Fivetran vs Airflow: Complete Guide for 2024

In the world of data management, ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tools play a crucial role in ensuring data is efficiently integrated, transformed, and loaded into data warehouses. These tools are essential for automating data workflows, maintaining data consistency, and enabling businesses to gain valuable insights from their data. The right ETL tools can significantly streamline workflows and boost overall efficiency.

Fivetran and Apache Airflow are two robust utilities in the ETL space. Fivetran is driven-for-simplicity, easy-to-adopt product that aims to fully automate an end-to-end data pipeline with very little user intervention. Apache Airflow is an open-source workflow automation tool that is flexible and best suited for complex data engineering tasks. Fivetran vs Airflow will compare the tools using various criteria to show which fits your bill.

What is Fivetran?

G2 Rating: 4.2(377)

Capterra Rating: 4.7(20)

Fivetran is a cloud-based ETL platform designed to automate data integration from various sources into a data warehouse. Known for its simplicity and ease of use, Fivetran focuses on automating the entire data pipeline with minimal user intervention.

Key Features and Functionalities

• Broad Source Connectivity: Fivetran enables efficient data replication from over 500+ source connectors to your chosen destination. These connectors allow you to access the necessary data within minutes, all without coding.
• Integration with dbt Core: To manage complex transformations with Fivetran, you can integrate it with dbt Core. This combination allows you to write intricate transformation models within the data warehouse using Python or SQL.
• Automated Data Sync: It automatically synchronizes data, ensuring your data is always up to date and ready for analysis.
• Security: Fivetran complies with SOC 1 & 2, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, HIPAA, CCPA, GDPR, and HITRUST regulations.

What is Apache Airflow?

G2 Rating: 4.3(86)

Capterra Rating: 4.6(10)

Apache Airflow is an open-source workflow automation tool for programmatically authoring, scheduling, and monitoring workflows. This makes the tool flexible and shows excellent potential in complex data engineering tasks.

Key Features and Functionalities

• Open-Source Community: The open-source nature of Airflow fosters a robust ecosystem of plugins, integrations, and extensions, enabling users to connect the tool with various cloud services, databases, and third-party tools.
• Extensive Operator Library: Airflow includes a library of over 30 operators, which are pre-built templates capable of handling a wide range of tasks such as data transfer, orchestration, cloud operations, and executing SQL scripts.
• Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG): Workflows in Airflow are designed as Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs), providing a conceptual or graphical representation of a series of activities. This feature simplifies the construction and monitoring of complex workflows in a structured sequence.
• Flexible ETL/ELT Capabilities: Airflow can manage ETL, ELT, and reverse ETL processes, providing the flexibility to extract, transform, load, and transfer data efficiently between different systems.

Fivetran vs. Airflow: Comparison Criteria

Criteria	Fivetran	Airflow
Data Integration	Automated Pipelines, wide source support	Customizable, code-based workflows
Setup	Easy setup, requires minimal configuration	Requires more setup, highly configurable
Transformations	Limited Transformations using dbt Core	Extremely flexible and Customisable transformations
User Experience	User-friendly, low learning curve	Require coding knowledge, more complex
Connectors	500+ prebuilt non-customizable connectors are available only for structured data sources, with no support for unstructured sources.	The number of connectors you add to your Airflow installation can vary based on the community contributions and custom operators.
Pricing	Pricing is based on Monthly Active Rows.	It is free, but you have to manage your infrastructure costs.
Python Support	Yes, working with Fivetran’s REST API	Yes
Free Platform Demo	Yes	No
Compliance Certifications	SOC 1 & 2, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, HIPAA, CCPA, GDPR, HITRUST	Apache Airflow itself is a tool and doesn’t come with specific security or compliance certifications. It depends on how it is deployed and managed.
Vendor Lock-In	Yes	No

Head-to-Head Comparison

Data Integration and Automation

• Fivetran
  • Fivetran provides automated data integration using a large set of out-of-the-box connectors 500+ for databases, applications, and data warehouses.
  • Fivetran automates the ELT pipeline, including schema management. Users benefit from automatic updates and maintenance, with minimal manual configuration required.
• Airflow
  • Airflow is a workflow orchestration tool that allows users to design and manage complex data pipelines using Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs). It doesn’t have built-in connectors but relies on custom operators and hooks to integrate with various data sources and destinations.
  • Airflow provides robust automation capabilities for orchestrating and scheduling complex workflows. 

Ease of Use

• Fivetran
  • Fivetran is designed with user-friendly features, making setting up and maintaining data pipelines easy. Most of the process is automated and requires little manual configuration.
  • The learning curve is pretty low, as users can hit the ground running with pre-built connectors and automated processes.
• Airflow
  • Airflow offers a flexible and powerful interface for defining workflows but requires more technical expertise. The web-based UI allows monitoring and managing workflows, but setting up and configuring DAGs can be complex.
  • The learning curve is steeper because users must understand DAGs, operators, and hooks. Users must also be comfortable with Python to fully leverage Airflow’s capabilities.

Scalability and Flexibility

• Fivetran
  • Scalability: Fivetran is designed to scale automatically, handling increasing data volumes and complexity without requiring manual intervention.
  • Flexibility: While Fivetran offers extensive connectivity and automation, its flexibility is somewhat limited to the capabilities of its pre-built connectors and predefined ETL processes.
• Airflow
  • Scalability: Airflow is highly scalable, allowing users to design workflows that can handle large volumes of data and complex processing tasks. It can be scaled horizontally by adding more worker nodes to the cluster.
  • Flexibility: Airflow offers extensive flexibility for designing and managing workflows. Users can create custom operators, define complex dependencies, and integrate with virtually any data source or destination using custom code.

Monitoring and Management

• Fivetran
  • Monitoring: Fivetran provides built-in monitoring and alerts, offering visibility into data pipeline performance and health. Users can access dashboards and notifications to monitor data synchronization and pipeline status.
  • Management: Management tasks are largely automated, with the service handling updates, maintenance, and schema changes.
• Airflow
  • Monitoring: Airflow’s web interface provides detailed monitoring and logging. Users can track task status, view logs, and manage retries and alerts.
  • Management: Management is more hands-on, requiring users to handle upgrades, maintenance, and custom configurations for their workflows.

Community Support and Ecosystem

• Fivetran
  • Community Support: Fivetran has a growing user community, primarily supported through its customer service and documentation.
  • Documentation and Plugins: Fivetran offers comprehensive documentation and a range of pre-built connectors.
• Airflow
  • Community Support: Airflow benefits from a large and active open-source community.
  • Documentation and Plugins: Airflow has extensive documentation and a rich ecosystem of plugins and extensions.

Cost Considerations

• Fivetran
  • Fivetran bills for pipelines are based on the number of monthly active rows.
  • Pricing plans are as follows:
    • Free Plan: This plan is tailored for individuals who would like a lightweight volume of data for ELT purposes. The Free Plan gives access to all the features in the Standard Plan, which is freely given, but on up to 500,000 MAR monthly.
    • The Starter Plan: This plan provides modern ELT for your application and file sources. It provides access to ten users with an hour’s sync. However, database connectors are not allowed in Fivetran’s starter plan; they are limited to an enterprise plan.
    • Standard Plan: It allows single-location centralization of the product and transactional data resident in its databases, unlimited users, and syncs every 15 minutes.
    • Enterprise Plan: The enterprise database connector can sync data in at least one minute. It also supports detailed roles and team support. Some connectors are not available below the Enterprise plan.
• Airflow
  • It is a free tool, but you must manage your Infrastructure Costs.

Security

• Fivetran
  • Maintains industry standards in data security with strong encryption and security protocols in place.
  • The list of security certifications includes the following:
    • SOC 1 & 2
    • PCI DSS
    • ISO 27001
    • HIPAA/CCPA
    • GDPR
    • HITRUST.
• Airflow
  • Apache Airflow is an open-source project that does not hold any specific security certifications. However, its security features and practices can be configured to align with various compliance standards and frameworks. 
  • The responsibility for achieving and maintaining security certifications typically falls on the organizations deploying and managing Airflow within their infrastructure.

When to choose Fivetran?

Fivetran is an excellent option for teams seeking a straightforward, easy-to-use data integration tool that automates maintenance and requires minimal setup. It excels at providing a streamlined experience for data extraction and loading, making it a top choice for organizations that prioritize simplicity and automation in their ELT processes.

Advantages of using Fivetran

• Ease of Use: Intuitive setup and management with minimal technical expertise required.
• Automation: Automated schema management and data synchronization reduce the need for manual intervention.
• Wide Range of Connectors: Extensive library of pre-built connectors (500+) for various data sources.

Limitations of using Fivetran

• Customization: Limited customization options for complex data transformations and unique data formats.
• Cost: It can become expensive as data volume increases.

When to choose Airflow?

When your organization requires intricate orchestration of data tasks with complex dependencies and scheduling needs, or when you need high customization in managing data pipelines, including custom transformations, error handling, and retries, and if you are scaling workflows horizontally to handle large volumes of data and numerous tasks across different systems.

Advantages of Airflow

• Robust Orchestration: Airflow offers a powerful solution for orchestrating and managing complex data pipelines, enabling detailed control over task execution and dependencies.
• Open-source and Free: As an open-source tool, Airflow is free to use and can be customized to fit specific needs, providing flexibility in workflow design and management.
• Customizable Workflows: Users can create and manage Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) to define workflows, allowing for fine-grained control over task scheduling, dependencies, and execution logic.

Limitations of Airflow

• Requires Deployment and Maintenance: As a self-hosted solution, Airflow requires deployment, configuration, and ongoing maintenance. This may involve additional resources and expertise to manage infrastructure and updates.
• Complexity for Non-Engineers: Airflow is tailored for engineers and data practitioners, which may pose a challenge for non-technical users. The tool requires knowledge of Python and DAG design for effective use.

Why does Hevo stand out?

Hevo is a data integration platform that specializes in real-time ETL, offering automated data pipelines and pre-built connectors. It focuses on ease of use with minimal coding and provides robust data transformation and quality features. Hevo’s user-friendly interface and scalability make it suitable for growing data needs.

• Comprehensive Data Integration and Transformation: Hevo combines data integration and transformation in one platform, unlike Fivetran, which focuses primarily on data replication, and Apache Airflow, which requires additional transformation tools. This integrated approach simplifies workflows and reduces the need for multiple tools.
• Flexibility and Customization: Hevo provides more flexibility in handling various data sources and formats, allowing for greater customization compared to Fivetran’s more streamlined approach. This makes Hevo suitable for complex and unique data requirements.
• Cost-Effectiveness: Hevo’s pricing model can be more cost-effective for organizations needing a single tool for integration and transformation than the cumulative costs of using Fivetran for integration and dbt or Airflow for transformations.

Conclusion

When choosing between Fivetran and Apache Airflow, aligning the tool with your organization’s specific needs is crucial. Fivetran offers a streamlined and automated approach to data integration with a wide range of pre-built connectors, making it ideal for users seeking ease of use and minimal setup. However, it may require additional tools for handling complex data transformations and orchestrating workflows.

Hevo provides a unified platform for a more comprehensive solution that integrates data replication and transformation. It excels with its real-time data synchronization and user-friendly interface, offering greater flexibility and customization compared to Fivetran and more built-in capabilities than Airflow. By choosing Hevo, organizations can benefit from an all-in-one tool that simplifies data integration while managing complex workflows efficiently.

FAQ on Fivetran vs Airflow