Fivetran vs Talend vs Airbyte at a glance
| Fivetran | Talend (Qlik Talend Cloud) | Airbyte |
|---|
| Ownership | Fivetran + dbt Labs (merged June 2026) | Qlik (since 2023) | Independent |
| Core focus | Managed ELT, bundled with dbt transformation | Integration, transformation and data quality | Open data movement into any destination |
| Connectors | 700+ | Broad library via Studio components and Qlik connectors | 700+, including SaaS APIs, databases, files and unstructured sources |
| Custom connectors | Connector SDK (Python); "By Request" with a 2–8 week initial review | Built as Java jobs in Talend Studio | No-code Connector Builder with AI assist, low-code and Python CDKs |
| Pricing model | Monthly Active Rows, billed per connection | Quote-only; data moved, job executions, job duration | Volume-based (Standard, Plus) or capacity-based Data Workers (Pro, Enterprise Flex) |
| Entry price | Free up to 500K MAR; $12,000 annual minimum on contracts | $12,000–$30,000 a year for Starter (third-party reports) | Free (Core); $20/month (Standard) |
| Deployment | Managed cloud; Hybrid on Enterprise and Business Critical | Cloud-first; Talend Data Fabric for hybrid and on-prem | Self-hosted, managed cloud, hybrid or fully on-prem |
| Transformation | dbt, same company since June 2026 | Built-in ETL transformations in Studio | Native dbt, Airflow, Dagster and Prefect integrations |
| Security and compliance | SOC 1, SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA BAA, PCI DSS Level 1, HITRUST | SOC 2, ISO 27001 (paid editions) | SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA conduit |
| Open source | No | No (Open Studio retired January 31, 2024) | Yes, actively maintained |
About Fivetran
Fivetran is a managed ELT service founded in 2012. It grew through acquisitions: HVR and Teleport Data in 2021, then Census and Tobiko Data in 2025. On June 1, 2026 it completed an all-stock merger with dbt Labs, and the combined company operates as Fivetran + dbt Labs.
About Talend
Talend, founded in 2005, launched Talend Open Studio in 2006 as one of the first open-source ETL tools. Qlik acquired Talend in May 2023 and retired Open Studio on January 31, 2024. Today Talend is sold as Qlik Talend Cloud in four editions, plus Talend Data Fabric for hybrid and on-prem estates.
About Airbyte
Airbyte is the open standard for data movement, used by 18% of the Fortune 500. It replicates data from 700+ sources into warehouses, lakehouses, databases and AI context stores, and runs self-hosted, fully managed, or hybrid inside your own boundary.
What changed since 2024
All three tools look different from two years ago:
- Fivetran changed how it counts billable rows three times and now owns dbt, the most common transformation layer.
- Talend lost its free open-source edition, leaving only paid, quote-only Qlik products.
- Airbyte grew to 700+ connectors, added capacity-based pricing, and added fully on-prem deployment with Enterprise Flex.
Pricing: rows, quotes or capacity
The three tools charge in three different ways.
Fivetran bills on Monthly Active Rows. Since March 2025, MAR is counted per connection rather than across the account. Since January 2026, deletes and history-mode changes count toward paid MAR, and every standard connection moving 1 to 1M MAR carries a $5 monthly minimum. Contracts carry a $12,000 annual minimum.
Talend is quote-only across four Qlik Talend Cloud editions, metered on data moved, job executions and job duration. Third-party reports put Starter at $12,000–$30,000 a year and larger estates well into six figures.
Airbyte publishes its prices. Core is free to self-host. Cloud starts at $20/month (Standard) and $189/month (Plus). Pro and Enterprise Flex price on Data Workers, dedicated compute capacity, so row counts and job volume don't drive the bill.
Connectors
Fivetran and Airbyte each list 700+ connectors. Talend's library is broad, but each pipeline is a Java job in Talend Studio rather than a configured connector.
The difference shows when a source is missing. Fivetran offers a "By Request" queue with a 2–8 week initial review, or a Python SDK you maintain yourself. Talend means building a Studio job. Airbyte's Connector Builder generates a connector from API docs with AI assist, and because the code is open, you can fix or extend any connector.
Fivetran leaves transformation to dbt, which merged into Fivetran in June 2026, so ingestion and transformation now come from one vendor.
Talend transforms data inside its own jobs, with data quality features alongside.
Airbyte focuses on data movement and integrates natively with dbt Core, dbt Cloud, Airflow, Dagster and Prefect, so you choose the transformation layer.
Deployment
Fivetran is managed cloud first; Hybrid Deployment is limited to Enterprise and Business Critical plans.
Talend is cloud-first through Qlik Talend Cloud, with Data Fabric for hybrid and on-prem. Former Open Studio users who self-hosted for free now need a paid edition.
Airbyte runs four ways on one codebase: free self-hosted Core, managed cloud, hybrid, or fully on-prem with Enterprise Flex.
Openness
Only Airbyte is open source today. Its core has 1,000+ contributors and 25,000+ community members, and you can inspect, fix and extend any connector. Fivetran has always been proprietary, and Talend's open-source era ended with Open Studio.
When to choose Fivetran, Talend or Airbyte
| Your situation | Better fit |
|---|
| You want a fully managed service and are happy to standardize on dbt from the same vendor | Fivetran |
| You require PCI DSS Level 1 or HITRUST attestation in a managed ELT service | Fivetran |
| You need data quality alongside integration, or are standardized on Qlik | Talend |
| You're still running Talend Open Studio and want a free, maintained replacement | Airbyte |
| You want pricing you can see before a sales cycle | Airbyte |
| Your bill is driven by high-churn tables, deletes or many small connections | Airbyte (capacity-based) |
| You need to self-host or run fully on-prem | Airbyte |
| You need a missing connector quickly, without a request queue | Airbyte (Connector Builder) |
Related comparisons: Airbyte vs Fivetran, Airbyte vs Talend, Fivetran vs AWS Glue vs Airbyte, Matillion vs Talend.
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