About the Services
Matillion
Matillion is a unified data productivity platform for designing data pipelines. You can do ETL, ELT, Reverse ETL, or data replication with different Matillion services. Matillion has the Data Productivity Cloud, which includes the Data Loader, Designer, and Matillion ETL. It started in 2011 and has gained more than 1200 customers since then. Some of them are big-name companies like Cisco, Western Union, and more.
Matillion Data Loader extracts the data and loads it to a destination of choice, but no transformations are available. It works with a web-based wizard interface.
For a fully-featured ETL/ELT solution, you can use Matillion ETL or Matillion Data Productivity Cloud. Both of them use a drag-and-drop interface. The difference is in their setup and deployment. You deploy Matillion ETL in your chosen cloud provider and data platform. As for Matillion Data Productivity Cloud, Matillion itself hosts it, so you don't need a separate setup.
Matillion complies with industry-standard certifications for data privacy and security. You can check their Security Portal for details on certification on SOC 2, GDPR, and others.
Apache Nifi
Apache Nifi is an open-source, easy-to-use system to process and distribute data. Brand new UI version 1 was released in 2016. More than 2400 companies are using Apache Nifi, according to Enlyft.
Apache Nifi works on-premise or with any cloud provider. You can download, install, and configure Apache Nifi on Linux, Mac, and Windows machines. Keep in mind that Nifi may require technical skills. You can’t install it and build ETL pipelines in minutes. But once you complete your configuration, you can prepare data pipelines in a browser.
There are no limits on the number of data sources and destinations in a pipeline. You are only limited by the processing capacity of your machine.
Data security and privacy are your responsibility. But if you deploy the system in AWS or Azure, you can leverage their security and privacy certifications.
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 | ETL, ELT, Reverse ETL, data replication | ETL, ELT | Data ingestion, ELT, ETL, reverse ETL, data sync, workflow automation. |
| Skill level | No-code, low-code solution. | No-code solution. | No-code wizard. Top-rated as one of the easiest ETL tools by G2. |
| Sources | 150+ | Unspecified | 180+ |
| Destinations | Popular services, warehouses, and databases. | Unspecified | Supported data sources, including databases, data warehouses, cloud apps and flat files. |
| Database replication | Full and incremental loading. | Full and incremental load. | Full table and incremental via change data capture. |
| Ability for customers to add new data sources | Yes, using wizard-driven custom connector framework. | Contributing to community/coding. | Ye s, by request or using REST API connector. |
| G2 customer satisfaction | 4.3 out of 5 38 reviews | 4.2 out of 5 23 reviews | 4.8 out of 5 217 Reviews |
| Peer Insights satisfaction | 4.4 66 Ratings | None | 4.8 103 Ratings |
| Developer tools | Matillion ETL, Matillion Data Productivity Cloud Designer, Matillion ETL API | Web interface, REST API. CLI, integration to Kafka, and more. | REST connector for data sources that have REST API. |
| Advanced ETL capabilities | Run Python scripts, dbt commands, and Databricks Notebook. | REST API and open architecture. | Visual ETL data pipeline designer with data orchestration capabilities. |
| Compliance and security certifications | SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, ISO 27001, CCPA, CSA Star | No provided security and privacy certifications. | HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS. ISO 27001 and SOC 2 (by Azure). |
| Purchase process | Requires a conversation with sales. | Download, install, and configure. | Self-service or sales. |
| Vendor lock-in | Annual subscription. | None | Monthly or annual contracts. |
| Pricing | Consumption-based pricing based on Matillion credits. With 30-day free trial + 500 Matillion credits. No free plan. | Free | Volume-based and feature-based pricing. Freemium model allows to start with a free plan. |
Connectors
Matillion
You can use 150+ pre-built connectors from Matillion. These includes connections to social media, ERP, CRM, relational databases, and more that can be used for loading to data warehouse. Matillion can also reverse ETL using 7 Output Components that includes Salesforce, Azure SQL, and AWS RDS.
They also let you create your own connectors using the wizard-driven custom connector framework. However, the availability of your own connector depends on your skills to do this.
Apache Nifi
Apache Nifi can connect to various data sources, including SQL and NoSQL databases, flat files, and others. It has a number of components for data extraction and loading called processors which you can drag in the Nifi canvas and configure.
Every Nifi processor for data access is available to you. You can check the Apache Nifi documentation for more details.
You can contribute new data sources and destinations to the сommunity. So, you need to know Java and follow the rules of the community in contributing code.
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
Matillion
Matillion has 40+ transformation components available for Matillion ETL and 30+ components available for Matillion Data Productivity Cloud Designer. Both products support running Python scripts and dbt commands for more complex transformations. It also has an Expression Editor for creating formulas or expressions in components.
You can place these components in the pipeline canvas using drag-and-drop. These components can do aggregating, pivoting, joining, and more. You can also use these components regardless of the target data warehouse. Scripting components are available for all pricing plans in Matillion ETL. But for Data Productivity Cloud it can be used only in the Enterprise plan.
Apache Nifi
Apache Nifi transformation capabilities include aggregating, splitting, data encryption, and decryption to hide sensitive information. You can also do XSLT transforms for XML data and JOLT transforms for JSON data. Besides that, you can also do regular expressions and even run SQL commands in relational databases.
All transformations in Apache Nifi are part of its Processors list. So, check specific transformation processors in the Apache Nifi documentation.
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
Matillion
Matillion customers always have access to technical documentation, Support Portal, and learning resources. This is regardless of their availed pricing plan.
The next level of support is Mission Critical and Mission Critical Plus. Both offer faster response, expert staff, and more. These support options are available for Advanced and Enterprise pricing tiers. Whether this is another payment on top of the pricing tiers is not clear on the Pricing page. So, you need to contact Sales for clarification.
Apache Nifi
Open-source projects like Apache Nifi have communities where you can ask for help. You can be a part of their mailing list or you can chat to them through Slack. There is no resolution time for your problems, neither is priority support.
However, there are how-to videos and documentation. And you can ask questions on developer-focused sites like StackOverflow.
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
Matillion
You can try Matillion for 30 days free and then choose between 3 pricing tiers where features and support level up. Matillion uses consumption-based pricing and a credit is the unit of measurement. The computation of credit consumption differs in Matillion ETL and Data Productivity Cloud, so check out their Pricing page or ask a Sales representative for more details.
Paid plans start at $2/credit for the Basic tier. Then, the cost increases if you go for the Advanced and Enterprise tiers.
Buying a Matillion plan is a 1-year contract with a Service Level Agreement. So, make sure to use the trial period before deciding if this is good for you. Note also that setting up Matillion ETL introduces separate pricing plans - one for the cloud provider (Azure, AWS, GCP) and another for the data platform (Snowflake, Redshift, etc.). And this does not include the technical expertise needed for the setup.
Apache Nifi
The tool is free to use, from downloading to configuring. However, keep in mind that you'll have to pay for the planned infrastructure later on. There is no difference whether you'll build your own data centers or use cloud services.
There are also companies offering consulting services and even freelancers who have successful implementations experience, but they also require payment.
So, if you need to get the fast result it will be better to use alternatives that provide quick solutions. Apache Nifi, however, can offer you a flexibility for complex scenarios.
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.