Top 6 Airbyte Alternatives & Competitors in 2025
Airbyte is an open-source data integration engine designed to consolidate data in data warehouses, lakes, and databases, offering solutions like Airbyte Cloud for quick setup, Airbyte Self-Managed Enterprise for secure data movement, and Airbyte Open Source, which is used by over 40,000 companies.
What is Airbyte?
Airbyte
Airbyte is a versatile open-source data integration platform aimed at centralizing data across warehouses, lakes, and databases. It provides various options such as Airbyte Cloud for rapid deployment, Airbyte Self-Managed Enterprise for robust data security, and Airbyte Open Source, trusted by more than 40,000 organizations. This flexibility makes it a go-to solution for diverse data integration needs.
Key Features
- Transfer data from various systems to data warehouses (ETL)
- Extensive range of built-in connectors
- Self-service capabilities
- Vibrant open-source community
Limitations
- Many connectors are only “community-supported”
- Complicated setup procedures
- Fragile and underdeveloped at scale
- Incapable of transferring data from warehouses to SaaS applications (No Reverse ETL)
Pricing
Airbyte provides several pricing tiers to cater to different needs. Their offerings include a free Open Source plan for those who prefer self-hosting, a Cloud plan that charges based on data volume, and Team and Enterprise plans that are capacity-based. Each plan differs in hosting options, sync frequency, and additional features. The Cloud plan may incur additional costs for more frequent syncs, while the Team and Enterprise plans come with various add-ons to enhance functionality.
Why Consider Airbyte Alternatives
While Airbyte has gained traction, it has its own set of limitations that prompt users to explore alternatives. Here are some reasons why companies consider other options:
- Community-Supported Connectors: Many of Airbyte's connectors are community-supported, which can lead to inconsistent quality and reliability. This often results in additional maintenance and troubleshooting efforts.
- Complex Setup Process: Setting up Airbyte can be cumbersome and time-consuming, requiring significant technical expertise. This complexity can be a barrier for teams looking for a quick and easy solution.
- Brittle and Immature at Scale: Users have reported that Airbyte's performance can be brittle and unreliable when handling large-scale data operations. This immaturity at scale can lead to disruptions and inefficiencies.
- No Reverse ETL: Airbyte lacks the capability to move data from data warehouses back to SaaS applications. This absence of Reverse ETL functionality forces users to manage additional tools to achieve a complete data sync solution.
Below is a table breaking down six alternatives to Airbyte and their tradeoffs.
Feature-by-Feature Breakdown: Alternatives & Competitors
Top 6 Airbyte Alternatives & Competitors
Polytomic
All the features you need, on the platform that does it all
Replace multiple vendors
One platform for all syncs
Sync only what’s changed
Point and click
SQL query support
Pull from any API
Self-hosting available
Enterprise-ready
Move data between all of your favorite tools
Pricing begins at $500/month
Fivetran
Fivetran is a popular ETL tool that moves data from SaaS apps, databases, and files into data warehouses like Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks, and Redshift.
Key Features
- Widely-known ETL vendor
- Large number of built-in connectors
- Plug-and-play syncing into data warehouses
- Simple to use for smaller businesses
Limitations
- Unable to sync back into SaaS applications (no Reverse ETL)
- Frequent price increases
- High cost at medium scale and beyond
- Limited and unreliable customer support
- Slow response to new connector requests
Pricing
Fivetran provides various pricing options, beginning with a Free Plan at no cost. The Standard Plan is priced at $500 per million monthly active rows (MAR), while the Enterprise Plan costs $667 per million MAR. For those requiring higher security and compliance, the Business Critical Plan is available at $1,067 per million MAR. As of March 2025, bulk sync discounts are applied on a per connector basis rather than across the entire workspace, leading to increased costs for numerous users.
Reviews
Fivetran has an overall rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars. Users have raised concerns about the pricing model, noting that it can become expensive as data volume increases. Additionally, there are complaints about the limited number of connectors and the lack of features in some existing connectors. Customer support has also been a point of contention, with users reporting below-average assistance for more complex issues.
Check out more of their reviews here.
Stitch Data
Stitch Data is a cloud-based ETL service designed to facilitate the transfer of data from more than 140 sources to a data warehouse. The platform aims to simplify the data migration process, requiring minimal IT expertise from its users. In 2018, the company was acquired by Qlik, a legacy data provider, which subsequently integrated Stitch Data with Talend.
Key Features
- Move data from sources to warehouse (ETL)
- No coding required
- SOC2 certified
Limitations
- Bugs and instability at scale
- Slow to update to connector API changes
- No Reverse ETL
- Lack of growth for new connector support
Pricing
Stitch Data offers three main pricing plans: the Standard Plan starting at $100 per month, the Advanced Plan at $1,250 per month billed annually, and the Premium Plan at $2,500 per month billed annually. Each plan is designed to cater to different user needs and data volumes, with features scaling accordingly.
Reviews
Stitch Data has a rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars based on 68 reviews. Users have reported concerns about the reliability of the product and the quality of customer support. Previous Stitch Data customers cite minimal new work on existing connectors, slow response times to outages, and unwillingness to build new connectors. Check out more of their reviews here.
Retool’s Director of RevOps switched from Stitch Data to Polytomic to consolidate all their bidirectional ETL jobs.
Census
Census is a Reverse ETL platform that syncs data from your data warehouse to SaaS apps like Salesforce, Hubspot, and ad platforms.
Key Features
- Sync from data warehouse to tools (Reverse ETL)
- Workspaces
- White-label API
Limitations
- Cap on number of synced fields for Professional plan
- Pricing not designed per scale (per field pricing)
- Enterprise plan required for syncs more frequent than 15 minutes
- Cannot sync to data warehouses (No ETL/ELT)
Pricing
Census offers three main pricing plans: the limited free plan, a Professional plan starting at $350/month, and custom Enterprise plans. The Enterprise plan is required for real-time sync capabilities and their “Audience Hub” features.
Reviews
Census has a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. Some users find Census to be expensive, especially for medium-to-small companies. There are mentions of feature limitations and missing features. A few users noted that some functionalities, like on-the-fly transformations, are lacking in certain pricing tiers. One review mentioned that the tool is still young and has limited connections to SaaS tools. Check out more of their reviews here.
Hightouch
Hightouch is a reverse ETL and AI platform designed for marketing and personalization, enabling companies to find insights, run campaigns, and build AI agents using their data. It offers an AI Decisioning Platform for lifecycle marketing and a Composable Customer Data Platform (CDP) that is flexible, secure, and quick to deploy, built on top of a data warehouse.
Key Features
- Sync data with Reverse ETL
- Emphasis on AI features and marketing personalization
- Free tier to get started
Limitations
- Does not support syncing to data warehouses (No ETL)
- Excess features and pricing for just Reverse ETL
- Lack of unlimited workspaces
Pricing
Hightouch offers a Starter Plan with a free tier at $0 and a paid tier at $350 per month, billed annually with a 20% discount. For larger teams, the Business Plan features custom pricing tailored to specific needs, including unlimited user seats and advanced personalization features.
Reviews
Hightouch has a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars. Some users mentioned that Hightouch can be expensive, especially for startups or when using the paid solution extensively. There are comments about the learning curve and the need for better error handling and debugging processes. The UI is sometimes described as confusing and not very intuitive. Error reporting, especially for large batches, needs improvement. Check out more of their reviews here.
Hevo Data
Hevo Data is a no-code ETL platform that enables users to ingest, transform, and load data from more than 150 sources. It offers a way to manage data workflows without requiring coding skills. The platform supports various data sources, including databases, cloud applications, and more, facilitating the movement and transformation of data across different systems.
Key Features
- ETL data integration for syncing to data warehouses
- Works well at sub 5 million rows/month
- 150+ data sources
- Free tier available at small scale
Limitations
- Issues with scalability even at 5 million rows/month
- Slow support (even the Enterprise plan only offers 1hr support SLA)
- Unreliable for critical infrastructure
- No Reverse ETL offered
Pricing
Hevo Data's pricing structure is well-suited for companies with modest data requirements. They provide a generous free tier that allows up to 1 million events to be synced each month. For those needing more, their starter plan ranges from $299 to $949 per month, accommodating between 5 to 50 million monthly synced events. Additionally, Hevo offers Professional and Business Critical plans, which come with enhanced features for more demanding data needs.
Reviews
Hevo Data has a rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars. Users have enjoyed the low cost, especially for smaller companies. They often mention issues with data inaccuracy, unreliability at scale, and limitations in advanced transformations. Check out more of their reviews here.
Customers who switch from Hevo Data to Polytomic often do so from frustration with sync failures and missing records in the Hevo platform as they scale the amount of data synced.
Why customers are switching to Polytomic
Many organizations are making the switch to Polytomic for its comprehensive data integration capabilities and user-friendly features.
- Sync to and from data warehouses (ETL + Reverse ETL): Polytomic ensures that data flows seamlessly between your data warehouse and other applications, keeping all your platforms synchronized and up-to-date.
- Sync directly between SaaS applications: Transfer data effortlessly between different SaaS applications without the need for intermediate storage, streamlining your data processes.
- Self-hosted option: Host Polytomic on your private cloud to retain complete control over your data and meet strict security and compliance standards.
- High-scale database CDC: Capture and sync only the changes in your database, minimizing system load and enhancing operational efficiency.
- First-class API: Polytomic provides a robust standalone API with native clients in TypeScript, Python, Go, and other languages, offering flexibility and ease of integration.
- Entity-level RBAC permissions: Implement detailed user permissions to ensure that sensitive data is accessible only to authorized personnel, bolstering security and compliance.
