ETL tools have become essential for businesses, making data integration and transformation smooth and efficient. With so many ETL tools available, choosing the right one for your needs can be challenging. Today, we’ll compare two popular options: Fivetran vs Airbyte. By examining their features, pricing, data handling, and real-world use cases, we’ll help you determine which tool best suits your business.

An Overview of Fivetran

Fivetran logo

G2 Rating: 4.2(377)
Capterra Rating: 4.7(20)

Fivetran is an enterprise-level ETL tool that’s intuitively simple and compellingly easy to use. It offers completely managed data pipelines that automate your data integration to keep it refreshed without manual intervention.

Key Features

  • Data Connectors: Fivetran supports 500+ data connectors, making integrating data from multiple sources easy.
  • Automated Data Sync: It automatically synchronizes data, ensuring your data is always fresh and ready for analysis.
  • Security: Fivetran adheres to SOC 1 & 2, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, HIPAA, CCPA, GDPR, and HITRUST regulations.
  • Support and Community: Fivetran offers robust customer support and a vibrant community, which provides ample resources for troubleshooting and learning.
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An Overview of Airbyte

Airbyte logo

G2 Rating: 4.5(47)
Capterra Rating: NA

Airbyte is an open-source ETL tool that allows you to customize your data pipelines according to your specific needs. It’s designed to handle large-scale data integration easily and offers a community-driven approach to building data connectors.

Key Features

  • Data connectors: Airbyte supports 350+ data connectors, with 271 connectors in their Marketplace. 
  • Building new connectors: Users can develop their connectors using the language of their choice. 
  • Alerts: Airbyte houses an automated alert mechanism that will notify all users when an issue arises.
  • No Security Compliance Issues: Since Airbyte is a self-hosted solution, it doesn’t risk the user’s infrastructure regarding security or privacy. It depends upon your infrastructure.

Comparison Metrics

MetricFivetranAirbyteHevo
Data Connectors500+ prebuilt non-customizable connectors available only for structured data sources, with no support for unstructured sources.350+ prebuilt, customizable connectors for both structured and unstructured data sources.(Among which 28 are in Beta Stages)150+ prebuilt connectors for structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data across cloud and on-premises sources.
PricingConsumption-based pricing with a 14-day free trial. Free for Airbyte open source, but customers need to pay for the infrastructure. Airbyte Cloud offers volume-based pricing with a 14-day free trial.Transparent, consumption-based pricing with flexible plans and a 14-day free trial.
Ease of UseNo-code UI platformIntuitive Interface, but some engineering understanding is needed to hostNo-code UI platform with built-in data transformation and automated workflows.
API AccessFull access to the platform is provided through an REST API, including interactive API references.Limited access to Airbyte through a collection of HTTP RPC-style methods (API currently in Alpha).Full API access to manage data pipelines, allowing users to automate and customize workflows programmatically.
SupportAll Fivetran customers have 24/7 access to a team of technical specialists.Airbyte Cloud customers can access in-app chat support and a Slack and Discourse community. Airbyte open-source users often have to fix the bug themselves or rely on someone from the community to do it.24/7 customer support with real-time chat, email, and extensive documentation. Premium onboarding support for all users.
Security CertificationsSOC 1 & 2, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, HIPAA, CCPA, GDPR, HITRUSTSOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA Conduit.SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA Compliant.
Customizability of ConnectorsFivetran’s Function connector offers limited customization options.With Airbyte’s Connector Builder, you can create and modify connectors in minutes using their low-code, no-code, and AI-powered platform.Allows connector customizability and users can automate transformations without coding.
Deployment OptionsHybrid, Saas, Self-HostedOn your infrastructure or using Airbyte CloudSaaS, deployed across AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure. Fully managed real-time deployment.
Data IngestionBoth Batch and Streaming Data IngestionsPrimarily supports batch SyncReal-time data ingestion with both batch and streaming data supported.
Vendor Lock-InYesNoNo
Load Data from Amazon RDS to Databricks
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Load Data from Amazon S3 to Snowflake
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Load Data from MongoDB to BigQuery
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Head-to-Head Comparison: Fivetran vs Airbyte

Features

Fivetran

  1. Automated Data Integration: Fivetran automates data integration, ensuring continuous data syncing from source to destination without manual intervention.
  2. Prebuilt Connectors: Fivetran supports many data sources with over 500 prebuilt connectors. However, these connectors are non-customizable and mainly cater to structured data.
  3. Transformations: Fivetran provides limited preload transformations, allowing users to drop columns and mask data. For more complex transformations, it integrates seamlessly with dbt Core.
  4. Maintenance-Free: Fivetran automatically manages schema changes, reducing your engineering team’s burden.

Airbyte

  1. Customizable Connectors: With over 350 customizable connectors, Airbyte supports structured and unstructured data sources.
  2. Transformations: Airbyte primarily focuses on post-load transformations using dbt, offering flexibility in handling data transformations after loading.
  3. Open Source: Being open-source, it allows for extensive customization and transparency. You can modify the code to suit your specific needs.
  4. Community and Support: A vibrant community that contributes to the continuous improvement of the platform. Plus, you can get professional support if needed.

Pricing

Fivetran

  1. Free Plan: This plan is for individuals automating ELT for small volumes of data. It gives access to Standard Plan features and up to 500,000 monthly active rows (MAR) free of charge. 
  2. The Starter Plan: This plan is for achieving modern ELT for your application and file sources. You can access up to ten users for a one-hour sync. Fivetran does not allow Database connectors in its starter plan; it is limited to an enterprise plan. 
  3. The Standard Plan: It allows you to centralize product and transactional data from your databases. Unlimited users can access it for 15-minute syncs. 
  4. The Enterprise Plan: It lets you connect to an enterprise database connector for 1-minute syncs. It also allows for detailed roles and support for teams. This means a few connectors are unavailable in plans lower than the Enterprise plan. To get the sync to 1 min, Fivetran usually connects to HVR to get the same.

Airbyte

  1. OpenSource Edition: Free to use with community support. Ideal for small teams or projects with technical expertise.
  2. Cloud Edition: Designed for startups and small teams, the Cloud Starter Edition offers a pay-as-you-go model with $2.50 per credit. This includes access to all the features available in the cloud with no upfront costs.
  3. Team Edition: This tier offers custom pricing and is designed for larger organizations. It provides additional features and enhanced support, including enterprise-grade security, dedicated customer success, and professional support.
  4. Enterprise Edition: This tier offers customized pricing for large-scale enterprises requiring advanced features, priority support, and custom solutions. It offers extensive customization, advanced security options, and dedicated account management.

Data Handling and Transformation

Fivetran

  1. Pre-Load Transformations: Limited preload transformation capabilities directly within the UI. Users can drop columns and mask data before loading.
  2. Post-Load Transformations: Fivetran relies on dbt Core, a popular transformation tool in the modern data stack, for more complex transformations.
  3. Schema Management: Automatically adapts to schema changes, ensuring minimal disruptions.

Airbyte

  1. Pre-Load Transformations: Lacks significant preload transformation features, focusing more on the extraction and loading phases.
  2. Post-Load Transformations: Strong emphasis on post-load transformations using dbt, allowing for powerful and flexible data manipulation after loading.
  3. Custom Connectors: The ability to create custom connectors means you can handle various data sources and formats.

Deployment Options

Fivetran

  1. SaaS (Software as a Service): Fivetran operates as a fully managed service in the cloud. This means you don’t need to worry about infrastructure, updates, or maintenance. Fivetran handles everything, ensuring a smooth and hassle-free experience.
  2. Hybrid: Fivetran supports a hybrid deployment model for organizations that must keep certain data on-premises while leveraging the cloud for other operations. This setup allows for flexibility in data handling and ensures compliance with data sovereignty and security requirements.
  3. Self-Hosted: While Fivetran primarily operates as a SaaS, there are options for on-premises deployments in special cases. This is particularly useful for enterprises with strict data governance policies that necessitate keeping data within their infrastructure.

Airbyte

  1. Airbyte Cloud: This fully managed service hosted by Airbyte takes care of all infrastructure, updates, and maintenance. It’s an ideal option for teams looking for a hassle-free, scalable solution without the need to manage their own servers.
  2. On Your Infrastructure: Airbyte’s open-source nature allows you to deploy the platform on your infrastructure. This option gives you full control over your data and environment, ensuring compliance with internal security policies and data governance requirements.

Customers

Fivetran

  1. E-Commerce: Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, Everlane
  2. Finance: Square, kiva, Axos bank
  3. Education: Cengage, Udacity, University of Colorado

Airbyte

  1. E-Commerce: Cart.com, SoleSavy
  2. Finance: PensionBee, BetterSaver, Invesco
  3. Education: Intellum, CodeSandbox

Why is Hevo Data leading the ETL Race?

When choosing an ETL tool, both Fivetran and Airbyte have their strengths and limitations. Fivetran is known for its simplicity and automation but offers limited pre-load transformation and customization options. Airbyte, while highly flexible and customizable, can be complex and has a steep learning curve. 

Enter Hevo Data, which is quickly taking over the ETL landscape. Hevo offers a user-friendly interface, robust data integration, and seamless automation. It supports various sources and destinations, making it versatile across different industries. For transformation, Hevo provides a Python platform to run your custom scripts, or you can use a simple, intuitive drag-and-drop interface. Hevo’s real-time data pipeline lets you quickly access and analyze your data. Additionally, Hevo’s transparent pricing structure and excellent customer support make it a better choice. These features combine to place Hevo at the forefront of the ETL market.

Conclusion

Choosing the right ETL tool is critical in managing and, in turn, effectively analyzing large data. While Fivetran basically concentrates on ease of use and completely automated processes, Airbyte strives to bring flexibility and customizability. Contrastingly, Hevo has started to take a more influential position by ensuring native, real-time, and ease-of-use capabilities and vast integration possibilities with exceptional customer support. Whether you’re a small startup or a large enterprise, Hevo provides a robust and efficient solution for all your ETL needs.

Frequently Asked Questions on Fivetran vs Airbyte

Can Fivetran pull data from Snowflake?

Yes, Fivetran can pull data from Snowflake, making it a versatile tool for various data integration needs.

What problem does Airbyte solve?

Airbyte is an open-source integration tool that integrates data sources into target destinations like data warehouses, lakes, and databases for easy, fully customizable ETL processes.

Does Airbyte use DBT?

Airbyte can integrate with DBT for post-data transformation, offering additional flexibility in managing your data pipelines.

Roopa Madhuri G
Senior Product Manager

Roopa Madhuri.G is a Senior Product Manager with a robust background in the data industry. Her expertise spans Business Insights, Data Engineering, Legacy Modernization, Ownership, and Product Management, where she excels in transforming complex data into actionable insights. Roopa is known for her strategic insight and ability to drive business outcomes through data-driven decisions.

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