landscape, whether it is cloud, multi-cloud, hybrid, or on-premises.

Pros

• Easy to use and set up. 
• Compatible with a huge variety of data sources.
• Open source
• Some AI/ML capabilities allow data scientists to model data. 

Cons

• Has a steep learning curve.
•  Poor timely support from Talend’s customer service team. 
• It can be expensive for small businesses and start-ups. 

Pricing

Talend has been acquired by Qlik and you can contact their sales team for getting the quotation on your pricing plan. 

8. Informatica PowerCenter

Informatica PowerCenter is a common data integration platform widely used for enterprise data warehousing and data governance. PowerCenter’s powerful capabilities enable organizations to integrate data from different sources into a consistent, accurate, and accessible format. PowerCenter is built to manage complicated data integration jobs. Informatica uses integrated, high-quality data to power business growth and enable better-informed decision-making.

Pros

• AI-charged master data management with Claire AI.
• It offers a range of features that can be used for data quality improvement, monitoring, and maintenance.
• Provides a collaborative and AI-powered data cataloging environment.
• Highly scalable

Cons

• It may be complex for new and non-technical users.
• Expensive for small to medium-sized businesses.
• consumes more time with bigger cloud replication.

Pricing

Informatica supports volume-based pricing. It also offers a free plan and three different paid plans for cloud data management.

9. Airbyte

Airbyte is a data replication and integration technology for building seamless pipelines. It’s an open-source connectivity library with over 350 pre-built connectors. Even though the pre-built connector list is vast, the user can still build a custom connection for sources and destinations that might not be present in the pre-built connector listing. 

Pros

• Large library with more than pre-built connectors.
• Connector Development Kit (CDK) for building new connectors 
• High-volume data replication with CDC and SSH tunnels
• Provides a version-control tool and options.

Cons

• Steep learning curve.
• The cost per credit can be vague.
• The scheduler is a little difficult to use and might kill jobs anytime. 
• Frequent updates force users to always have new versions to be installed.

Pricing

It offers various pricing models:

• Open Source- Free
• Cloud—It offers a free trial and charges $360/mo for a 30GB volume of data replicated per month.
• Team- Talk to the sales team for the pricing details
• Enterprise- Talk to the sales team for the pricing details

10. Apache Nifi

Apache Nifi was designed to automate data transfer across systems. Its core design principles are very closely aligned with the foundational ideas of Flow-Based Programming. 

NiFi automates cybersecurity-related tasks, observability, event streams, and generative AI data pipelines and dissemination for thousands of businesses globally in all industries.

Pros

• Loss-tolerant and guaranteed delivery
• Low latency and high throughput
• Dynamic prioritization
• Runtime modification of flow configuration
• Back pressure control

Cons

• Less documentation is available.
• State persistence issue in case of primary node switching. 
• Challenging to run long SQL queries. 

Pricing

Free since it is open source. 

Comparison of the PostgreSQL ETL Tools

ETL Tool	Ease of Use	Support	Integration Capabilities	Pricing
Hevo	User-friendly interface, No-code	24/7 customer support, comprehensive	Supports 150+ data sources, real-time data	transparent tier-based pricing
SSIS	Moderate, requires some technical knowledge.	Strong customer support. Good amount of documentation.	Integrates with Microsoft tools.	SQL server license required. Various pricing models.
Fivetran	Very easy, automated	24/7 support, extensive documentation	Supports 400+ data connectors, automated ELT	Subscription-based, transparent pricing
IBM Datastage	Complex,  requires expertise	Robust support, comprehensive	Extensive integration capabilities	Enterprise pricing, typically expensive
PDI	Moderate, some learning curve	Comprehensive support, community	Integrates with many databases and services	Subscription-based, tiered pricing, free trial available
Apache Airflow	Complex, requires expertise	Community support, some enterprise	Highly customizable, many integrations	Free, open-source
Talend	User-friendly Interface	Poor customer support	Contact sales to get the quotations. Free version is also available.	Various connectors are suited for real-time data flows.
Informatica	Complex- requires expertise	Extensive support options, community	Highly scalable, 200 pre-built connectors	Expensive, enterprise-focused
Airbyte	Easy, open-source, customizable	Community support	350+  pre-built connectors	Free, open-source
Apache Nifi	Low, requires technical knowledge.	Good, active and supportive community of users.	Contact sales to get the quotations. The free version is also available.	Free, open-source

Key Considerations while choosing an ETL tool

Choosing an ETL tool based solely on others’ recommendations might not be helpful. Before selecting a Postgres ETL tool, you must assess your business and data requirements. A few key considerations are:

• Number of Connectors provided.
• Connector extensibility and ability to create new connectors.
• Support provided.
• Integration with your tech stack.
• Data transformations supported.
• Security and compliance.

Conclusion

Having an ETL tool to migrate your data to/from your PostgreSQL database can ease the pressure of creating manual data pipelines and provide more time for analyzing loaded data. This blog provides a list of various viable ETL tools available for PostgreSQL, along with the pros and cons of each. 

Sign up for Hevo’s 14-day free trial and explore more about the numerous data migrations possible with its no-code platform.

FAQ on ETL Tools for PostgreS