Choosing the right ETL tool is one of the most consequential decisions a data team makes. The wrong pick means 18 months of migration pain. The right one means pipelines that run themselves while your team focuses on analytics, AI, and operations.
The ETL landscape shifted significantly between 2024 and 2026. Salesforce completed its $8 billion acquisition of Informatica in November 2025. Boomi acquired Rivery in December 2024, rebranding it as Boomi Data Integration. Meanwhile, AI and machine learning workloads are pushing teams away from nightly batch jobs and toward lower-latency data movement with CDC and streaming-first architectures.
This guide compares five ETL tools that are actively maintained, independently operated, and suited for different data integration needs in 2026.
What Is an ETL Tool?
An ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tool moves data from source systems, transforms it in-pipeline, and loads it into a destination such as a data warehouse, data lake, or operational database. ETL tools differ from ELT tools, which load raw data first and transform it at the destination.
The best ETL tools in 2026 support both real-time streaming and batch processing, offer CDC (Change Data Capture) for continuous data sync, provide predictable pricing, and include flexible deployment options.
Quick Comparison: 5 Best ETL Tools for 2026
| Tool | Processing Modes | Connectors | CDC Support | Deployment | Pricing Model | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estuary | Real-time streaming + batch | 200+ | Native log-based CDC | SaaS, BYOC, Private | GB-based ($0.50/GB) | Teams needing unified streaming and batch with CDC |
| Informatica (Salesforce) | Batch + near real-time | 300+ | Yes | Cloud, on-prem, hybrid | Enterprise licensing (~$2,000+/mo) | Large enterprises with data governance requirements |
| Matillion | Batch (cloud-native) | 100+ | Limited | Cloud SaaS | Usage-based | Cloud warehouse transformation (Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery) |
| Hevo Data | Near real-time (micro-batch) | 150+ | Batch-based CDC | Cloud SaaS | Event-based ($239+/mo) | Small teams needing no-code setup with warehouse loading |
| Boomi (formerly Rivery) | Batch + ELT | 200+ | Yes (via Rivery acquisition) | Cloud, on-prem, hybrid | Custom enterprise pricing | iPaaS buyers needing unified integration and data movement |
1. Estuary: Right-Time Data Platform for CDC, Streaming, and Batch
Estuary is a real-time data platform that unifies CDC, streaming, and batch pipelines into a single managed system. Instead of stitching together separate tools for batch ETL and real-time streaming, Estuary lets teams control data latency like a dial, from sub-100ms for operational workloads to scheduled intervals for analytics.
How Estuary Works
Estuary is built on Gazette, a high-performance open-source streaming engine that combines millisecond-latency pub/sub with native persistence to cloud storage. When you capture data from a source, Estuary automatically stores each stream as a reusable collection (similar to a Kafka topic but with unlimited storage), backed by a durable append-only transaction log in your own cloud account.
Pipelines can be built through a no-code web interface at dashboard.estuary.dev, or managed programmatically using the flowctl CLI. Transformations support Streaming SQL and TypeScript for in-flight ETL, or dbt for ELT transformations at the warehouse.
Key Features
Estuary offers 200+ no-code connectors across databases, SaaS apps, cloud storage, APIs, and data warehouses including Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, and Databricks. The platform delivers exactly-once semantics, deterministic recovery, automated schema evolution, and targeted backfills even on very large tables. Estuary Dekaf provides Kafka API compatibility, allowing any Kafka-compatible destination to connect to Estuary using its existing Kafka consumer API.
Deployment options include SaaS, BYOC (Bring Your Own Cloud), and fully private data planes, with enterprise-grade compliance and encryption.
Pricing
Estuary offers three plans. The free Developer plan includes up to 10 GB/month and 2 connector instances. The Cloud plan is $0.50 per GB of data moved plus $100 per connector instance, with a 30-day free trial. The Enterprise plan adds SSO, compliance reports, custom SLAs, and private or BYOC deployment at scaled pricing.
Who Should Use Estuary?
Estuary is best for teams that need to combine real-time CDC, streaming, and batch data movement without maintaining multiple tools. It is particularly well-suited for operational data sync, AI-ready data pipelines, and teams migrating away from fragile Kafka + Debezium stacks or expensive MAR-based ELT tools. Estuary raised a $17M Series A in October 2025, led by M13, to accelerate its right-time data mission.
Strengths: Sub-100ms streaming latency, unified batch and real-time in one platform, exactly-once delivery, predictable GB-based pricing (40-60% cost savings vs. MAR models), Kafka API compatibility, flexible deployment (SaaS/BYOC/private)
Considerations: Newer platform compared to legacy vendors, UI is actively being improved based on user feedback
Get started free: dashboard.estuary.dev/register
2. Informatica: Enterprise Data Management (Now Owned by Salesforce)
Informatica has been a leading enterprise data integration platform for over three decades, known for advanced data governance, data quality, master data management (MDM), and metadata management.
What Changed: Salesforce Acquisition
Salesforce completed its $8 billion acquisition of Informatica on November 18, 2025. Informatica's capabilities are being integrated into Salesforce's Agentforce 360 platform and combined with MuleSoft (application integration) and Tableau (analytics). Informatica has been delisted from the NYSE and is now a wholly owned Salesforce subsidiary.
This ownership change introduces vendor stability considerations. Teams evaluating Informatica should ask Salesforce directly about long-term product roadmap and pricing before committing to a new contract. The platform's future direction is now tied to Salesforce's agentic AI strategy.
Key Features
Informatica provides comprehensive data catalog, integration, governance, quality, and MDM services. It supports on-premises, cloud, and hybrid deployment with extensive connector coverage (300+). The platform excels in regulated industries where data lineage, audit trails, and compliance are critical requirements.
Pricing
Enterprise licensing starts at approximately $2,000/month. Final cost depends on deployment model, user count, and feature tier. Contact Salesforce/Informatica team for current pricing.
Who Should Use Informatica?
Informatica remains the right choice for large enterprises with mainframe or legacy system connectivity requirements, serious data governance needs, and regulated industries where compliance is non-negotiable. It is less suited for small and mid-size teams, cloud-native pipelines, or teams seeking real-time CDC without enterprise-grade complexity.
Strengths: Industry-leading data governance and MDM, extensive connector ecosystem, deep compliance and audit capabilities, Salesforce ecosystem integration
Considerations: High cost and steep learning curve, acquisition creates long-term uncertainty, not optimized for modern CDC/streaming workloads, not suited for cloud-native analytics teams
3. Matillion: Cloud-Native Transformation for Data Warehouses
Matillion is a cloud-native data integration and transformation platform optimized for cloud data warehouses including Snowflake, Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, and Databricks. The platform focuses on pushdown transformation, which means transformation logic runs directly inside the target warehouse, using its compute resources.
Key Features
Matillion offers both no-code and code-based data transformation through its Data Productivity Cloud. The platform includes drag-and-drop pipeline building, orchestration capabilities, and a RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) module launched in 2024 for AI-related data workflows. In December 2025, Matillion was named a Challenger in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools for the third consecutive year.
Matillion introduced Maia, an agentic AI assistant that automates repetitive data pipeline tasks, plans and executes complex workflows, and scales insight creation.
Pricing
Matillion uses usage-based pricing. Contact their team for current pricing. The platform raised $312M in total funding and was valued at $1.5 billion.
Who Should Use Matillion?
Matillion is best for teams doing cloud warehouse transformation with Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, or Databricks as their primary analytics platform. It is well-suited for ELT workloads where transformation happens at the destination.
Strengths: Optimized pushdown transformation for cloud warehouses, intuitive drag-and-drop interface, strong orchestration capabilities, Gartner-recognized Challenger, AI assistant (Maia)
Considerations: Limited real-time and streaming capabilities, batch-oriented architecture, not a full CDC platform, less suited for operational data sync or sub-second latency requirements
4. Hevo Data: No-Code ELT for Small and Mid-Size Teams
Hevo Data is a fully managed, no-code ELT platform that automates data ingestion from 150+ sources into cloud data warehouses like Snowflake, BigQuery, and Redshift. Trusted by over 2,000 data teams in 45+ countries, Hevo focuses on simplicity, fast pipeline setup, and accessibility for non-technical users.
What Changed in 2026
In early 2026, Hevo announced a major architecture overhaul claiming 20-40x faster data replication and 50-80% lower total cost of ownership. The platform moved to a microservices-based architecture with fault isolation, a new Control Plane for granular monitoring, and two connector tiers: Standard Connectors for SaaS and mid-scale workloads, and Enterprise Connectors for high-volume database environments with dedicated per-pipeline compute.
Key Features
Hevo supports 150+ pre-built connectors spanning SaaS applications, databases, cloud storage, SDKs, and streaming services. The platform offers automatic schema migration, built-in transformations (drag-and-drop or Python), dbt integration for post-load transformations, and event-level tracking. Hevo supports CDC for database sources, though the standard implementation uses batch-based CDC rather than true log-based streaming.
Pricing
Hevo uses event-based pricing. The Free plan includes 1 million events/month with limited connectors. The Starter plan starts at $239/month for 5 million events (annual billing). The Professional plan is $679/month for up to 100 million events. The Business Critical plan offers custom pricing with enterprise-grade security (HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR compliance).
Who Should Use Hevo Data?
Hevo Data is ideal for small to mid-size data teams that need to centralize data from multiple SaaS tools into a warehouse without writing code. It is well-suited for teams prioritizing fast setup and simplicity over real-time streaming.
Strengths: Genuinely easy no-code setup (pipelines in minutes), 150+ connectors, automatic schema migration, 2026 architecture improvements (faster replication), accessible for non-technical users
Considerations: Event-based pricing can become expensive at scale, batch-based CDC (not true streaming), limited monitoring at scale, streaming pipelines restricted to higher-tier plans
5. Boomi Data Integration (Formerly Rivery): iPaaS with Data Movement
Boomi acquired Rivery in December 2024, rebranding it as Boomi Data Integration. This brings Rivery's ELT, reverse ETL, and CDC capabilities into Boomi's broader enterprise integration platform, which includes application integration (iPaaS), API management, master data management, and AI agent orchestration.
What Changed: The Boomi Acquisition
Rivery is no longer an independent product. The platform is now part of Boomi's Enterprise Platform, combined with Boomi DataHub (MDM), API management tools, workflow automation, and Boomi AgentStudio for AI agent orchestration. Boomi has been recognized as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for iPaaS for over a decade.
Key Features
The former Rivery platform provides cloud-native ELT and reverse ETL with CDC capabilities, a graphical pipeline builder, and support for both low-code and custom code development. The platform includes ingestion, transformation, orchestration, and reverse ETL capabilities. As part of Boomi, it now integrates with the broader Boomi ecosystem for application integration and AI orchestration.
Pricing
Boomi uses custom enterprise pricing. Contact the Boomi sales team for current plans.
Who Should Use Boomi Data Integration?
Boomi Data Integration is best for organizations already using or evaluating Boomi's iPaaS platform that want to add data integration and movement capabilities without a separate vendor. It is suited for enterprises seeking a single vendor for application integration, API management, and data integration.
Strengths: Part of a comprehensive iPaaS platform, Gartner Leader (iPaaS), combines application integration with data movement, reverse ETL capabilities, large partner ecosystem (800+)
Considerations: No longer an independent product (vendor lock-in to Boomi ecosystem), acquisition integration still in progress, pricing transparency limited, less specialized than dedicated CDC/streaming platforms
Why Airbyte, Fivetran, and Other Popular Tools Are Not Included
While tools like Airbyte and Fivetran are widely used, they primarily function as ELT tools that move data in raw form to destinations for in-destination transformations. They do not offer in-pipeline transformations, which is the core differentiator of ETL.
Fivetran's pricing model also shifted significantly in March 2025 to per-connector MAR (Monthly Active Rows) billing, which multiple users have reported leads to unpredictable cost increases at scale. Airbyte offers strong open-source flexibility but requires more operational effort for self-hosted deployments.
For teams specifically seeking ETL tools with in-pipeline transformation, real-time CDC, and streaming capabilities, the five tools in this guide offer more control and customization.
How to Choose the Right ETL Tool in 2026
The right ETL tool depends on three factors: how fast your data needs to move, how complex your transformations are, and how much operational overhead your team can manage.
Choose Estuary if you need unified real-time streaming and batch CDC in a single platform with predictable pricing and flexible deployment. Estuary is the strongest choice for teams building AI-ready data pipelines, replacing fragile Kafka stacks, or consolidating multiple data movement tools into one system.
Choose Informatica if you are a large enterprise with strict data governance, MDM requirements, and existing Salesforce ecosystem investment. Factor in the acquisition impact on long-term product direction.
Choose Matillion if your primary workload is cloud warehouse transformation with Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, or Databricks, and you need pushdown ELT rather than streaming ETL.
Choose Hevo Data if you are a small team that needs a simple, no-code way to centralize SaaS data into a warehouse, and real-time streaming is not a critical requirement.
Choose Boomi if you are already in the Boomi ecosystem for iPaaS and want to consolidate data integration under the same vendor umbrella.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best ETL tool for real-time data in 2026?
Estuary is the best ETL tool for real-time data in 2026. It delivers sub-100ms end-to-end latency with native CDC, exactly-once delivery, and the ability to dial latency from sub-second streaming to scheduled batch within a single platform.
What is the difference between ETL and ELT?
ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) transforms data in-pipeline before loading it to the destination. ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) loads raw data first and transforms it at the destination, typically a cloud data warehouse. ETL gives more control over data before it reaches the destination, while ELT leverages warehouse compute for transformations.
Is Informatica still a standalone product in 2026?
No. Salesforce completed its $8 billion acquisition of Informatica in November 2025. Informatica is now a wholly owned Salesforce subsidiary, with its capabilities being integrated into the Salesforce Agentforce 360 platform alongside MuleSoft and Tableau.
What happened to Rivery?
Boomi acquired Rivery in December 2024. Rivery has been rebranded as Boomi Data Integration and is now part of the Boomi Enterprise Platform. It is no longer available as an independent product.
What is CDC (Change Data Capture) and why does it matter for ETL?
CDC (Change Data Capture) is a method that detects and captures inserts, updates, and deletes from a database's transaction log, then streams those changes to a destination in real time. CDC matters because it eliminates the need for full table scans, reduces source database load, and ensures destinations always have the freshest data. True log-based CDC (used by Estuary) delivers sub-second latency, while batch-based CDC (used by many ELT tools) introduces minutes or hours of delay.
What is the most cost-effective ETL tool for high data volumes?
Estuary's GB-based pricing model is among the most predictable and cost-effective for high data volumes, with customers reporting 40-60% cost savings compared to MAR-based pricing models. The free tier includes 10 GB/month, and the Cloud plan charges $0.50 per GB. Unlike event-based or MAR-based pricing, costs scale linearly and predictably with data volume.
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