Airbyte vs Hightouch (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Airbyte and Hightouch share a 2.2 GPA, both have a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on whether you care more about the free plan, where Airbyte grades higher, or ease of use, where Hightouch does.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on value for money, 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
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 Hightouch if
- Fits if your data lives in a warehouse and you want it in Salesforce or HubSpot
- Works for a small team trying 2 syncs for free
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you need more than 2 active syncs without paying
- Skip it if you want a price list, as paid plans need a demo
- Watch out: billing is usage based and not shown
- Watch out: SAML SSO and label-based access sit on the higher plans
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAirbyteFair | 2.2GPAHightouchFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CCore is free but you host it. Cloud Standard is $20 a month with 5 credits included, then Plus is $189. | COnly the free plan has a published price. Composable CDP and the Agentic Marketing Platform are quoted after a demo. |
| Free plan and trial | BCore is free to self-host, and the cloud has a 14-day trial with 400 credits and no card. | CBasic Reverse ETL is free with 2 active syncs and unlimited seats and destinations. Two syncs is a cap you'll reach. |
| Features | CConnectors and syncs. Standard is hourly at most; 15-minute syncs and SSO need Plus, and enterprise connectors are an add-on. | CSyncs from warehouses into business tools. SAML SSO and label-based access control sit on the higher plans. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. Running Core means installing and maintaining it yourself. | CNo store rating on record. You connect a warehouse and map data into each destination. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb console with connections to Airflow, Dagster, Prefect and Terraform. No desktop or phone apps. | BWeb, with Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Ads, dbt and Looker. No desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | moving data into a warehouse, self-hosted or cloud | sending warehouse data back into business tools |
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 Hightouch. How we grade
Where they differ
- Airbyte is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Hightouch also covers marketing automation.
At a glance
| Airbyte | Hightouch | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Basic Reverse ETL: free, up to 2 active syncs, unlimited destinations and user seats. |
| Free trial | 14-day Cloud trial with 400 credits, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Airbyte | Hightouch |
| Price read from | airbyte.com | hightouch.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.
Hightouch
- Only the Basic Reverse ETL plan has a published price; it is free and limited to 2 active syncs.
- Composable CDP and the Agentic Marketing Platform are quoted after a demo, so no dollar figure is shown.
- Billing is usage-based; the page says there are no limits on monthly tracked users, sources or destinations.
- Features such as SAML SSO and label-based access control sit on the higher plans.
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.
Hightouch
- Reverse ETL
- Syncs define how data moves from a warehouse source to a destination, and models define and organize the source data.
- Audience building
- Customer Studio builds audiences in the warehouse, and Identity Resolution stitches user records together.
- Integrations
- The site lists 300+ integrations, with sources such as Snowflake and BigQuery and destinations such as Salesforce, HubSpot and Google Ads.
- Observability
- Live debugger, in-app sync logs and test runs are listed among the features, with sync planning that can run on your own warehouse.
- Security and governance
- The pricing page lists SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA and GDPR compliance, SSH tunneling, role-based access control and approval flows.
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.
Hightouch
Basic Reverse ETL$0
Up to 2 active syncs, unlimited destination count and unlimited user seats.
Composable CDPCustom
Usage-based mix of Reverse ETL, Events, Customer Studio, Identity Resolution and more. Sold through a demo.
Agentic Marketing PlatformCustom
Ad Studio, Lifecycle Studio and AI Decisioning with a pre-set amount of monthly personalized actions. Sold through a demo.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Airbyte or Hightouch?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Airbyte starts at $20 per month (Standard, 5 credits included), and Hightouch publishes no starting price.
Which has a free plan, Airbyte or Hightouch?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Airbyte and Hightouch 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.