About the Services
Fivetran
Fivetran is an ETL service that provides business-ready data integrations and delivers ready-to-use connectors to ensure consistent, reliable access to data. It was founded in 2012 and offers 160 pre-built data connectors and provides services for more than 2000 customers globally.
Its integration solution transfers data from multiple sources using API interfaces allowing business users to create and deploy data-driven reports and dashboards based on data from their primary data sources. Fivetran charges on monthly active rows, providing volume-based pricing plans.
SSIS
SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is a data integration tool from Microsoft. You have SSIS when you buy Microsoft SQL Server. Launched in 2005, SSIS works with a variety of sources and delivers it to the desired destination. It’s a mature product that is flexible, scalable, and reliable. It is ideal for small-scale data migrations to large-scale enterprise data warehouses.
You can design SSIS packages using Visual Studio with drag-and-drop functionality and then perform a variety of data integration scenarios. And this includes ETL, ELT, reverse ETL, data ingestion, replication, and more. SSIS provides a range of data connectors for SQL Server, Oracle, Excel, and other data sources. It can also work with structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data. There are also third-party providers of free and commercial SSIS components. This adds more connectors and transformations to SSIS.
SSIS comes together with SQL Server installer. And it needs installation and configuration by a skilled IT professional. Data resides on customers’ on-premise or cloud servers. So, they are in control of its security. But you can also deploy it in the cloud. So, the security and privacy certifications of that cloud provider are in effect.
Skyvia
Skyvia is a no-code cloud data integration platform which supports a big variety of data integration scenarios including ETL, ELT, Reverse ETL, data migration, one way and bi-directional data sync, workflows automation, etc. It was created by Devart in 2014 to boost data-related performance: cloud data integration, backup and management.
Skyvia offers more than 160 ready-made data connectors for dozens of thousands of free users, including 2000+ paid customers. It's easy to use, offers drag-and-drop interface and suits both IT professionals and business users.
Skyvia has flexible pricing plans for each product, making it applicable for businesses of all sizes, from a small startup to an enterprise company. Also, Skyvia's freemium model allows users to start using it with a completely free plan and then decide if further upgrade is needed.
It is hosted in a Microsoft Azure cloud which provides the best data security and complies with a wide set of security standards including SOC 2, ISO 27001, and many others.
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | Data ingestion, ELT. | ETL, ELT, and Reverse ETL. | Data ingestion, ELT, ETL, reverse ETL, data sync, workflow automation. |
| Skill level | Low-code solution. | Low-code, no-code solution. Or, coding in .Net languages like C#. | No-code and easy to use wizard. |
| Sources | 160+ | ODBC, ADO, .Net, OLEDB compatible data sources. | 160+ |
| Destinations | All main warehouses and databases. | Supported data sources. | Supported data sources, including databases, data warehouses, cloud apps and flat files. |
| Database replication | Full table and incremental via change data capture. | Full and incremental load. | Full table and incremental via change data capture. |
| Ability for customers to add new data sources | Yes, by request. | Yes, by coding custom data source components. | Yes, by request or using REST API connector. |
| G2 customer satisfaction | 4.2 out of 5 283 Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 11 reviews | 4.8 out of 5 157 Reviews |
| Peer Insights satisfaction | 4.4 227 Ratings | 4.4 291 Ratings | 4.8 85 Ratings |
| Developer tools | REST API feature is available only for Standard Select, Standard, Enterprise, and Business Critical accounts. You can also try it out during your Trial period. Available through Powered by Fivetran. | Visual Studio, SQL Server Management Studio. | REST connector for data sources that have REST API. |
| Advanced ETL capabilities | No | Running external processes. Running within Azure Data Factory. | Visual ETL data pipeline designer with data orchestration capabilities |
| Compliance and security certifications | HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2 | In the cloud: ISO/IEC 27001:2013, SOC 1/2, HIPAA, GDPR. On premise: IT departments are in control of security. | HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS. ISO 27001 and SOC 2 (by Azure). |
| Purchase process | Requires conversations with sales. | Bundled when you buy Microsoft SQL Server. | Self-service or sales. |
| Vendor lock-in | Annual contracts. | Based on SQL Server subscription. | Monthly or annual contracts. |
| Pricing | Volume-based pricing with MARs (monthly active rows). | Pricing is based on SQL Server Edition licenses. Developer Edition is free. | Volume-based and feature-based pricing. Freemium model allows to start with a free plan. |
Connectors
Fivetran
Fivetran connects to over 160 data sources, including most major data warehouses and databases as destinations. Customers can pay extra if there are no connectors for the desired data source and request Fivetran to create a new data connection. Fivetran provides data replication from various APIs and supports event tracking libraries. In addition, Fivetran offers a Function connector that helps with creating a custom connector as an extension and a Lite connector that helps to develop API-based connectors.
SSIS
SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) comes with various data connectors. These data sources are compatible with ADO, .Net, ODBC, and OLEDB providers. Some of the popular ones include connectors for SQL Server, Oracle, and Excel.
You can also create your own custom connectors to connect to unknown data sources. You can do this by creating a custom data source component. This allows customers to extend its functionality. And connect to any data source they need.
Skyvia
Skyvia offers more than 160 connectors and the number is rapidly growing. Among these connectors there are CRM, accounting, email marketing, e-commerce, human resources, marketing automation, payment processing, product management, all major databases and DWH, flat files, etc. Customers can also leave request for creating a new data connector and Skyvia will prioritize building it without additional payment.
Transformation
Fivetran
Fivetran is a solely ELT service meaning that it doesn't provide data transformation before data loading. Transformations start in data destination point, so the raw data remains unchanged and available for operations. It also means that customers always have access to their data and it cannot be lost due to transformation fails. Fivetran offers opinionated data normalization out of the box and supports basic SQL transformations and transformation for dbt Core. For users who aren't advanced in SQL script writing, the service recommends applying simple, basic transformations. Whereas the technically wise users can use dbt Core transformations to get advanced data modeling features (like data dependencies).
SSIS
SSIS can handle data transformations in ETL, ELT, and reverse ETL scenarios. You can do transformation tasks like data cleansing, conversion, merging, and more. There are 30+ built-in transformations available in SSIS. And if you need something outside of that, code using C# or VB.Net to make your custom transformation.
Additionally, AI in Visual Studio can help you code faster. This is possible by using extensions like GitHub Copilot.
Skyvia
Skyvia is a full-featured ETL service that allows building data integrations with powerful transformations between multiple data sources. It is a no code solution with support for data splitting, complex expressions and formulas, lookups, and many more operations.
Skyvia's Data Flow and Control Flow components can be used for building more advanced ETL data pipelines with support for multiple connectors and additional features like modifying the data, flowing through them, splitting flows of records into multiple outputs, or modifying data flow variables.
Support
Fivetran
Fivetran offers Zendesk-based support portal but there's no chat support. The support team usually answers during 24 hours but the priority support is available only for customers with the Enterprise plan or higher. There's an end-to-end documentation and a small community, however, Fivetran doesn't provide any training services.
SSIS
SSIS customers can receive support from Microsoft through a variety of channels. This includes online documentation, community forums, and direct support from Microsoft.
Different levels include free online resources, paid support plans, and premium support plans.
Customers can access support through the Microsoft Support Center. From here they can create a support ticket or chat with a support representative.
Microsoft also offers a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for its premium support plans. This guarantees a response time and resolution time for support requests. To avail, contact a Microsoft sales representative. Or visit the Microsoft Support website.
Skyvia
Skyvia offers free email, chat (on 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 there's also a phone support option, and additional support options for Enterprise customers.
Pricing
Fivetran
Fivetran offers 14-day account trial. Pricing depends on the chosen plan and whether customer is drawing down from a capacity purchase plan or paying for supplemental usage. The service applies a consumption-based pricing model and provides with monthly usage for the billing period just completed via the Fivetran dashboard. There's also a Service Consumption Table for better understanding of the consumption rates.
SSIS
SSIS is part of the SQL Server suite of products. And the pricing model is per-core. You can choose to buy a SQL Server license with SSIS included, or they can buy an SSIS license separately. Prices vary depending on the SQL Server edition and the number of cores required.
Microsoft also offers cloud-based options for SSIS through its Azure services. Customers can choose to run SSIS packages on virtual machines. Or use Azure Data Factory, a cloud-based ETL service that includes SSIS functionality. Azure Data Factory pricing model is another thing to consider. But you will only pay based on usage.
Developers can use SSIS for free if they have a SQL Server Developer Edition. This version includes all features of SQL Server Enterprise. But the license is for development and testing only.
Skyvia
Skyvia Data Integration is a freemium tool with an option to request a 14-day trial. Paid plans start from $19 per month. Pricing tiers (from Basic to Enterprise) vary by the number of successfully loaded records, frequency of scheduling and the inclusion of the advanced ETL features. There are no purchase commitments and customers are able to upgrade or downgrade at any time depending on their needs. A detailed comparison can be found here.