In the era of data-driven business, seamless data integration is no longer a luxury but a necessity. While Fivetran has long been a popular choice, its limitations in latency, cost predictability, and reliability have led many organizations to explore alternatives.
In this guide, we will look at five powerful Fivetran alternatives in 2025: Estuary, Matillion, Integrate.io, Airbyte, and Hevo Data. Each platform has unique strengths and trade-offs that address common pain points experienced with Fivetran. Whether you are replacing Fivetran or adopting a new data integration platform, this comparison will help you make an informed decision.
Why Consider Fivetran Alternatives
Fivetran’s challenges in real-time data processing, unpredictable MAR-based pricing, and delivery reliability have left many users seeking more efficient and budget-friendly options. The alternatives below provide a range of deployment models, pricing structures, and latency profiles that fit the needs of the modern data stack.
With that in mind, let’s explore the top Fivetran alternatives that balance performance, cost predictability, and scalability. Each platform takes a different approach to data movement from right-time streaming to traditional ELT helping you find the best fit for your team’s needs.
1. Estuary
Estuary is the Right Time Data Platform built to unify streaming and batch data movement. Unlike traditional ELT tools that focus on scheduled syncs, Estuary enables data to move when it matters. This means you can operate in real time, near real time, or batch mode from the same platform.
Estuary’s architecture is designed for dependability and scalability, delivering exactly-once guarantees and second-level latency without requiring separate streaming infrastructure. With over 200 native connectors and compatibility with Airbyte, Meltano, and Stitch ecosystems, Estuary offers unmatched integration flexibility.
Estuary also solves one of the biggest concerns with Fivetran: unpredictable costs. Its transparent, volume-based pricing model makes total cost of ownership predictable and easy to control.
Key Features:
- Right time performance with continuous Change Data Capture (CDC) and streaming
- Unified streaming and batch data movement with exactly-once delivery
- In-stream SQL and TypeScript transformations
- Automated backfill, schema evolution, and time travel
- Scales to enterprise-grade throughput levels
- Flexible deployment: public cloud, private cloud, or bring your own cloud
- Predictable volume-based pricing model
2. Matillion
Matillion is a cloud-native ETL and ELT platform known for its strong visual interface and enterprise-grade data transformation capabilities. It supports both cloud and on-prem deployments and focuses on governance, security, and data quality.
While it offers advanced transformation features, its enterprise-tier pricing may be excessive for smaller teams or simpler data movement needs.
Key Features:
- Visual workflow builder for complex transformations
- Cloud-native with hybrid deployment support
- Strong governance and quality assurance tools
- Reverse ETL capabilities
3. Integrate.io
Integrate.io is a no-code and low-code data integration platform built for simplicity. It provides an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that enables quick setup for teams without deep engineering resources.
Although it may lack advanced transformation features, Integrate.io covers fundamental integration use cases well and offers flexible pricing tiers.
Key Features:
- Visual pipeline builder with drag-and-drop functionality
- No-code and low-code environment
- Wide connector library
- Cloud and hybrid deployment options
4. Airbyte
Airbyte is an open-source ELT platform with more than 500 connectors, many maintained by the community. It gives technical teams complete control over their data pipelines and infrastructure.
While Airbyte provides great flexibility and community-driven growth, it requires more engineering effort and is better suited for non-real-time workloads. Its default sync frequency often makes it less ideal for right-time or operational analytics.
Key Features:
- 500+ open-source and custom connectors
- Modular, extensible architecture
- Self-hosted or cloud-hosted options
- Default sync intervals starting at 5 minutes (OSS) or 1 hour (cloud)
- Debezium-powered CDC with at-least-once delivery
5. Hevo Data
Hevo Data is a cloud-based ELT platform designed for ease of use and quick setup. It focuses on reliability and automation with strong schema handling. However, it offers limited transformation flexibility compared to more developer-oriented tools.
Key Features:
- No-code setup with drag-and-drop transformations (in beta)
- Batch-based delivery with exactly-once guarantees
- Sync frequency starts at 1 hour (5 minutes on higher tiers)
- Supports reverse ETL workflows
Fivetran Alternatives Comparison Table
Before choosing a platform, it helps to see how these tools compare across latency, transformations, cost models, and deployment flexibility. The table below summarizes key differences between Estuary, Fivetran, and other top data integration tools in 2025.
| Feature / Platform | Estuary | Fivetran | Matillion | Integrate.io | Airbyte | Hevo Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Movement Type | Streaming and batch | Batch (some CDC) | Batch ELT | Batch ETL | Batch with CDC | Batch ELT |
| Latency | Seconds | 15 min to hours | Minutes | Minutes to hours | 5 min+ | 1 hr (5 min on higher tiers) |
| Exactly Once Delivery | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ⚠️ Partial (at-least-once) | ✅ Yes |
| Transformation Support | Real-time SQL or TypeScript | dbt-based (post-load) | Visual and SQL | Visual drag-and-drop | dbt integration | Visual (limited) |
| Schema Evolution | Automatic with zero downtime | Automated (some connectors) | Manual or scheduled | Automatic | Manual for custom connectors | Automatic |
| Deployment Options | Cloud, private cloud, or BYOC | Cloud only | Cloud or on-prem | Cloud or hybrid | Self-hosted or cloud | Cloud |
| Pricing Model | Volume-based, predictable | MAR-based (Monthly Active Rows) | License + usage | Tiered plans | Free OSS + paid cloud | Tiered plans |
| Open Source Model | Open Core | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Best For | Real-time and high-throughput analytics | Managed ELT with wide connector set | Enterprise transformations | No-code data teams | Engineering-heavy setups | Fast and easy batch syncs |
10 More Fivetran Alternatives
If you want to explore additional tools, here are ten more Fivetran alternatives worth considering:
- Stitch
- Rivery
- Striim
- Talend
- Informatica
- Blendo
- Alooma
- Qlik Replicate
- Panoply
- Meltano
Conclusion
If right-time performance, scalability, and predictable pricing are your top priorities, Estuary is the strongest alternative to Fivetran in 2025. As a unified Right Time Data Platform, Estuary provides streaming and batch data movement, exactly-once guarantees, and sub-second latency for the most demanding workloads.
That said, the right choice depends on your team’s technical requirements and resources:
- Estuary for unified, right-time data movement with predictable cost and reliability
- Matillion for enterprise transformation and governance needs
- Integrate.io for teams seeking an easy no-code integration setup
- Airbyte for open-source flexibility and customization
- Hevo Data for fast, reliable batch delivery with minimal setup
By understanding your specific goals, whether real-time analytics, reverse ETL, or simplified onboarding, you can select the platform that delivers dependable data movement and the insights your business needs.
✅ Key Takeaways
- Fivetran’s batch-first design and MAR-based pricing can limit scalability and cost predictability.
- Estuary provides right-time data movement that adapts to your latency and control needs.
- Matillion, Integrate.io, Airbyte, and Hevo each serve specific use cases but are limited in streaming or flexibility.
- Estuary’s exactly-once guarantees, in-stream transformations, and predictable pricing make it ideal for modern data stacks.
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