The Top 10 Fivetran Competitors in 2024

For many organizations that need an ELT (extract, load, and transform) platform to manage their data, Fivetran is a go-to low-code solution. 

And Fivetran is one of our favorite tools as well. But it has limitations — for instance, it can push data in only one direction, so it’s not as flexible as some alternatives. And its pricing structure is complex, so it’s hard to estimate how much you’ll owe from one billing cycle to the next.  

In this this guide, we’ll discuss the benefits and drawbacks of using Fivetran, and then we’ll evaluate 10 of the top Fivetran alternatives. By comparing them with Fivetran (and one another), we can help you understand which tool is right for you and your team.

Fivetran: The best option for your business?

ELT is a type of data automation that allows you to pull data from across your organization’s platforms and then load it into a data warehouse, database, or data lake. From this central location, you can then use a reverse ETL platform such as Hightouch to push that data back out to your business apps.

Fivetran is a popular ELT platform — but it may not be the right one for you. 

Here are a few reasons that some teams look to Fivetran’s competitors.

• Fivetran pushes data in only one direction, which is standard for ETL and ELT tools but does make Fivetran less flexible than some alternatives.
• Fivetran pricing can be a bit hard to estimate accurately. It’s pay-as-you-go, meaning that you’ll pay more as you sync more rows of data. But that price changes with each plan, and it will increase as your needs do. You can use this chart on Fivetran’s pricing page to estimate how much you’ll pay, but doing so isn’t always easy.
• With 418 connectors as of this writing, Fivetran is on par with many of its competitors, but some gaps are better filled by alternatives.
• Since Fivetran is an ELT tool — not an ETL tool — it can’t transform data before it’s loaded into your database, so it might not suit some workflows.

For teams that are running up against these or other Fivetran limitations, one of the following alternatives might be a better choice.

Airbyte: The open-source Fivetran competitor

If you have the necessary technical skills, Airbyte can be the only platform you need for moving data. It not only has a huge library of more than 350 connectors; it’s also open-source, so developers can build their own connectors in just a few minutes — without any code.

Biggest advantage over Fivetran

Because it's open-source, Airbyte gives its customers more control. If you're a developer or a data engineer, you can create custom connectors to manage data transfers between legacy systems and newer tools. If an existing connector doesn't cut it, you can even rebuild it from scratch. That's a level of control Fivetran just can't match.

Another advantage of being open-source? The exponential growth of its connector library. While Fivetran was launched back in 2012 and currently supports slightly more than 400 connectors, Airbyte offers more than 350 connectors, despite having been launched in 2020. This means that if you need to integrate a connector that isn’t supported by either platform yet, some other Airbyte user might just build it for you.

Where Fivetran might be better

Being a much younger platform, Airbyte doesn’t have some of the quality-of-life features that Fivetran users are accustomed to. For example, you won’t get the same kind of in-depth documentation as you would with Fivetran, which is especially disadvantageous when you’re trying to build your own connectors.

Pricing

Airbyte’s pricing structure is based on “credits.” A credit — or “data operations unit” — costs $2.50 and measures different operations in your data transfers. That can make estimating how much you’ll pay a bit confusing, but here’s how it breaks down:

• Read API source: Six credits per million rows.
• Read database/warehouse/file source: Four credits per GB.
• Read custom source: Six credits per million rows.

Airbyte does have a helpful calculator that you can use to estimate how much the platform will cost you. For example, if you needed to sync 30GB of data across four million records each month, you could expect to pay about $360 a month.

Whalesync: The best Fivetran competitor for two-way sync

Whalesync is a two-way sync solution with connectors for tools such as Airtable, HubSpot, Salesforce, and Webflow. It’s a no-code platform that anyone can use, no matter their level of technical skill. Setting up an integration between tools is as simple as connecting them to Whalesync, picking the data you need to sync, and launching it. Whalesync will automatically start syncing data back and forth between the tools.

Biggest advantage over Fivetran

Two-way sync is Whalesync’s major advantage. For an ETL process, Fivetran’s one-way syncing might be enough. But imagine if you could dynamically sync data in and out of your apps automatically. That’s what you can do with a two-way sync.

Additionally, Whalesync offers connectors that Fivetran doesn’t, such as connectors for Airtable and Webflow. These connectors allow you to skip the data warehouse and build operational workflows and mini-apps.

Where Fivetran might be better

While two-way sync is a total game-changer for data integration, it’s not available for nearly as many connectors as your average ETL tool. While Fivetran has more than 400 connectors, Whalesync currently offers 10, though that library is growing every quarter.

Pricing

Whalesync offers three pricing plans:

• The Project plan is $29 a month for one base — a single connection between two tools — and 1,000 synced records a month. You can add more records at an additional cost: up to 10,000 for $119 a month. You won’t get all connectors with this plan — connectors for Stripe, Shopify, and Postgres are notable examples.
• The Startup plan starts at $79 a month for five bases and 2,000 synced records, scaling up to $379 a month for 30,000. You’ll also get premier support and more connectors — for instance, for Shopify, WordPress, and Stripe.
• A custom-priced Business plan is also available, offering custom base and record limits as well as access to CRM connectors.

Want to see how easy it is to sync data with Whalesync? Try it free for 14 days.

Stitch: The best no-code Fivetran competitor for Enterprise

Stitch is a no-code, enterprise-grade ETL platform that allows you to quickly build the integrations you need in order to pull data and send it to your data warehouse of choice.

Biggest advantage over Fivetran

Stitch is one of the best Fivetran competitors for teams with few engineering resources. The UI is more user-friendly than other solutions on the market, and you don’t need advanced technical knowledge to get it to work. 

Where Fivetran might be better

Fivetran simply has more data sources: more than double the amount Stitch has. That’s not a dealbreaker if Stitch supports the connectors you need, but it can mean the tool won’t scale with your workflows as effectively as Fivetran will.

Additionally, Stitch is more limited when it comes to actually transforming the data you’re extracting and loading. It can transform data only enough to make it compatible with your data warehouse of choice, while Fivetran supports more in-depth transformation. Depending on your needs, this may be reason enough to eliminate Stitch as an alternative.

Pricing

Stitch offers three pricing plans:

• The Standard plan bills you according to the number of rows you use each month, starting at $100 for five million and scaling up to $1,250 for 300 million. It doesn’t include some advanced features, such as a dedicated customer success manager, access to the Stitch API, and advanced connectivity.
• The Advanced plan lets you sync as many as 100 million rows per month for $1,250. You’ll also get access to the API and a customer success manager. You can pay more to add more rows to your plan.
• The Premium plan is a flat $2,500 and supports up to one billion rows, unlimited users, and unlimited data sources. You’ll get every feature Stitch offers, too, like advanced connectivity and HIPAA-grade security.

Talend: The best end-to-end Fivetran competitor

Talend is a suite of data management tools — including Stitch — that allows users to run ELT, ETL, and reverse ETL processes. It supports more than 40 connectors and is used by brands like Toyota, Lenovo, Domino’s, and eBay.

Biggest advantage over Fivetran

Talend isn’t just an ETL platform; it’s a full suite of products that work together to manage data in every workflow. That makes it an all-in-one solution for  your data needs, while Fivetran is a dedicated ELT service. Talend a great choice for organizations that are just starting to build an interconnected data infrastructure.

Where Fivetran might be better

While you can do more with Talend than Fivetran, you may not need all of Talend’s features. If what you need is an ELT tool, then you’ll have an easier time setting up Fivetran — and you’ll probably pay less for it.

Pricing

Talend doesn’t make its pricing available on its website, so you’ll have to contact their sales team to get a quote.

Hevo: The most flexible Fivetran competitor

Hevo is a data pipeline tool that any team can use, whether they have coding experience or not. It offers more than 150 connectors, including connectors for SaaS platforms like Salesforce and ClickUp, analytics tools like Google Analytics and Facebook Ads, and databases like MongoDB and PostgreSQL.

Biggest advantage over Fivetran

Hevo is more flexible than Fivetran; it doesn’t have as many connectors, but it lets you do more with your data. For example, Hevo has a built-in reverse ETL platform called Hevo Activate, which allows you to funnel data to a data warehouse and dispatch it to other tools with the same service.

Where Fivetran might be better

Again, Fivetran has Hevo beat when it comes to the number of connectors it supports, with connectors for more than twice as many tools. But its free plan is more robust as well, offering more connectors and better features. So if you’re new to ETL or data pipelines and want to start without a major investment, Fivetran is a better choice.

Pricing

Hevo offers three pricing plans:

• The Free plan supports up to one million events — either the update or the creation of a record — across 50 of Hevo’s connectors. Your Hevo workspace can support up to five users without you needing to pull out your credit card.
• With the Starter plan, you’ll have access to all of Hevo’s connectors, unlimited users, and setup assistance. The plan starts at $299 a month for five million events, scaling up to $1,449 a month for 100 million events.
• Custom Business plans are available as well, with custom pricing, single-sign-on, HIPAA compliance, and more of the features an enterprise-sized business needs.

Meltano: The best free Fivetran competitor for code wizards

Meltano is a data integration platform built with developers in mind. Where other tools pride themselves on being no-code or low-code, Meltano allows developers and data engineers to integrate their data pipeline directly with their code. It’s a specialized tool built for people with the technical know-how to make it sing.

Biggest advantage over Fivetran

As long as you have the skills to use Meltano, your connector-building capacity will be nearly unparalleled. Meltano’s open-source platform gives you access to more than 600 APIs and databases, meaning you can support just about any workflow.

Where Fivetran might be better

Meltano is about as far from an out-of-the-box solution as it gets. You have to host the software yourself, code your own connectors, and deploy it yourself. And seeing as how Meltano doesn’t have the same kind of support that more established platforms do, you really need to know what you’re doing.

Pricing

Meltano is completely free to use, making it an attractive option if you have the necessary engineering skills.

Matillion: The best Fivetran competitor for community

Matillion is a code-optional data platform, meaning you can use it to set up integrations with its more than 100 pre-built connectors or use it to build your own. It handles both data integration and ETL processes.

Biggest advantage vs. Fivetran

While both Matillion and Fivetran are powerful ETL and data integration platforms, Matillion has a stronger community and better support, which is an advantage you’ll find mentioned across user reviews on G2. So while the learning curve for both tools is comparable (as are their capabilities), it’s easier to grow with and troubleshoot Matillion.

Where Fivetran might be better

Fivetran has Matillion beat with its customizability. That’s because Matillion doesn’t allow users to use SQL to configure their workflows in detail, while Fivetran does. So people with more technical skill might get more out of Fivetran.

Pricing

Matillion charges users for each credit they use. These credits power both the ETL and Data Productivity Cloud solutions that are part of the Matillion platform.

• The Basic plan will set you back $2 per credit and allows you to use most of Matillion’s features with up to five users.
• The Advanced plan costs $2.50 per credit, unlocking unlimited users, more precise permission control, and project-based visibility.
• The Enterprise plan costs $2.70 per credit and gives you access to a Git repository, clustered environments, and change data capture pipelines.

Rivery: The best GUI-equipped Fivetran competitor

Rivery is a fully managed, end-to-end ELT solution with more than 200 connectors. It also allows you to connect to any API — so your developers can build bigger, better connectors of their own.

Biggest advantage over Fivetran

Fivetran is a dedicated ELT solution, while Rivery supports every part of your data infrastructure. You’d need to pair Fivetran with as many as three other tools if you wanted to automate the entire ETL to reverse ETL process, whereas Rivery is your one-stop shop for your process from start to finish.

Where Fivetran might be better

Rivery uses a GUI (graphical user interface) to empower anyone to build a data pipeline without extensive technical knowledge. But while that makes the tool more accessible, it’s not well suited to more complex processes — an area where Fivetran shines.

Pricing

Like many of the Fivetran competitors on this list, Rivery uses a pay-as-you-go pricing model, so users pay for each credit used. But unlike many other platforms, Rivery doesn’t charge you per row. It’s more granular — you can expect to pay for the actual bytes of data you’re transferring.

• With the Starter plan, you’ll pay $0.75 per credit to get two users, and data syncs every 60 minutes.
• The Professional plan will cost you $1.20 per credit and gives you unlimited users and 15-minute data syncs.
• The Enterprise plan is custom-built for your needs, with custom pricing, single sign-on, a dedicated customer success manager, and increased security features.

Mozart Data: The best up-and-coming Fivetran competitor

No matter how you need to manage your data, Mozart Data can do it all. It’s an ETL platform, a Snowflake-based data warehouse, a data transformation tool, and a business intelligence service, all rolled into one.

Biggest advantage over Fivetran

Mozart Data’s number of connectors is similar to Fivetran’s: more than 400. That means you get a platform that can support just as many data sources, on top of allowing you to handle your full data pipeline — rather than just the ETL/ELT process.

Where Fivetran might be better

Generally speaking, you’ll find yourself paying less for Fivetran. Fivetran’s Starter plan, for example, would cost you about $700 a month for 2,000,000 rows, which is significantly less than Mozart Data’s cheapest paid plan. You do get fewer features with Fivetran, but if you just want a dedicated ELT solution, it will cost you less than Mozart Data.

Pricing

Mozart Data offers a free plan, which will let you transfer up to 500,000 rows a month over 25 compute-hours. It also supports unlimited users and unlimited connectors. You can choose from one of three paid plans:

• The Concerto plan costs $1,000 a month and supports up to 1,750,000 rows a month.
• The Symphony plan costs $2,500 a month and supports up to 5,000,000 rows a month.
• The Opera plan will set you back $5,000 a month for 25,000,000 active rows.

On top of the monthly cost for each plan, expect to pay a $1,000 implementation fee.

Segment: The best Fivetran competitor for customer data

Segment is a data pipeline platform with a special focus on customer data. It supports more than 450 integrations, and you can use its API to collect analytics data from any other platform. If you have technical skills, you can use SQL queries and custom functions to customize Segment even more.

Biggest advantage over Fivetran

Segment is designed with one goal in mind: turning multiple inputs (or interactions) from analytics platforms into a single unified customer profile. From there, Segment allows marketers, salespeople, and other customer-centric teams to load data from that profile into CRM tools, marketing analytics platforms, and more. You can even segment your customer base within the tool itself, without any additional platforms.

By contrast, Fivetran is exclusively for transferring and processing data. There are no other features specifically for marketers, because it's made for a broader audience.

Segment has all the customer data that marketers, salespeople, and customer service teams need in order to make better decisions. For that user group, Fivetran can't really compete.

Where Fivetran might be better

The focus on customer data can be a detriment if you’re not part of the niche that Segment is targeting. If you need a solution to manage your data at scale — not just user data — then Fivetran is a better choice.

Pricing

Segment’s free plan allows users to push 500,000 records each month from two sources to a single warehouse, handling data from up to 1,000 visitors over that period. You can also choose from two paid plans:

• The Team plan starts at $120 a month for 1,000,000 records, 10,000 visitors, and unlimited data sources.
• The Business plan offers custom pricing, so you’ll have to contact Segment’s sales team for a quote. You’ll have stronger security options, like HIPAA eligibility and advanced permissions, as well as building single customer views — fed with data from throughout your infrastructure.

Which Fivetran competitor should you choose?

Whether you’re trying to find a dedicated ELT platform or something that can fill in more blanks throughout your data infrastructure, there are a ton of options on the market. A tool like Segment is great for teams that need customer data everywhere they work, while open-source platforms like Airbyte can do just about anything you need — as long as you have the technical skills.

But if you want to see the difference that bidirectional syncing can do for your data, there’s only one option: Whalesync.

Try it free for 14 days. Your teams will thank you.