Airbyte vs rivery: Know the differences

In a dynamic data landscape, every organization uses many data sources to use their data efficiently. With multiple data sources, a robust data integration solution is crucial for synchronizing and analyzing the data to make informed decisions.

Two of the most popular tools for data integration are Airbyte and Rivery. These tools are among the best options to make a specific data pipeline from source to destination. While these platforms allow you to automate most data integration tasks, they possess different functionalities that separate both tools. 

In this article, you will learn about Airbyte and Rivery in detail, from an overview to their key differences. 

Airbyte Overview

Airbyte is an ELT tool designed to streamline data integration from disparate sources to destinations such as data warehouses. The platform has the largest catalog of connectors, which number over 350+, to automate pipeline creation from any source to the destination of your choice. 

Airbyte has a Docker-based architecture, and every connector in this platform is a Docker image. This gives Airbyte an architectural advantage as every connector works independently from the others. In addition, the tool also provides an open-source solution so that you can use it to perform data ingestion tasks, leveraging its vibrant community. 

Some of the key features of Airbyte are: 

• Change Data Capture (CDC): Airbyte provides a CDC feature for some of the connectors. CDC improves upon the traditional data ingestion approaches by providing incremental updates to your data sources. This also allows you to keep a historical record of all processes. Therefore, you can track any data changes to a data source. 
• ‍Support for Unstructured Data: Airbyte allows you to handle structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data. This adaptability allows you to meet the evolving needs of modern data integration practices.
• ‍Scheduling And Monitoring: Airbyte offers scheduling and monitoring features for data replication. For monitoring, the platform provides features like connection logging, Datadog, and OpenTelemetry integrations. Meanwhile, for schedules, you can easily schedule data pipeline tasks and track performance using its interface.   

Rivery Overview

Created in 2018, Rivery is a unified platform that provides solutions for data integration, transformation, activation, and workflow orchestration. Its no-code wizard interface allows you to automate most data integration tasks. However, if you need flexibility, it allows you to code in Python and SQL for data transformations. Rivery refers to data pipelines as rivers; you can create three types of rivers including: 

• Source to destination for data integration. 
• Logic river for workflow orchestration and data transformation. 
• Action river to make REST API calls to perform tasks like data enrichment and synchronization. 

Additionally, Rivery comes with over 200+ pre-built connectors for external and internal data sources such as databases, Google Analytics, APIs, etc. 

Key features of Rivery include: 

• Orchestration: Rivery offers robust orchestration features to control your data flow from start to finish. This allows you to efficiently manage dependencies and workflows within data pipelines by implementing conditional logic, loops, and advanced scheduling. 
• ‍Data Transformation: Rivery, by default, supports advanced data transformation tasks. You can use Python and SQL to build custom logic to format data according to your requirements. 

Airbyte Vs Rivery: Key Differences 

Here is a table that highlights the key differences between Airbyte and Rivery:

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Airbyte Vs Rivery: Comparison

Both platforms are cloud-based and are primarily used for data integration. However, their features and services differ broadly. Below is a detailed comparison between Airbyte and Rivery:

Connectivity

With over 350+ pre-built connectors, Airbyte supports almost all the known data sources and destinations. Since it has a docker-based architecture, every connector in this platform is a docker image, which allows you to break down data ingestion into different modules. The connectors present in Airbyte are of two types: community and certified. You can customize and edit the community connectors according to your business requirements. However, if you want to customize certified ones, you have to switch to an open-source version. In addition, if you don't find the required connector in the extensive library of Airbyte, you can build a custom one within minutes using its Connector Development Kit. 

Rivery has a library of over 200+ pre-built connectors, allowing you to connect to various sources and destinations. However, unlike Airbyte, they are not open-source. Therefore, the connectors are entirely created and managed by its engineering staff, which can be a limitation if you want the customized option. However, Rivery also provides a feature to build your custom connection using APIs without needing to code extensively. 

Solutions & Pricing

Airbyte gives you three solutions: open-source, cloud, and enterprise. The functionalities and pricing of all the solutions increase, respectively. Below are the details about solutions: 

• Open-source: The open-source version is self-managed and is free to use. This plan is mainly used by practitioners with small data volumes. Its features include 300+ pre-built connectors, community support on Slack, column selection, and orchestrator integration. 
• Airbyte Cloud: This plan itself has two variants: one is cloud, and the other is cloud with teams. The cloud version is for teams looking to scale quickly, and the team's version is for scaled teams with advanced security requirements. The features in this plan include automatic upgrades and scaling, multiple users, SSH tunnels, access to technical support, and OAuth connector setup. 
• Enterprise: It is for organizations that need robust security, user management, and professional support. The plan has professional support with custom SLAs and manages user access with Single Sign-On, RBAC, and multiple workspaces. For pricing and additional requirements on this plan, you can contact sales. 

Rivery has three solutions: starter, professional, and enterprise. Here are the three solutions and their features respectively: 

• Starter: The starter plan is for small data and business intelligence teams building data pipelines and managing workflow orchestration. The features include one environment, two users, unlimited data sources and destinations, built-in version control, and workflow orchestration. The pricing for this plan is $0.75 per rivery pricing unit (RPU) credit every month. 
• Professional: The professional is like a starter plus designed for advanced data teams with engineering needs. This plan includes three environments, unlimited users & RBAC, Python code support, built-in CI/CD, and access to Rivery CLI and API. It costs $1.20 per RPU credit monthly. 
• ‍Enterprise: This solution is for enterprises working across different teams and regions that need extensive security and unlimited scale. The default features include unlimited environments, single sign-on (SSO), API high-frequency replication, and enterprise SLA. Pricing and additional features are customizable for this plan; you can contact sales for both. 

Security & Compliance

Airbyte has all the required features and functionalities to keep your data safe. Here are some of its highlight features: 

• Encryption: Most Airbyte connectors support encryption at rest and transit (HTTPS or SSL).
• ‍Technical Logs: Airbyte offers technical logs for a data pipeline to store data for troubleshooting purposes. 

To comply with the rules and regulations of industry and government, Airbyte has compliance certifications of ISO 27001, GDPR, and CCPA.

Rivery offers robust measures for both internal and product security. Here are some of the key security features of the platform. 

• It uses AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to encrypt and decrypt passwords and sensitive data. 
• It supports a variety of connection methods for an extra layer of security, including SSH tunneling, IP whitelisting, VPN, and Reverse SSH. 
• It also offers SSO (Single Sign-on) to manage your policies for central access. 

In addition, Rivery's compliance certifications include SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and ISO 27001. 

Support

With Airbyte, you have two types of support: the open-source community and the Airbyte team. The open-source community provides documentation and reports for any small to big issues that you face while using the Airbyte platform. Alternatively, you can submit a ticket through its help center. The team is online and available to assist you from 7 AM to 7 PM Eastern. If you require more personalized support, you can contact the sales team to inquire about Airbyte Enterprise. 

Rivery provides 24/7 global support and onboarding services, which differ according to your selected plan. However, the support process is a little complex in Rivery. To opt for the support, you have to open a support case defining its severity level, and the team will reply via email at their convenience regarding their issue. 

Conclusion

In this article, you learned in detail about Airbyte and Rivery and their key differences. Both tools have their advantages and disadvantages. Rivery is ideal if you want a unified platform for data ingestion and other data management tasks. Airbyte is a good choice for automating data pipeline building using its largest library of connectors and intuitive user interface. Considering the key differences between the above mentioned tools, you can choose any tool according to your specific requirements. 

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