Airbyte vs Fivetran (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Fivetran grades higher than Airbyte: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Fivetran grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Airbyte
Data integration with a free self-hosted core and a managed cloud
Fivetran
Managed data movement with a free plan and usage-based pricing
Which one is for you
Pick Airbyte if
- Fits if you can host Core and want no per-row fees
- Works for small teams that start on a $20 cloud plan
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you can't run and maintain a self-hosted install
- Tight if you need syncs faster than hourly on Standard
- Pricey if you want 15-minute syncs or SSO, which need Plus at $189
- Watch out: Core is under the Elastic License 2.0, with community support only
Pick Fivetran if
- Fits if you want connectors that load apps into a warehouse without custom code
- Works for small volumes that stay under 500,000 monthly active rows
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if your volume grows, because cost follows monthly active rows
- Skip it if you need 1-minute syncs without Enterprise
- Not for you if you need a fixed bill, as there's no list price per plan
- Watch out: VPN tunnels are for annual contracts only
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAirbyteFair | 2.4GPAFivetranFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CCore is free but you host it. Cloud Standard is $20 a month with 5 credits included, then Plus is $189. | CUsage-based on monthly active rows, with no per-plan price. The page's own example is one Marketo connection at about $424.54 a month. |
| Free plan and trial | BCore is free to self-host, and the cloud has a 14-day trial with 400 credits and no card. | BFree plan: 500,000 monthly active rows for connections. A 14-day trial also covers each new connection. |
| Features | CConnectors and syncs. Standard is hourly at most; 15-minute syncs and SSO need Plus, and enterprise connectors are an add-on. | CConnectors, transformations and activations. 1-minute syncs, custom roles and SCIM need Enterprise, and encryption keys need Business Critical. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. Running Core means installing and maintaining it yourself. | CNo store rating on record. You connect sources and a destination, which means accounts and permissions to sort out. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb console with connections to Airflow, Dagster, Prefect and Terraform. No desktop or phone apps. | BWeb console with connectors for Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Ads, Snowflake and dbt Core. No desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | moving data into a warehouse, self-hosted or cloud | copying data from apps into a warehouse |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Airbyte and Fivetran. How we grade
Where they differ
- Airbyte is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| Airbyte | Fivetran | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $20 per month (Standard, 5 credits included) | Not published |
| Free plan | Airbyte Core is free to self-host under the Elastic License 2.0; you run and maintain it yourself. | Free plan with Standard features up to 500,000 monthly active rows for connections, 3,500 for activations and 5,000 model runs. |
| Free trial | 14-day Cloud trial with 400 credits, no credit card required | 14-day free trial on each new connection, transformation or activation |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Airbyte | Fivetran |
| Price read from | airbyte.com | fivetran.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Airbyte
- Standard syncs at most hourly; 15-minute syncs and SSO need Plus at $189 a month or more.
- Enterprise connectors are an add-on on Standard and Plus, and AWS PrivateLink is an add-on on those plans.
- Core is licensed under the Elastic License 2.0 and you maintain it yourself, with community support only.
- Pro and Enterprise Flex prices are not published and need a quote.
Fivetran
- Prices are not listed per plan; cost depends on monthly active rows, and the page gives only median examples.
- The page's own example shows a Marketo connection at 847,574 MAR costing a median $424.54 a month, so volume matters.
- 1-minute syncs, custom roles and SCIM need Enterprise; encryption keys and PCI DSS Level 1 need Business Critical.
- VPN tunnels are available on annual contracts only.
Key features
Airbyte
- 700+ connectors
- Connectors cover sources and destinations, with CDC, schema propagation and column selection, and a Connector Builder for custom ones.
- Self-hosted or managed
- Airbyte Core runs on your own infrastructure for free; the cloud plans include hosting, upgrades and support.
- Credit-based usage pricing
- Standard and Plus bill by volume: 400 credits in the trial is about 100 GB of syncs, and 5 credits is about 1 GB.
- Capacity pricing
- Pro and Enterprise Flex price on Data Workers, dedicated compute units, so cost stays flat when data volume spikes.
- Orchestrator and developer access
- An Airbyte API, Terraform provider, PyAirbyte and integrations with Airflow, Dagster and Prefect are listed on the plan comparison.
Fivetran
- Managed connectors
- More than 700 fully managed connectors copy data from applications and databases into a destination, with syncs as often as every 15 minutes.
- Transformations
- Transformations are billed per model run, with 5,000 runs free each month, and integrate with dbt Core.
- Activations
- Over 200 activation destinations push warehouse data back to business tools; an Audience Hub is part of the Enterprise plan.
- Usage-based billing
- Connections are billed by monthly active rows (MAR), with each new connection getting a 14-day free trial.
- Security options
- SSH tunnels on Standard, VPN tunnels and SCIM on Enterprise, and customer-managed keys and private networking on Business Critical.
- Regional processing
- Connectors can run in the US, Canada, EU, UK, Australia, India and Singapore, according to the vendor's data-processing notes.
Plans
Airbyte
Core$0
Self-hosted edition you run and maintain yourself, under the Elastic License 2.0.
Standard$20
per month, 5 credits included
Managed cloud with syncs as often as hourly; 5 credits is about 1 GB of syncs. Pay for the data you sync.
Plus$189
per month for 40 credits
Adds SSO, 15-minute syncs, a 24-hour support SLA and 2 workspaces; packages run to 2,000 credits at $4,999 a month.
ProCustom
Flat annual capacity pricing on Data Workers, 5-minute syncs, RBAC, premium support and a dedicated Solutions Architect.
Enterprise FlexCustom
Everything in Pro with hybrid deployment in your own VPC, on-prem or multi-region.
Fivetran
Free$0
Standard features free up to 500,000 MAR for connections, 3,500 MAR for activations and 5,000 monthly model runs.
StandardCustom
Usage-based: unlimited users, 15-minute syncs, 700+ connectors, 200+ activation destinations, RBAC and a REST API.
EnterpriseCustom
Usage-based. Adds 1-minute syncs, enterprise database connectors, custom roles, SCIM and a hybrid deployment option.
Business CriticalCustom
Usage-based. Adds customer-managed encryption keys, PCI DSS Level 1 certification and private networking options.
Ways to pay less
Airbyte
No public discounts listed.
Fivetran
- Annual discount
Up to 22% off with an annual contract
One annual contract covers connections, transformations and activations, with automatic discounts of up to 22% over monthly usage pricing.
- Nonprofit
Discounts for eligible non-profit companies
The pricing page lists discounts for eligible non-profits, Powered by Fivetran customers and sharded databases, with verification through sales.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Airbyte or Fivetran?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Airbyte starts at $20 per month (Standard, 5 credits included), and Fivetran publishes no starting price.
Which has a free plan, Airbyte or Fivetran?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Airbyte and Fivetran have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.