About the Services
Fivetran
Fivetran is an automated data movement platform that supports data ingestion and ELT. The company originated in 2013 and now has more than 2500 customers worldwide. Customers who trust Fivetran include Lufthansa, Morgan Stanley, and more.
Fivetran works by loading data from your sources to your desired destination. It supports hundreds of connectors to known data warehouses, databases, and more. You can set your sources and destinations using a simple web interface. Transformation is optional, but if you need it, you can use their pre-built and QuickStart data models. You can also use dbt for complex transformations. With this, you need to know SQL coding.
You can start with Fivetran for free. And it can stay that way as long as you only process 500,000 monthly active rows. You can also set up Fivetran in your cloud provider of choice or in on-premise servers. However, this is available only in the Business Critical pricing plan.
Security is also a prime concern, so Fivetran has privacy and security certifications like SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and more. The Business Critical pricing plan has the highest security features, and the Starter plan has the least.
Hightouch
Hightouch is a reverse ETL tool that syncs your data warehouse with cloud apps your business runs on. Since its launch, its customer base has grown including Spotify, NBA, and TripAdvisor.
It works by defining the source and target of your data. You can select from 150+ sources and destinations. The pricing plan limits the number of destinations you can use. You can define the pipeline model using SQL, dbt, or a visual table selector. Hightouch allows the sync schedule to automate the data flow. You can perform syncs hourly or more often in the highest-paid plan.
Hightouch secures your data with SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, and Privacy Shield. So, it ensures your data safety and privacy.
Skyvia
Skyvia is a no-code cloud data integration platform for many data integration scenarios. It’s an all-rounder tool for ETL, ELT, Reverse ETL, data migration, one-way and bi-directional data sync, workflow automation, and more. Devart launched this fantastic product in 2014 for cloud data integration and backup.
Skyvia offers more than 180 ready-made data connectors. These are available for thousands of free users, including 2000+ paid customers. Big names like Hyundai and General Electric trust Skyvia to process their data. Its easy-to-use, drag-and-drop interface suits both IT professionals and business users. And don’t take our word for it. Listen to G2 reviewers about how easy it is to start and work with it. Data integration experts who used other tools can adapt with little to no help from support.
Skyvia has flexible pricing plans perfect for small startups and large enterprises. So, it makes it applicable to businesses of all sizes. Also, Skyvia’s freemium model allows users to start using it now and then decide if they need to upgrade later.
The safety of your data is also our prime concern. So, we hosted it in Microsoft Azure cloud, providing the best data security and privacy. It complies with a wide set of security standards, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, and many others.
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | Data ingestion, ELT. | Reverse ETL | Data ingestion, ELT, ETL, reverse ETL, data sync, workflow automation. |
| Skill level | Low-code solution. | No-code, low-code solutions. SQL and dbt for defining data models. | No-code wizard. Top-rated as one of the easiest ETL tools by G2. |
| Sources | 300+ | 20+ | 180+ |
| Destinations | Supported databases, data warehouses and data lakes. | 130+ | Supported data sources, including databases, data warehouses, cloud apps and flat files. |
| Database replication | Full table; incremental via markers called cursors in succeeding syncs. | Full and incremental loading. Supports Change Data Capture (CDP). | Full table and incremental via change data capture. |
| Ability for customers to add new data sources | Yes, by request. | Using Custom Destination Toolkit or request for new sources/destinations. | Ye s, by request or using REST API connector. |
| G2 customer satisfaction | 4.2 out of 5 367 Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 289 reviews | 4.8 out of 5 217 Reviews |
| Peer Insights satisfaction | 4.3 231 Ratings | None | 4.8 103 Ratings |
| Developer tools | Fivetran REST API, dbt for transformations. | Personalization and REST API, CLI, Customer Studio (Business Plan only). Extensions to alerting, model building, and sync scheduling to dbt, Fivetran, Airflow and more. | REST connector for data sources that have REST API. |
| Advanced ETL capabilities | None. Fivetran is ELT. | REST API, dbt and other developer tool integration. | Visual ETL data pipeline designer with data orchestration capabilities. |
| Compliance and security certifications | HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2 Type II, Privacy Shield, ISO 27001, PCI DSS Level 1 | SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, Privacy Shield. | HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS. ISO 27001 and SOC 2 (by Azure). |
| Purchase process | Requires conversations with sales. | Use the Free Tier, or start the 30-day trial, then talk to Sales. | Self-service or sales. |
| Vendor lock-in | Annual contracts. | Annual or monthly. | Monthly or annual contracts. |
| Pricing | Volume-based pricing through Monthly Active Rows (MAR) with 14-day free trial. Has a free plan. | 4 Pricing Plans (Free, Starter, Pro, Business). With a 30-day free trial for paid plans. | Volume-based and feature-based pricing. Freemium model allows to start with a free plan. |
Connectors
Fivetran
Fivetran supports 300+ fully-managed data sources. And these sources include databases, SaaS apps, flat files, and more. Fivetran also supports 10+ destinations including databases, data warehouses, data lakes and High-Volume Agent (HVA) connectors like Oracle and DB2. But HVA connectors are for Enterprise and higher plans. So, you can’t use Oracle and other sources classified as HVA on the Free and lower-priced plans.
Customers can request and pay extra if there are no connectors for the desired data source. Fivetran also provides data replication from various APIs and supports event-tracking libraries. Its Function connector helps with creating a custom connector as an extension. Fivetran also has a Lite connector that helps to develop API-based connectors.
Hightouch
Hightouch can connect to 150+ connectors, including data warehouses, SQL and NoSQL databases, SaaS tools, and many more. There are more than 20 data warehouses, and about 10 of them can act as both source and destinations. The remaining 130+ act as destinations only.
You can use all available data sources in your reverse ETL pipelines for all plans. The pricing plan defines the number of available destinations. The free plan allows only one billable destination, not including free destinations like Excel, Google Sheets, and Airtable.
You also have two options if your source and destination are not in their list of connectors. You can either request Hightouch to support it or use the Custom Destination Toolkit and build it yourself.
Skyvia
Skyvia offers more than 180 connectors, and more to come very soon. It supports connectors for CRMs, accounting, email marketing, e-commerce, human resources, marketing automation, payment processing, product management, all major databases and DWH, flat files, and more. It’s also not a problem whether your data is on-premise or in the cloud.
You can access your on-premise data with peace of mind using the Skyvia Agent. It allows you to connect to databases like SQL Server, MySQL, and more using an encrypted connection. You need to download the Skyvia Agent and install it. Then, download a secured key file and place it in the same folder as the Agent. The Agent is like an unbreakable metal door, and you use the key file to open that door to your on-premise data. You can also set it up so that Skyvia can access only the resources you specify and nothing else.
Customers can also leave a request for a new data connector. And Skyvia will prioritize building it without additional payment.
Transformation
Fivetran
Fivetran uses dbt Core transformations. They have pre-built and QuickStart data models that are dbt Core compatible. But not all sources and destinations support these pre-built models. So if you need these models for your unsupported destination, you need to contact Support to request them.
Otherwise, you will need SQL and dbt skills to make your own transformations. So, for example, your source is Monday.com and your destination is Azure Synapse. No pre-built data models exist for these at the moment. The only option is to create a new dbt Core transformation project.
In the end, you need to learn SQL and dbt for better transformation options.
Hightouch
You can perform transformations in Hightouch using SQL queries and functions with a visual table selector. You can also do dbt transformations like joining, aggregating, pivoting, and more in SQL or coding in Python.
You can design these transformations through Hightouch models after defining your data source. Your transformation options in Hightouch should be enough for almost any reverse ETL projects. And there’s even more transformation you can do in destinations like Excel or Google Sheets.
Skyvia
Skyvia is a full-featured ETL service that allows powerful data transformations. It is a no-code solution allowing data splitting, conversion, lookups, and many more.
You can use the Skyvia Data Flow and Control Flow for advanced data pipelines. Transformations for these advanced pipelines are flexible. It supports extending your data with new columns, conditional flows, and summarized values. And all these you can do with parameters, variables, and more for flexibility without code.
Moreover, Skyvia has an Expression Builder to build formulas with many functions. With this, you can convert or extract parts of the data or form new values to suit your needs. And if you love coding in SQL, Skyvia can further extend your transformation needs. It supports multiple joins, groupings, CASE expressions, and more in SELECT queries. And you can also use DML commands like INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE.
Support
Fivetran
Fivetran support depends on your pricing plan. All plans have access to the support portal and technical documentation. You can also use 24/7 email support and the Fivetran community. The Enterprise and higher plans have a Service Level Agreement. This includes a 1-hour response support.
The quality of support is a mixed bag according to review sites like G2 and Gartner Peer Insights. Most are favorable but the others are not.
Hightouch
Hightouch support varies based on the pricing plan. However, product documentation and learning resources are available for all plans.
For the Free, Starter, and Pro plans, you can use email and Intercom with a 72-hour SLA. The Business plan provides custom email and Intercom SLA, and allows you to add a custom product uptime and support SLA. You can have a dedicated CSM and avail yourself of professional services.
Consult their Support and Pricing page for more details.
Skyvia
Skyvia offers free email, chat (on the website or in-app), and forum support for all customers. It also provides extensive documentation with lots of tutorials and user guides.
For paid customers, Skyvia offers a prioritized support including additional support options for Enterprise customers.
Pricing
Fivetran
There are 5 levels of pricing in Fivetran. These are Free, Starter, Standard, Enterprise, and Business Critical. And with these tiers, the security, data governance, and support differ.
The Free plan is where you want to start using a low-volume ELT pipeline, and this limits your monthly active rows to 500,000 only. It also allows you up to a 15-minute sync frequency.
You can enjoy more security and features from the paid plans starting from Standard. The Starter plan is an odd plan. It has fewer features compared to the Free plan except for the higher monthly active rows.
Pricing in Fivetran earns the most dislikes from review sites like G2. It’s pricey for the customers who used them and it’s not practical for small companies.
Hightouch
Hightouch pricing has 4 plans: Free, Starter, Pro, and Business. The main difference between the pricing plans is the number of billable destinations. Such destinations as connectors for Excel, Google Sheets, Airtable, and more are available for free. Destinations like Netsuite, Microsoft Dynamics, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud are premium destinations, available for the Business plan only.
Support, security and number of workspaces also vary depending on the plan. Hightouch offers a 30-day free trial for the paid plans.
Skyvia
Skyvia Data Integration is a freemium tool with an option to request a 14-day trial. So, price is not a barrier to entry.
And when you’re ready, paid plans start from $19 per month. Pricing tiers depend on a few factors. It includes the number of loaded records, scheduling frequency, and advanced ETL features. There are no sale commitments. And customers can upgrade or downgrade at any time. Check out a detailed comparison here.
If you doubt the price is worth it, check out review sites like G2. Aside from ease of use, reasonable pricing is one of the things Skyvia customers like. So, you can be sure the features you get are worth every penny.