Fivetran is a data integration & ETL tool for Enterprise and Small businesses, offered as freemium. Founded in United States in 2012. Popular alternatives include Airbyte, Estuary Flow, Stitch.
About Fivetran
Fivetran is a managed ELT service founded in 2012 in the United States and the most widely used tool for moving data into cloud warehouses without building pipelines. It provides hundreds of pre-built, vendor-maintained connectors that replicate data from SaaS applications, databases, files and event streams into Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks, Redshift and data lakes.
Connectors handle authentication, incremental syncs, API changes and schema drift automatically, so new columns and tables appear in the destination without manual work. Database replication uses change data capture, including the HVR technology Fivetran acquired in 2021. Transformations run with dbt. In 2025 Fivetran added reverse ETL by acquiring Census, and its all-stock merger with dbt Labs, announced in October 2025, closed in June 2026. Pricing is usage-based on monthly active rows (MAR), with a free plan for low volumes and higher tiers adding faster syncs, private networking, HIPAA and other compliance options.
Fivetran fits lean data teams that value reliability and want to spend time on modeling rather than pipeline maintenance. The trade-off is cost: MAR pricing can rise sharply with high-churn tables and is hard to forecast, and you have less control than with code-based tools. Airbyte is the main open-source alternative with self-hosting, Stitch and Hevo are cheaper managed options for smaller volumes, and dlt suits engineers who want pipelines in Python.
Key features of Fivetran
- 700+ managed connectors
- Automatic schema migration and incremental sync
- Database replication with CDC
- dbt transformations and orchestration
- Data lake destinations and governance
- Private networking and compliance options
Pros and cons
Pros
- Set and forget reliability
- Broad, well-maintained connectors
- Excellent for lean data teams
- Strong security and compliance
Cons
- MAR pricing can spike
- Less control than open-source tools
- Costs grow with data volume
- Custom connectors require SDK work
Fivetran pricing
Fivetran uses a freemium model. A 14-day free trial is available.
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 500,000 MAR, 5,000 model runs/mo |
| Standard | Usage-based | Per-MAR spend rate; $5 base charge per connection |
| Enterprise | Usage-based | Higher spend rate, enterprise features |
| Business Critical | Usage-based | Highest security tier |
Source: www.fivetran.com · checked on Oct 20, 2026
How Fivetran compares in Data integration & ETL
- Rank by votes
- #1 / 16
- Starting price
- $0
- Free alternatives
- 2
0 votes from members
Category median is $100/mo
Free or open-source tools in Data integration & ETL
Fivetran ranks #1 of 16 data integration & etl tools by community votes and is not directly comparable on price.
Common use cases
- 1Centralizing SaaS data into Snowflake
- 2Replicating production databases to BigQuery
- 3Feeding dbt models for analytics
- 4Building a data stack without data engineers
Best for
Data teams who value reliability over cost control.
Not ideal for
Budget-conscious teams with engineering capacity (Airbyte).
Integrations
- 700+ connectors
- Snowflake
- BigQuery
- Databricks
- Redshift
- dbt
- Census
- Hightouch
Our take
Fivetran is the easiest way to get data into a warehouse reliably. Monitor MAR closely and compare Airbyte on cost.
FAQ
- What is Fivetran?
- Fivetran is a Data integration & ETL tool: Automated data pipelines to your warehouse.
- How much does Fivetran cost?
- Fivetran uses a Freemium model; see the vendor's pricing page for current plans.
- What are the best alternatives to Fivetran?
- Community-listed alternatives to Fivetran include Airbyte, Estuary Flow, Stitch, Hevo Data.
- Does Fivetran have a free trial?
- Yes, Fivetran offers a 14-day free trial.
- What does Fivetran integrate with?
- Fivetran integrates with 700+ connectors, Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks, Redshift, dbt and more.
- Which platforms does Fivetran support?
- Fivetran is available on web.
- Who is Fivetran for?
- Data teams who value reliability over cost control.
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