Fivetran vs Airbyte vs Hevo Data vs Matillion - Comparison

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If you're trying to choose between Fivetran, Airbyte, Hevo Data, and Matillion for your data integration needs, you've come to the right place. We used QBack to analyze over 800+ G2 reviews, dug through Reddit discussions from the last 6 months (May 2025 - November 2025), and compared current pricing across all four platforms to give you a clear picture of which one might work best for you.

This comparison covers everything from pricing and features to what real customers are saying. Whether you're a data engineer looking for reliable connectors, a startup needing cost-effective solutions, or an enterprise requiring robust ETL/ELT capabilities, we break down the strengths, weaknesses, and true costs of each platform so you can make an informed decision.

Which data integration platform has the best G2 rating?

G2 Performance Metrics

PlatformG2 RatingTotal ReviewsKey Sentiment
Fivetran4.2/5445 reviewsStrong connector library; pricing concerns
Airbyte4.4/571 reviewsEase of use; documentation issues
Hevo Data4.4/5271 reviewsGood value; some reliability concerns
Matillion4.4/581 reviewsStrong transformation features; cost transparency issues

Source: Fivetran G2 Reviews, Airbyte G2 Reviews, Hevo Data G2 Reviews, Matillion G2 Reviews

Fivetran G2 Highlights

Top Pros:

  • Large connector catalog / breadth of connectors (many mentions)
  • Ease of use / quick setup (many mentions)
  • Strong documentation and support (moderate mentions)

Top Cons:

  • Pricing / Monthly Active Rows (MAR) per-connector concerns (many mentions)
  • Occasional connector or schema quirks (some mentions)
  • Support inconsistency (some mentions)

G2 Review: "It has a lot of connectors that allows you to ingest data from many sources…also allows SDKs to create your own connector and integrate to all tools for the strange case when they don't have a built-in connector." — Saulo V., 5/21/2025

G2 Review: "Monthly Active Rows billing model can get expensive very fast, so you need to keep an eye out for costs, especially for high-volume data sources such as event data." — Verified User (Computer Software), 5/20/2025

Airbyte G2 Highlights

Top Pros:

  • Ease of use (36 mentions)
  • Wide range of connectors (22 mentions)
  • Easy installation / UI
  • Quick setup

Top Cons:

  • Poor documentation (7 mentions)
  • Random 500/internal errors
  • Difficult setup in some environments
  • Limited connectors for some sources

G2 Review: "Pricey but effective" — July 03, 2025

G2 Review: "easy to use platform to move key data sources" — July 02, 2025

Hevo Data G2 Highlights

Top Pros:

  • Ease of use (43 mentions)
  • Exceptional customer support (29 mentions)
  • Easy integrations (24 mentions)
  • Easy setup (18 mentions)
  • Incredibly simple (17 mentions)
  • Out-of-the-box integrations (16 mentions)
  • Elegant UI and intuitive features (15 mentions)
  • Implementation ease (15 mentions)

Top Cons:

  • Expensive as costs increase with scale (13 mentions)
  • Limitations in integrations and customization (12 mentions)
  • Limited customization for complex workflows (11 mentions)
  • Pricing can get expensive at scale (10 mentions)
  • Pipeline issues with limited control (9 mentions)
  • Data inaccuracy issues occasionally (8 mentions)

G2 Review: "Effortless Pipeline Setup and Great Value" — Verified User in Financial Services, 11/05/2025

G2 Review: "Reliable and easy-to-use data integration platform" — Ravi Shankar S., 09/23/2025

G2 Review: "Hevo Data makes setting up and maintaining data pipelines extremely simple. The no-code interface, wide range of connectors, and automated schema mapping reduce the effort of integrating multiple data sources into a central warehouse. Its real-time replication capability ensures that analytics teams always have fresh data available without complex engineering setups." — Ravi Shankar S., 09/23/2025

G2 Review: "Not only is it cost-effective, but once you become familiar with it, setting up pipelines is incredibly straightforward. Whether you're working with SFTP, Snowflake, Webhook, Facebook, or other sources, the process is smooth and easy to manage. The integration capabilities are excellent. Customer support is outstanding—I have never had a ticket go unresolved, and every issue has been addressed within a very reasonable timeframe." — Verified User in Financial Services, 11/05/2025

G2 Review: "Ease of use, near real time, change data capture and variety of connectors" — Vikram K., 09/19/2025

Matillion G2 Highlights

Matillion has a 4.4/5 rating with 81 reviews. Detailed pros/cons with mention counts are not publicly available due to G2 access limitations, but the platform is generally well-regarded for its transformation capabilities.

How much do data integration platforms really cost?

Fivetran Pricing

Source: Fivetran Pricing

Free Plan:

  • Up to 500,000 monthly active rows (MAR) per connection
  • 5,000 monthly model runs (MMR) for transformations
  • Core platform functionality

Standard Plan:

  • Usage-based pricing on Monthly Active Rows (MAR) per connection
  • Pricing varies by volume: Standard plan incremental spend per million MAR ranges from $500 down to $1.18 depending on volume
  • Transformations: First 5,000 model runs free, then $0.01-$0.002 per model run depending on tier
  • 15-minute syncs
  • 700+ fully-managed connectors

Enterprise & Business Critical:

  • Custom pricing (contact sales)
  • Faster syncs (1-minute available)
  • Enterprise database connectors
  • Private networking (VPN)
  • Advanced security features

Hidden Costs:

  • Enterprise database connectors (additional fees)
  • HVR (High Volume) connectors (additional fees)
  • Private networking (VPN) - additional cost
  • Data retention beyond included limits
  • Professional services

True Cost Analysis: The per-connection MAR tiering, effective March 1, 2025, can lead to significantly increased costs for customers managing numerous medium-sized connectors. Community feedback suggests that mid-market workloads could see costs ranging from $2,000 to $20,000+ per month, depending on MAR volume and the number of connectors. Discounts of up to ~22% are available for annual contracts.

Reddit Feedback: "pricing already strained (users report 4-8x cost increases under Fivetran's recent pricing changes)" — r/dataengineering thread about dbt merger

Reddit Feedback: "If you misjudge the number of rows you're pulling and/or make an oversight in one of your connections and run it even for a few days before noticing.. your bill for the entire month could be 3x normal." — r/Fivetran "mar_pricing_is_deadly" thread

Airbyte Pricing

Source: Airbyte Pricing

Core (Open-Source / Self-managed):

  • Always free
  • Open-source software
  • Self-managed deployment
  • Community support

Standard (Most popular):

  • Starting at $10/month
  • Fully managed cloud hosting
  • Volume-based pricing
  • 600+ connectors
  • 1-hour max sync frequency

Plus:

  • Capacity-based pricing (annual) - contact sales
  • Fully managed
  • Accelerated support
  • SSO
  • Annual predictable plan for small teams
  • Capacity model built on "Data Workers"

Pro:

  • Capacity-based pricing (Data Workers) - contact sales
  • Everything in Standard/Plus
  • Faster syncs (<5 min)
  • Premium support
  • Enhanced platform features (RBAC, row filtering, hashing & encryption, multiple data regions)

Enterprise Flex & Enterprise Self-Managed:

  • Capacity-based pricing - contact sales
  • Hybrid/cloud/self-managed deployment options
  • Enterprise SLAs/support
  • Multiple workspaces

Hidden Costs:

  • Support tiers (Premium, Accelerated, Priority, Business Critical) available as add-ons
  • Enterprise connectors or advanced features may be add-ons or require sales engagement

True Cost Analysis: The pricing page promotes "Data Workers" for Plus/Pro/Enterprise tiers as providing predictable spend compared to volume/GB-based pricing. Exact per-unit costs for Data Workers are not publicly listed and require sales engagement.

Reddit Feedback: "Airbyte Plus gives you fixed annual pricing so you can plan your data infrastructure budget with confidence. No surprises, no monthly fluctuations." — Airbyte Blog

Hevo Data Pricing

Source: Hevo Data Pricing

Free:

  • Free forever for limited connectors
  • Up to 1M events/month
  • 1-hour scheduling
  • Up to 5 users

Starter:

  • $239/month (G2 pricing summary) or $599/$499/month (Hevo official page - may vary by monthly/annual billing)
  • Everything in Free, plus:
  • More connectors (150+ available)
  • Faster syncs
  • Better support

Professional:

  • $679/month (G2 pricing summary) or custom pricing
  • Everything in Starter, plus:
  • Streaming Pipelines
  • Unlimited users
  • Hevo APIs for Pipeline automation
  • Reverse SSH
  • Add-ons available

Usage-Based Pricing: Hevo Data charges based on the number of new records (events) inserted or updated in the warehouse. Events usage above your subscription plan's quota is considered On-Demand and is charged additionally on top of your Plan.

Hidden Costs:

  • Add-ons available for Professional tier (specific costs not publicly disclosed)
  • On-demand events beyond plan quota incur additional charges

True Cost Analysis: While Hevo offers transparent event-based pricing, costs can scale significantly with data volume. Users report that pricing becomes less competitive at higher volumes compared to alternatives. The free tier is generous (1M events/month), but paid tiers start at $239/month and can increase substantially with usage.

G2 Review: "Effortless Pipeline Setup and Great Value" — Verified User in Financial Services, 11/05/2025

Reddit Feedback: "I'm currently using Hevo and pretty happy with it. stability has been great, we move anywhere between 5-600k events daily and I haven't faced any issues or downtime. data freshness is solid too, it's almost real-time but with a load latency that's within our acceptable threshold. connector coverage is good for most SaaS and DB sources that we needed. support and pricing have honestly been the highlights. their team is very very hands-on and I haven't had to wait for more than a day for any question i've sent their way - it's usually almost right away to be honest. and you're right about pricing - it has been fairly straightforward to estimate how much our spend is going to be. no surprises like I keep hearing about with MAR-based billing." — r/dataengineering - Thinking of Migrating from Fivetran to Hevo

Reddit Feedback: "Hevo has a much more predictable pricing compared to fivetran and is cost effective as well." — r/dataengineering - Thinking of Migrating from Fivetran to Hevo

Matillion Pricing

Source: Matillion Pricing

Developer:

  • Credit-based pricing - contact sales for exact costs
  • For individuals
  • 1 developer user
  • Essential features for light workloads
  • Pre-built connectors
  • Low-code canvas + SQL/Python
  • Built-in Git repository
  • G2 indicates starting at $2.00/credit

Teams:

  • Credit-based pricing - contact sales for exact costs
  • For scaling businesses
  • 5 developer users
  • Audit log
  • Standard customer support
  • Service Level Agreement
  • Plus all features in Developer
  • G2 indicates starting at $2.20/credit

Scale:

  • Credit-based pricing - contact sales for exact costs
  • For large organizations
  • 5 developer users
  • Advanced security (custom SSO)
  • Hybrid cloud deployment
  • Data lineage tracking
  • Streaming change data capture
  • Extended log retention (180+ days)
  • Bring-your-own Git integration
  • Premium Support available
  • Plus all features in Teams
  • G2 indicates starting at $2.30/credit

Free Tier:

  • Free 14-day trial available

Usage-Based Pricing: Matillion uses a credit-based consumption model. A Reddit user reported an hourly execution cost of approximately $4.80/hour.

Hidden Costs:

  • User reports suggest a flat $40K/year license fee (purpose unclear - possibly for additional support)
  • Hourly execution costs beyond credit rates
  • Premium Support available as add-on

True Cost Analysis: Exact per-tier dollar prices are not publicly advertised. User-reported costs suggest a flat annual license fee ($40K/year) and hourly execution costs ($4.80/hour), which may vary significantly from advertised credit rates.

Reddit Feedback: "Not sure what the 40k/yr is for. Additional support? Their basic support is pretty lousy. Our matillion server is per hour only, I don't remember the rate per credit hour. We only power it on 6am to 6pm to keep the costs down." — r/dataengineering Matillion Opinion thread

What are the top pain points for each platform?

Fivetran: Top 3 Complaint Categories

1. Pricing Model Complexity & Cost Surprises ⚠️ Critical Issue

Severity: High - Significant cost increases reported by users

  • Per-connection MAR tiering: The shift to per-connector pricing (effective March 1, 2025) has led to unexpected cost increases
  • Unpredictable bills: Users report 4-8x cost increases under recent pricing changes
  • No bulk discounts: Elimination of account-wide discounts means higher costs for multi-connector setups

Evidence:

  • "pricing already strained (users report 4-8x cost increases under Fivetran's recent pricing changes)" — r/dataengineering thread about dbt merger
  • "If you misjudge the number of rows you're pulling and/or make an oversight in one of your connections and run it even for a few days before noticing.. your bill for the entire month could be 3x normal." — r/Fivetran "mar_pricing_is_deadly" thread
  • "Monthly Active Rows billing model can get expensive very fast, so you need to keep an eye out for costs, especially for high-volume data sources such as event data." — G2 Review, 5/20/2025

2. Occasional Connector or Schema Quirks

Severity: Medium - Some users experience reliability issues

  • Some connectors may have stability issues
  • Schema changes can sometimes cause sync problems

3. Support Inconsistency

Severity: Medium - Mixed experiences with support quality

  • Some users report inconsistent support response times
  • Quality of support varies by plan tier

Airbyte: Top 3 Complaint Categories

1. Poor Documentation ⚠️ Critical Issue

Severity: High - 7 mentions on G2

  • Documentation is frustrating for users, especially when troubleshooting
  • Setup can be difficult due to outdated documentation
  • Limited support resources for complex issues

Evidence:

  • "Users find the poor documentation of Airbyte frustrating, especially when troubleshooting and setting up connections." — G2 Reviews

2. Random 500/Internal Errors

Severity: Medium - 6 mentions on G2

  • Users experience random internal server errors
  • Data fetching and integration security challenges
  • Reliability issues in some environments

3. Limited Connectors for Some Sources

Severity: Medium - 5 mentions on G2

  • Some data sources lack connectors
  • Development speed for new connectors can be slow
  • Cloud service missing several popular connectors

Hevo Data: Top 3 Complaint Categories

1. Pricing Can Get Expensive at Scale ⚠️ Critical Issue

Severity: High - 13 mentions on G2, 10 mentions specifically about scale

  • Event-based pricing can lead to unexpected costs as data volumes grow
  • Pricing becomes less competitive compared to alternatives at higher volumes
  • Costs can spike with upstream volume increases

Evidence:

  • "Users note that the platform can be expensive as costs increase with scale, impacting smaller teams." — G2 Reviews
  • "Users find the pricing can get expensive at scale, causing concerns about overall value for the service provided." — G2 Reviews
  • "1. Lacks GitOps / CI/CD Integration 2. Pricing can get expensive at scale 3. Limited customization for complex workflows" — G2 Review by Shishir P.

2. Limited Customization & Integration Limitations

Severity: Medium - 12 mentions on G2 for limitations, 11 mentions for limited customization

  • Limited customization for complex workflows restricts flexibility
  • Some integration limitations affect scalability
  • Hard to do complex transformations compared to code-based solutions

Evidence:

  • "Users note the limitations in integrations and customization with Hevo Data, affecting scalability and complex workflows." — G2 Reviews
  • "Users find the limited customization for complex workflows restricts flexibility and functionality in Hevo Data." — G2 Reviews
  • "Limited customisation, hard to do complex transformation." — G2 Review by Vikram K.

3. Data Accuracy & Pipeline Issues

Severity: Medium - 9 mentions for pipeline issues, 8 mentions for data inaccuracy

  • Occasional data inaccuracy issues affect reliability
  • Pipeline issues with limited control and unclear documentation
  • Some synchronization problems reported

Evidence:

  • "Users face pipeline issues with limited control, unclear documentation, and support demands affecting performance and synchronization." — G2 Reviews
  • "Users face data inaccuracy issues occasionally, which affects the reliability of Hevo Data's performance." — G2 Reviews
  • "1. A bit priced 2. Inaccuracy of data at times" — G2 Review by Srinivasa Reddy B.

Matillion: Top 3 Complaint Categories

1. Cost Transparency & High Operational Costs ⚠️ Critical Issue

Severity: High - Significant cost concerns reported

  • Unclear pricing structure with flat annual fees ($40K/year) plus hourly execution costs
  • Users power servers only during business hours to control costs
  • Basic support perceived as "lousy" despite high license fees

Evidence:

  • "Not sure what the 40k/yr is for. Additional support? Their basic support is pretty lousy. Our matillion server is per hour only, I don't remember the rate per credit hour. We only power it on 6am to 6pm to keep the costs down." — r/dataengineering Matillion Opinion thread

2. Visual ETL Limitations & "Hacky" Workarounds

Severity: Medium - Engineering teams find limitations

  • Visual ETL tools require "hacky ways to script scripts" in SQL for repetitive work
  • Some teams prefer code-based solutions like DBT
  • Limitations with certain data types (e.g., Excel files)

Evidence:

  • "During the sales pitch from Matillion they ended up showing the hacky ways to script scripts to do repetitive work in SQL. Every visual ETL tool end up like this. Our engineers didn't like it much either Went with DBT and never looked back." — r/dataengineering Matillion Opinion thread

3. Memory Issues & Data Type Limitations

Severity: Medium - Operational challenges

  • Memory issues with large files
  • Limitations with Excel file processing
  • Some users report needing to work around platform constraints

What are the strengths and weaknesses of each platform?

Fivetran

Strengths:

  • Extensive connector library (700+ prebuilt connectors)
  • Automated schema management reduces maintenance overhead
  • Strong documentation and generally good support
  • Tight integration with dbt for hosted transformations
  • Enterprise-grade features (1-minute syncs, private networking)
  • Ease of use and quick setup

Weaknesses:

  • Complex and expensive pricing model (per-connection MAR tiering)
  • Recent pricing changes led to significant cost increases for many users
  • Occasional connector or schema quirks
  • Support inconsistency across different tiers
  • No bulk discounts for multi-connector setups

Proof Point: "It has a lot of connectors that allows you to ingest data from many sources…also allows SDKs to create your own connector and integrate to all tools for the strange case when they don't have a built-in connector." — G2 Review, 5/21/2025

Airbyte

Strengths:

  • Open-source core (always free for self-managed)
  • Flexible deployment options (self-managed, fully managed cloud, hybrid)
  • Wide range of connectors (600+)
  • Ease of use (36 mentions on G2)
  • Capacity-based pricing model ("Data Workers") for predictability in higher tiers
  • Strong community support

Weaknesses:

  • Poor documentation (7 mentions on G2)
  • Random 500/internal errors
  • Difficult setup in some environments
  • Limited connectors for some sources
  • Perceived cloud cost/expensiveness at scale
  • Some connectors missing from cloud service

Proof Point: "Users highlight the ease of use of Airbyte, making data integration accessible for all skill levels." — G2 Reviews

Hevo Data

Strengths:

  • Ease of use (43 mentions on G2) - super easy to use, streamlining data transfer
  • Exceptional customer support (29 mentions) - quick resolutions and guidance
  • Easy integrations (24 mentions) - seamless connections and data transfers
  • No-code platform with intuitive UI (15 mentions)
  • Real-time data replication with change data capture
  • Transparent pricing with free tier (up to 1M events/month)
  • Out-of-the-box integrations (16 mentions) for 150+ sources
  • Implementation ease (15 mentions) - user-friendly, no-code interface

Weaknesses:

  • Expensive as costs increase with scale (13 mentions on G2)
  • Limited customization for complex workflows (11 mentions)
  • Data accuracy issues occasionally (8 mentions)
  • Pipeline issues with limited control (9 mentions)
  • Transformation limitations compared to code-based solutions
  • May be ideal for starting out but less suitable for complex needs

Proof Point: "Not only is it cost-effective, but once you become familiar with it, setting up pipelines is incredibly straightforward. Whether you're working with SFTP, Snowflake, Webhook, Facebook, or other sources, the process is smooth and easy to manage. The integration capabilities are excellent. Customer support is outstanding—I have never had a ticket go unresolved, and every issue has been addressed within a very reasonable timeframe." — G2 Review, 11/05/2025

Proof Point: "Hevo Data makes setting up and maintaining data pipelines extremely simple. The no-code interface, wide range of connectors, and automated schema mapping reduce the effort of integrating multiple data sources into a central warehouse." — G2 Review, 09/23/2025

Matillion

Strengths:

  • Strong data transformation capabilities built-in
  • On-premises option available
  • Credit-based consumption model
  • Advanced features (data lineage tracking, streaming CDC, hybrid cloud deployment)
  • Good for enterprises needing all-in-one solution
  • Built-in Git repository

Weaknesses:

  • Unclear pricing structure (flat annual fees + hourly costs)
  • High operational costs
  • Basic support quality concerns
  • Visual ETL limitations requiring "hacky" SQL workarounds
  • Memory issues with large files
  • Limitations with certain data types (Excel files)

Proof Point: "This has worked very well for us and we have ingestions with +900mb xlsx files processing successfully." — r/dataengineering Matillion Opinion thread

How do these platforms position themselves for different buyers?

Fivetran

Positioning: Best-in-class managed ELT platform for enterprises

  • Target Audience: Data engineers, analytics teams, mid-market to enterprise companies
  • Key Message: Zero-maintenance pipelines with extensive connector library
  • Differentiator: 700+ connectors, automated schema management, tight dbt integration
  • Best For: Teams wanting fully managed service with minimal maintenance

Airbyte

Positioning: Flexible open-source data integration with deployment choice

  • Target Audience: Sophisticated data engineering organizations (Core), practitioners seeking fully managed (Standard), small teams (Plus)
  • Key Message: Open-source flexibility with managed cloud options
  • Differentiator: Open-source core, flexible deployment, capacity-based pricing for predictability
  • Best For: Teams wanting vendor independence and deployment flexibility

Hevo Data

Positioning: Affordable no-code data integration for growing teams

  • Target Audience: Small to mid-market businesses, non-technical users
  • Key Message: Transparent pricing, easy setup, good value
  • Differentiator: Free tier, real-time replication, no-code platform
  • Best For: Teams starting out with data integration, cost-conscious buyers

Matillion

Positioning: All-in-one data integration and transformation platform

  • Target Audience: Large enterprises, teams needing transformation capabilities
  • Key Message: Complete platform for data operations with built-in transformations
  • Differentiator: In-warehouse transformations, hybrid cloud deployment, data lineage tracking
  • Best For: Enterprises needing both integration and transformation in one platform

Key insights: common themes across all products

Pricing Transparency is a Universal Challenge

All four platforms face criticism around pricing transparency:

  • Fivetran: Per-connection MAR tiering leads to unpredictable costs
  • Airbyte: Data Worker pricing requires sales engagement
  • Hevo Data: Event-based pricing can scale unexpectedly
  • Matillion: Flat annual fees plus hourly costs create confusion

Ease of Use vs. Flexibility Trade-off

  • Fivetran & Hevo Data: Prioritize ease of use and managed service
  • Airbyte: Offers flexibility through open-source and deployment options
  • Matillion: Balances visual ETL with SQL/Python capabilities

Enterprise Features Come at a Cost

  • All platforms offer enterprise tiers with advanced security, support, and features
  • Enterprise pricing typically requires custom quotes
  • Support quality varies significantly between tiers

Community Sentiment (May 2025 - November 2025)

  • Fivetran: Mixed to negative regarding pricing changes, positive on product quality
  • Airbyte: Positive on flexibility and open-source approach, concerns about documentation
  • Hevo Data: Generally positive on ease of use and support, concerns about pricing at scale and limited customization
  • Matillion: Mixed to negative on cost transparency and support quality

Competitor Pricing Pages

Fivetran:

Airbyte:

Hevo Data:

Matillion:

G2 Reviews

Reddit Discussions (Last 6 Months - May 2025 to November 2025)

Fivetran:

Airbyte:

Hevo Data:

Matillion:

Additional Resources