About the Services
Informatica
Informatica is an iPaaS platform offering solutions for enterprise sector with its data integration (ETL, ELT) and cloud management products. It was founded in 1993 and currently provides service for more than 5000 customers worldwide.
Informatica offers integration products for both cloud and on-premise cases. The most popular products are PowerCenter for on-premise and Intelligent Data Management Cloud platform. The platform works with consumption-based pricing model and offers free (limited) usage of several products.
Azure Data Factory
Azure Data Factory (ADF) is a cloud-based data integration tool from Microsoft. It launched in 2015. And now, it’s popular among enterprises and individuals alike.
ADF offers a wide range of data integration scenarios. This includes ETL, ELT, reverse ETL, data ingestion, replication, and more. You can use over 90 built-in connectors. This covers on-premises and cloud-based data. You can use Azure Data Factory to move data from sources such as SQL Server, Oracle, Salesforce, and SAP. And into destinations such as Azure SQL Database, Azure Blob Storage, and Amazon S3.
Microsoft takes customer data privacy and security very seriously. Microsoft designed Azure Data Factory with several security features. This includes Azure Active Directory integration, role-based access control, data encryption, and more. Moreover, the tool complies with security and privacy standards. This includes GDPR, SOC 1/2, ISO 27001, and HIPAA. This means that you can trust Azure Data Factory to handle your data in a secure and compliant manner.
You can also use ADF by importing SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) packages.
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, ETL. | ETL, ELT, Reverse ETL, streaming. | Data ingestion, ELT, ETL, reverse ETL, data sync, workflow automation. |
| Skill level | Varies from low-code to high-code, depending on the product. | Low-code, no-code solutions. Coding in various languages for complex scenarios. | No-code and easy to use wizard. |
| Sources | 180+ | 90+ | 160+ |
| Destinations | Cloud, on-premises, mobile, and social data sources. | Supported data sources. | Supported data sources, including databases, data warehouses, cloud apps and flat files. |
| Database replication | Full table; 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 Connector Toolkit Developer. | Provides SDK for creating custom connectors. | Yes, by request or using REST API connector. |
| G2 customer satisfaction | 4.2 out of 5 428 reviews | 4.6 out of 5 57 reviews | 4.8 out of 5 157 Reviews |
| Peer Insights satisfaction | 4.5 476 Ratings | 4.5 173 Ratings | 4.8 85 Ratings |
| Developer tools | Informatica Developer Tool, REST API, Connector Toolkit | Azure Portal, CLI, and PowerShell. Azure Functions for transformations. Use external services like HDInsight. Visual Studio. | REST connector for data sources that have REST API. |
| Advanced ETL capabilities | Visual ETL designer. | Importing SSIS packages. Calling External processes from the pipeline. Use Hadoop Streaming. | Visual ETL data pipeline designer with data orchestration capabilities |
| Compliance and security certifications | SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3, HIPAA / HITECH, GDPR, Privacy Shield. | SOC 1/2/3, ISO 27001 / 27017 / 27018, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, FedRAMP, Dod SRG, ITAR | HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS. ISO 27001 and SOC 2 (by Azure). |
| Purchase process | Requires conversation with sales. | Self-service through Azure Portal or contacting Microsoft sales. | Self-service or sales. |
| Vendor lock-in | Annual contracts. | Pay-as-you-go or consumption basis. No minimum commitment or contract term. | Monthly or annual contracts. |
| Pricing | Consumption-based pricing. | Always Free for 5 low frequency jobs. Included in Azure Free Trial with $200 credit for 30 days. | Volume-based and feature-based pricing. Freemium model allows to start with a free plan. |
Connectors
Informatica
Informatica offers 180+ pre-built connectors for cloud, on-premises applications, platforms, databases, and flat files. There are such connectors as JSON Target, OData, and REST V2 for REST API and OData service. The platform also provides Informatica Connector Toolkit for developers to create new connectors.
Azure Data Factory
Azure Data Factory has 90+ built-in connectors for integrating data from various sources. Microsoft regularly adds new connectors and update existing ones. The connectors can integrate databases, cloud platforms, big data, and SaaS applications. Popular connectors include Azure Blob Storage, Amazon S3, and Salesforce.
It also supports generic REST, OData, HTTP, and ODBC connectors. You can create custom connectors using .NET, Java, or Python. ADF provides a software development kit (SDK) for this purpose. And when you’re done with your new connector, you can share and reuse it to others in your organization. Or with other users outside your company.
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
Informatica
Informatica offers various data transformation capabilities like aggregation, cleansing, masking, filtering, parsing, ranking, and more. The service processes data transformations in real time or batch and applies Apache Velocity transformation scripts to convert hierarchical inputs like JSON or XML into JSON, XML, or text output without flattening the data.
Azure Data Factory
Azure Data Factory provides flexible and powerful options for data transformation. ADF supports various transformations, including filtering, aggregating, joining, sorting, and more.
You can use the graphical user interface to add transformations or code to create advanced data transformations. ADF allows coding in several programming languages, including SQL, .NET, Python, and others.
It also supports external activities for executing your transformations on compute services. This includes HDInsight Hadoop, Spark, Data Lake Analytics, and Machine Learning. This gives you the flexibility to use different approaches in data transformation.
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
Informatica
Informatica offers three support levels for its customers and Informatica Network Portal. However, support is available only during local business hours and priority support is offered only for premium users.
Informatica also offers comprehensive documentation, portal with learning courses and certification training.
Azure Data Factory
Azure Data Factory offers several levels of customer support. It includes free and paid options. The free support includes online documentation, community support, and email support.
Paid support options include Standard, Professional Direct, and Premier. Each has various levels of 24/7 support and faster response times. The Standard and Professional Direct support levels also come with an SLA. It guarantees a certain level of uptime and issue resolution time. Customers can reach the support team through various channels. This includes email, phone, and online chat. For premium support, customers can avail of dedicated support teams and other benefits.
Azure SLA guarantees 99.9% uptime for paid Azure services.
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
Informatica
Informatica offers consumption-based pricing model for all its products: customers buy capacity on Informatica Processing Units (IPUs). Users can subscribe to a certain number of IPUs (based on forecast usage), which can then be used interchangeably across all its major data integration product lines. The service also provides two free plans with limited features (without transformations, API management, data governance, etc.) and no support.
Azure Data Factory
Azure Data Factory provides a flexible pay-as-you-go pricing model. It charges based on pipeline orchestration, data movement, and data volume. Pricing can vary depending on region and usage patterns.
New customers get $200 free credit for 30 days to use any Azure service, including Data Factory. Pay-as-you-go is your next option once the trial ends or the free credits becomes zero. But ADF is always free for 5 low-frequency activities.
Some services may need resources not covered in Always Free services like storage. So, it’s crucial to check pricing and usage limits.
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.