Should your organization invest in the power and customization offered by Informatica, or embrace the simplicity and automation of Fivetran to accelerate your data journey?

In today’s world, where decisions are derived based on data, businesses want to quickly integrate data from multiple sources to back these decisions. This makes choosing the right data integration tool very important. Fivetran and Informatica are two industry data integration leaders offering powerful, yet distinctly different solutions. While Fivetran stands out for its easy automation and rapid setup, Informatica is known for its enterprise-grade capabilities. 

Both tools are top choices, but they serve very different needs. In this blog, we’ll highlight each unique strength and help you decide which tool best fits your data integration requirements for long-term use.

What is Fivetran?

Fivetran Logo

G2 Rating: 4.2(377)

Capterra Rating: 4.7(20)

Fivetran is a fully managed data integration platform. It eases the process of extracting and loading data from a wide variety of sources, including SaaS applications, databases, and file systems. It is best known for its simplicity and automation.

Fivetran offers an extensive library of pre-built connectors and destination connectors to set up data pipelines that require minimal setup. This makes it helpful for data teams, analysts, and business users who need timely, accurate data for analytics and reporting. It also supports near real-time data synchronization so that your analytics environments always stay up to date.

Fivetran’s automation, scalability, and reliability make it unique in the market of data integration tools. It can handle schema changes automatically.

Key Features and Functionalities:

  • Post-Load transformation with dbt Integration: It allows integrating dbt with its native support to perform SQL-based transformations. This helps organizations to set up analytics-ready data for modeling after loading.
  • Automatic Schema Mapping: Fivetran automatically adjusts to changes in your source schema.
  • Low maintenance: Fivetran handles maintenance, updates, and any potential breakages.
  • Incremental data sync: With change data capture (CDC) for database sources, you can easily enable incremental syncs for SaaS. This ensures that changes are captured and data stays fresh.

When to use Fivetran?

Fivetran is the leading data integration tool. It offers automated and seamless data extraction, easy setup, and low maintenance, making it the right choice to implement in any organization that requires minimal effort from the users’ end. Fivetran can integrate varied sources into a central repository due to its comprehensive set of connectors. This comes in handy for businesses intending to move data from several different origins in one place quickly.

What is Informatica?

Informatica Logo

G2 Rating: 4.3(519)

Capterra Rating: 4.3(14)

Informatica is a data integration and management platform. It helps organizations to bring data together from a wide range of sources, clean it, and govern it. It is best suited for enterprises that require robust, scalable solutions to manage complex data environments. 

The platform provides a wide variety of features, including data integration, data quality, master data management (MDM), and data governance. Its intuitive visual interface and pre-built connectors make it easy to design, automate, and monitor data workflows. 

Informatica is known for its enterprise-grade flexibility, scalability, and focus on data governance. It also provides AI-powered automation, intelligent recommendations, and support for both ETL and ELT patterns. Its feature to customize and handle complex integration scenarios makes it a leader in the data integration landscape. And with Salesforce now owning Informatica, we’re likely to see some interesting changes in how companies think about connecting their data with their customer relationships. 

Key Features and Functionalities:

  • Unstructured Data Processing: Informatica, with its AI capabilities, helps in parsing and transforming unstructured data (PDFs, text, images)
  • Unified Platform for Data Management: Informatica provides a single platform for data integration, API management, lineage, data governance, and MDM capabilities.
  • Advanced Data Quality & Cleansing: Informatica provides data quality services, including profiling, validation, enrichment, and cleansing. This allows organizations to maintain high data integrity and reliability at scale.

When to use Informatica?

Informatica is a strong choice for complex data environments requiring robust data integration, transformation, and quality management. It is most beneficial to large enterprises where advanced capabilities, heavy customization, and a comprehensive suite of tools are needed to handle very diverse and intricate data workflows.

Comparison Criteria

Now that we have discussed each tool, let’s take a look at their comparison

Use Cases

FeaturesFivetranInformaticaHevo
Automated ELT Pipelines to Cloud Data Warehouses
Enterprise-Grade Data Governance & MDM
On-Premise Deployment Option
No-Code/Low-Code Pipeline SetupPartial

Connector coverage

FeaturesFivetranInformaticaHevo
No. of connectors700+ prebuilt, fully managed connectorsOver 400+ pre-built connectors150+ connectors, covering major SaaS, databases, and cloud
Customization

Performance & Scalability

FeaturesFivetranInformaticaHevo
Enterprise-Grade Scalability (Large Volumes, Parallel Processing)
Real-Time Streaming Data IngestionPartial
Flexible Schema Handling & Merging

Core Features & Abilities

FeaturesFivetranInformaticaHevo
Pre-Load Transformations
Log-Based Replication / CDC
User-Friendly UI / Drag-and-DropPartial

Security

FeaturesFivetranInformaticaHevo
Data Quality & CleansingPartial
GDPR/CCPA Compliance
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
HIPAA Compliance

Cost

FeaturesFivetranInformaticaHevo
Pricing TransparencyMediumLowHigh
Plan TypesFree, Standard, Enterprise, Business CriticalMultiple tiers: Professional, Enterprise, Cloud, MDM, etc.Free, Starter, Business, Enterprise
Free Tier✅/Limited

Support

FeaturesFivetranInformaticaHevo
ChannelsEmail, chat, web portalEmail, phone, chat, web portalLive chat, email, web portal
24/7 Support Availability
Community Forum
Onboarding Assistance✅ (Enterprise tier)✅ (Enterprise tier)✅ (All paid plans)

For more tabular comparisons like this, you can check out blogs on Fivetran vs Segment vs Hevo and Fivetran vs Alloma vs Hevo.

Why Choose Hevo Over Fivetran and Informatica?

Hevo stands out in the crowded data integration space with its unique features, user-friendly platform, and transparent pricing. 

Unlike Fivetran and Informatica, Hevo offers:

  • Competitive Pricing: Enjoy exceptional value with Hevo’s cost-effective solutions, making data integration affordable without sacrificing quality.
  • Custom Transformations: Customize your data workflows with Hevo’s powerful transformation capabilities.

Join over 2000 happy customers who trust Hevo for their data integration needs and experience why we are rated 4.7 on Capterra.

Get Started with Hevo for Free

Detailed Comparison:

Integration Capabilities

  • Fivetran
    • Data Sources and Destinations: Fivetran offers over 500+ pre-built, non-customizable connectors, primarily for structured data sources. It supports many databases, data warehouses, SaaS applications, and more. However, Fivetran does not support unstructured data sources, limiting flexibility in some complex environments.
    • Real-Time Data Replication: Fivetran is optimized for real-time data replication with change data capture (CDC) for specific databases, making it suitable for environments that require continuous data synchronization.
    • Simplified Setup: Fivetran is designed for ease of use, with minimal configuration required to connect data sources and destinations. This makes it an excellent choice for businesses looking for a quick setup.
  • Informatica
    • Extensive Connector Support: Informatica supports 100+ connectors across SaaS apps, relational databases, on-premise systems, cloud platforms, and more.
    • Advanced Data Management: Informatica supports ETL and ELT processes, along with advanced features like metadata management, data quality, and master data management. It also supports complex data transformations and integrations with AI-driven capabilities.
    • Custom Connectors: Informatica’s Connector Toolkit allows for the creation of custom connectors, offering high flexibility for unique data integration needs.

Ease Of Use

  • Fivetran
    • No-Code Platform: Fivetran provides a no-code interface that simplifies setting up and managing data pipelines, making it accessible even to non-technical users.
    • Quick Setup: Fivetran setup process is straightforward, often taking only a few minutes to connect sources and destinations, which is a significant advantage for teams with limited technical resources.
    • Limited Customization: While easy to use, Fivetran’s platform is less customizable, which might be a limitation for users with complex data transformation needs.
  • Informatica
    • Varied Skill Requirements: Informatica offers tools ranging from low-code to high-code, depending on the specific product and use case. This flexibility caters to many users, from business analysts to data engineers.
    • Visual ETL Designers: Informatica provides visual ETL pipeline designers, which enhance the user experience by allowing users to drag and drop components to create data workflows.
    • Steeper Learning Curve: Due to its extensive features and customizability, Informatica has a steeper learning curve than Fivetran, especially for users new to ETL tools.

If you are looking for an Informatica alternative, you can also check out our blog on Hevo vs Informatica.

Pricing Model

  • Fivetran
    • Pricing Tiers: Fivetran offers five pricing levels—Free, Starter, Standard, Enterprise, and Business Critical. Each tier varies in terms of security, data governance, and support.
    • Free Plan: This plan is suitable for those starting with a low-volume ELT pipeline. It limits monthly active rows to 500,000 and allows up to a 15-minute sync frequency.
    • Paid Plans: The Starter plan offers more monthly active rows but fewer features than the Free plan. Paid plans starting from the Standard tier provide enhanced security and additional features.
    • Cost Perception: Small companies often criticize Fivetran’s pricing as expensive. Many users on review platforms like G2 find it impractical for smaller businesses.
  • Informatica
    • Consumption-Based Pricing: Informatica uses a consumption-based pricing model, measured in Informatica Processing Units (IPUs). Organizations must subscribe to sufficient IPUs to meet their data integration needs.
    • Free Tier: Informatica offers a free tier for Cloud Data Integration, which includes simple transformations and live chat support but lacks advanced features like SOC 2 Compliance, API Management, and data privacy.
    • Paid Tiers: The paid tiers offer enhanced support and access to the full range of features unavailable in the free tier.
    • Cost Perception: Similar to Fivetran, Informatica’s pricing is also perceived as expensive by users, with reviews on G2 highlighting its high cost.

Customer Support

Fivetran offers robust customer support designed to meet the needs of its diverse clientele. Their support structure includes:

  • Global Support Team: Fivetran provides 24/7 global coverage with trained and qualified support engineers. Customers can submit support requests via the Fivetran support portal.
  • Severity Levels: Support requests are assigned a severity level, determining the response time. The severity levels range from urgent (mission-critical issues) to low (minimal impact).
  • Response Times: Response times vary depending on the customer’s plan. For instance, the Enterprise Plan offers an initial response time of 1 hour for urgent issues, while the Free Plan has a 48-hour response time across all severity levels.
  • Premium Support: Fivetran offers a Premium Support plan that includes a dedicated Support Account Manager (SAM), faster response times, priority handling, and personalized support from engineers with account-specific knowledge.

Informatica provides various customer support options to cater to different organizational needs. Their support plans include:

  • Standard and Premium Support: Organizations can choose between standard and premium support plans depending on their requirements.
  • Support Channels: Both plans provide access to Informatica’s support portal, where customers can submit tickets. Additionally, support is available via email and phone, ensuring that issues are addressed promptly.
  • Knowledge Base and Online Training: Informatica offers an extensive knowledge base and online training resources, enabling users to find answers and enhance their skills independently.
  • Community and Resources: Customers also gain access to community forums, webinars, and documentation that facilitate self-service and continuous learning.

To explore more data integration options, take a look at our comparison of Talend vs Airflow to help you choose the best tool for your needs.

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If you are looking for other Fivetran Alternatives, have a look at some other comparisons:

Why is Hevo the best alternative to Fivetran and Informatica?

Hevo is a cutting-edge data integration platform that simplifies connecting and managing data from diverse sources. With its intuitive interface and robust capabilities, Hevo is ideal for businesses seeking an efficient and cost-effective solution. Here’s why Hevo is a compelling alternative to Fivetran and Informatica:

  • Competitive and Transparent Pricing: Hevo offers clear, flat pricing tiers that simplify cost management, unlike Fivetran’s opaque and potentially costly model, especially for smaller businesses.
  • Inclusive Customer Support: While Fivetran focuses on larger customers, Hevo provides strong, accessible support across all tiers, ensuring that all businesses receive the assistance they need.
  • Flexibility and Customization: Hevo provides greater flexibility and ease of use than Informatica, which can be complex and less adaptable to rapid changes in the data environment.
  • Ease of Use and Integration: Hevo’s user-friendly interface and seamless integration with various data sources offer a smoother experience than Informatica’s steeper learning curve and Fivetran’s integration limitations.

Ready to streamline your data integration? Sign up for a 14-day free trial and experience seamless, real-time data pipelines with our no-code platform.

FAQ on Fivetran vs Informatica

1. Which is better for ELT: Fivetran or Informatica?

Fivetran is generally considered better for ELT. It provides a fully managed, cloud-native platform optimized for extracting and loading data before transforming it in the destination warehouse.

2. Is Fivetran easier to use than Informatica?

Yes, Fivetran is known for its simplicity and quick setup. On the other side, Informatica requires specialized knowledge and is considered comparatively complex.

3. Can Fivetran handle complex transformations like Informatica does?

No, Fivetran relies on external tools for transformations. It is best for straightforward use cases. Informatica allows complex transformations by providing users the ability to customize it.

4. Which is better for large enterprises: Fivetran or Informatica?

Informatica is typically better suited for large enterprises’ needs. It offers enterprise-grade advanced data management, governance, and highly customizable workflows.

Rajashree Bhat
Associate Director, New Initiatives

Rajashree has extensive expertise in driving global sales strategy and accelerating growth in the data industry. Her experience lies in product architecture, and digital marketing within tech-focused organizations.