Fivetran is the best ELT platform for most teams that want managed connectors and hands-off syncs, with Airbyte the best low-cost start and Estuary the best choice for real-time database replication. The cheapest entry point in this list is Airbyte at $20 per month, while Integrate.io is the most expensive entry point at $1,999 per month, so the billing unit matters more than the headline price. Fivetran bills monthly active rows per connection, not per account, and each standard connection carries a $5 base charge, so many small sources can cost more than one large source.
ELT means extract, load, transform. The tool copies raw data from apps and databases into a warehouse or lake, then the transformation step runs after the load, usually in the warehouse itself. That order matters, because it lets teams load data fast and reshape it later with SQL or a visual tool. The eight platforms below all move data this way, but they charge in very different units, so compare rows, events, credits, records, and gigabytes before you choose.
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Best elt platforms reviews: comparison table
Swipe the table sideways on a phone to see every column.
| # | Name | Best for | Starting price | Free plan / trial | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fivetran | Managed ELT with the widest connector set | $5 per connection/month | Yes | Visit |
| 2 | Airbyte | Low-cost managed ELT with self-hosting | $20 per month | Free trial (14 days) | Visit |
| 3 | Stitch | Simple row-based ELT for small teams | $100 per month | Free trial (14 days) | Visit |
| 4 | Hevo Data | No-code ELT for SaaS and database sources | $299 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 5 | Integrate.io | Flat-fee ELT with unlimited volume | $1,999 per month | Free trial (14 days) | Visit |
| 6 | Matillion | Warehouse-native transformation at scale | quote only | Free trial | Visit |
| 7 | Skyvia | No-code ELT for teams without engineers | $79 per month | Yes | Visit |
| 8 | Estuary | Real-time database replication by gigabyte | $0.50 per GB | Yes | Visit |
The 8 best best elt platforms reviews, in detail
Fivetran
Best for: Managed ELT with the widest connector set
Fivetran is the managed option for teams that want connectors to work without building or maintaining them. The official pricing page lists 700+ fully managed connectors, 200+ activation destinations, unlimited users on Standard, and 15-minute syncs on Standard, with 1-minute syncs on Enterprise. Transformations use model runs, and the Free plan includes up to 5,000 model runs a month.
- Each new connection includes a 14-day free use period.
- The billing model is the part to study first.
- Fivetran charges on monthly active rows, called MAR, and each connection follows its own cost curve.
- A row counts when it is inserted, updated, or deleted in a calendar month, while unchanged rows and initial syncs do not count.
Pros
- 700+ fully managed connectors
- 15-minute syncs on Standard
- unlimited users on Standard
Cons
- Usage is billed per connection, so many small sources add up
- no single flat monthly price is listed
Airbyte
Best for: Low-cost managed ELT with self-hosting
Airbyte gives small teams a low entry price and a free self-hosted path in the same product family. Airbyte Core is free to self-host, while Airbyte Cloud Standard starts at $20 a month and includes 5 credits, with extra credits at $5 each. The official pricing page lists 700+ connectors on every Cloud plan.
- Standard covers hourly syncs, while Plus adds 15-minute syncs, single sign-on, field renaming, and 2 workspaces.
- Credits are the unit to learn before you estimate a bill.
- API and custom sources use 6 credits per million rows, while databases and files use 4 credits per 1 GB.
- That split means a wide database table and a busy API feed can price very differently at the same row count.
Pros
- Standard starts at $20 per month with 5 credits included
- free self-hosted Core version
- 700+ connectors
Cons
- Standard syncs run hourly at most
- Pro and Enterprise Flex are quote only and use capacity pricing
Stitch
Best for: Simple row-based ELT for small teams
Stitch is the simplest platform in this list, and that simplicity is its main appeal. Standard starts at $100 a month for 5 million rows a month, with a slider up to 300 million rows, 1 destination, 10 standard sources, 5 users, a 7-day historical sync, and 7-day extraction log retention. Advanced costs $1,500 a month when billed annually, with 100 million rows a month, 3 destinations, unlimited enterprise sources, unlimited users, and 60-day log retention.
- Stitch does not include built-in transformation in the same way as warehouse-native tools, so many teams pair it with a separate transformation tool.
- The 14-day free trial needs no credit card and allows unlimited rows during the trial, and each new integration gets a 7-day grace period where usage
Pros
- Standard starts at $100 per month
- 14-day free trial with unlimited rows
- 7-day grace period on new integrations
Cons
- Standard allows only 1 destination and 10 standard sources
- Advanced jumps to $1,500 per month
Hevo Data
Best for: No-code ELT for SaaS and database sources
Hevo Data is a no-code platform for teams that want pipelines without writing code for each source. The Free plan costs $0 and covers up to 1 million events a month, with up to 5 users, 50 free sources, and 1-hour scheduling. Starter starts at $299 a month, adds up to 10 users, 190+ connectors, dbt Core integration, SSH and SSL, and 24 by 5 email and live chat support.
- Hevo charges by credits, and the credit price changes by plan.
- The official pricing page lists $1 per credit on Starter, $1.50 per credit on Professional, and $2 per credit on Business Critical, with credits consu
- An event is a row added, edited, or deleted, so a source with many small updates can use more events than its row count suggests.
- Choose Hevo when a no-code setup and a free start matter, and check event volume before you pick a tier.
Pros
- Free plan covers up to 1 million events a month
- Starter includes 190+ connectors
- dbt Core integration on Starter
Cons
- Free and Starter syncs run hourly
- streaming pipelines need Professional or a higher plan
Integrate.io
Best for: Flat-fee ELT with unlimited volume
Integrate.io sells one listed plan instead of a usage meter, which makes the bill easy to predict at high volume. Core costs $1,999 a month when billed annually, with unlimited data volume, pipelines, connectors, and users, plus 60-second pipeline frequency and 30-day onboarding with a solutions engineer. The platform covers ETL, ELT, change data capture, reverse ETL, and API generation in one place, and the official pricing page lists 200+ sources and destinations.
- The flat fee is the trade-off to weigh.
- At low volume, a usage-based tool can cost far less than $1,999 a month, while at high volume the flat fee can cost less than a meter that grows with
- Integrate.io states that the same fee covers ingestion, transformations, and reverse ETL, while usage-based tools often bill each of those parts separ
- The 14-day free trial needs no credit card and gives full access to all features.
Pros
- One flat fee covers unlimited data, pipelines, connectors, and users
- 60-second pipeline frequency
- 24/7 support
Cons
- No free plan, only a 14-day trial
- entry price is far above usage-based tools at low volume
Matillion
Best for: Warehouse-native transformation at scale
Matillion is built for teams that transform data inside their own warehouse rather than in a separate engine. The Data Productivity Cloud, now branded Maia, offers Developer, Teams, and Scale editions. Developer is for individuals, with 1 developer user and unlimited projects.
- Teams adds 5 developer users, an audit log, standard support, and a service level agreement.
- Scale adds hybrid deployment, lineage, and extended log retention.
- Matillion bills in credits, and the official pricing page does not list a dollar price per credit, so the starting price here is quote only.
- Credits are consumed by task hours, with orchestration at 1 credit per task hour, transformation at 3 credits per task hour, and change data capture a
Pros
- Transformations run inside Snowflake, Databricks, Redshift, or BigQuery
- low-code canvas with SQL and Python
- hybrid deployment on Scale
Cons
- No dollar price per credit is listed
- warehouse compute is a second bill on top of Matillion credits
Skyvia
Best for: No-code ELT for teams without engineers
Skyvia is a no-code cloud data platform that suits small teams without a data engineer. Data Integration Basic costs $79 a month when billed annually, or $99 a month when billed monthly, and covers 5 scheduled integrations with daily runs. Standard costs $159 a month when billed annually, or $199 a month when billed monthly, and adds hourly runs, 50 scheduled integrations, and advanced mapping.
- Professional costs $399 a month when billed annually, or $499 a month when billed monthly, and adds runs every minute and unlimited scheduled integrat
- Skyvia prices each module separately, so the Data Integration price above does not include Automation, Backup, Query, or Connect.
- Overage is off by default, so runs pause at the monthly record limit unless you turn on extra records, which cost $0.06 per 1,000 records on Standard
Pros
- Free plan covers 10,000 records a month
- unlimited users and connections
- visual mapping with no code
Cons
- Basic runs only once a day
- hourly runs need Standard and 1-minute runs need Professional
Estuary
Best for: Real-time database replication by gigabyte
Estuary, formerly Estuary Flow, is the real-time option in this list, built around log-based change data capture from databases. The Developer plan is free, with up to 10 GB a month and 2 connector instances, and no credit card is needed. Cloud is pay-as-you-go at $0.50 per GB plus $100 a month per connector instance for the first six, then $50 a month per instance after the sixth.
- The billing detail that changes the estimate is the double count.
- Estuary states that data is counted each time it is captured from a source and each time it is delivered to a destination, including data produced by
- Its own example moves 100 GB a month from Postgres to Snowflake and counts 200 GB of data at $100, plus 2 connector instances at $200, for $300 a mont
Pros
- Free Developer plan covers 10 GB a month and 2 connectors
- log-based change data capture
- one capture can feed many destinations
Cons
- Each gigabyte is counted at capture and again at each materialization
- connector fees add $100 a month per instance
How we chose
We picked platforms that offer managed ELT or ELT-style replication into a cloud warehouse, with a listed pricing page or a clear quote-only model, and with connectors for common SaaS apps and databases. Prices and plan limits in this article come from official vendor pricing pages opened on 2026-11-12, and each price is cited in Sources. We did not test any tool hands-on. We did not use customer counts, awards, or review scores to order the list. One fact that shaped the list is the Estuary double count: a gigabyte is billed at capture and again at each materialization, which is a plan detail most short roundups skip.
Pick by volume and budget
| Monthly workload | Best fit | Why the numbers point there |
|---|---|---|
| Under 10 GB or 10,000 records | Skyvia Free or Estuary Developer | Skyvia Free covers 10,000 records and Estuary Developer covers 10 GB with 2 connectors, both at $0 |
| Under 500,000 monthly active rows | Fivetran Free | Fivetran Free covers up to 500,000 MAR and 5,000 model runs a month |
| 5 million rows, 1 destination | Stitch Standard at $100 a month | Stitch Standard starts at $100 for 5 million rows, with 10 sources and 5 users |
| 5 million events, no-code setup | Hevo Data Starter at $299 a month | Hevo Data Starter starts at $299 for 5 million events, with 10 users and 190+ connectors |
| 40 credits a month or more | Airbyte Plus from $189 a month | Airbyte says Plus is usually cheaper above 40 credits, with 15-minute syncs and single sign-on |
| High volume, fixed budget | Integrate.io Core at $1,999 a month | Integrate.io Core is flat at $1,999 for unlimited volume, pipelines, connectors, and users |
| In-warehouse transformation | Matillion, quote only | Matillion runs transformations inside the warehouse and bills credits by task hour, with no listed dollar rate |
| Real-time database changes | Estuary Cloud at $0.50 per GB | Estuary Cloud adds $0.50 per GB plus $100 per connector, counted at capture and at each delivery |
Frequently asked questions
What is the best ELT platform for most teams?
Fivetran is the best pick for most teams that want managed ELT, because it lists 700+ connectors, 15-minute syncs on Standard, unlimited users, and a Free plan up to 500,000 monthly active rows. Airbyte is the better start when the budget is tight, at $20 a month, and Estuary is the better pick for real-time database changes.
How much does an ELT platform cost per month?
Cost ranges from $0 on a free plan to $1,999 a month on Integrate.io Core, with Airbyte at $20 a month, Stitch at $100 a month, Skyvia at $79 a month billed annually, Hevo Data at $299 a month, and Estuary at $0.50 per GB plus connector fees. Fivetran and Matillion do not list a single flat monthly price, so model your own volume first.
Which ELT platform is cheapest for a small team?
Airbyte is the cheapest entry point among the managed Cloud plans here, at $20 a month with 5 credits included, while Skyvia Free covers 10,000 records a month and Estuary Developer covers 10 GB a month at $0. Fivetran Free also covers up to 500,000 monthly active rows, so a small team can often start at $0 before any entry price applies.
What is the difference between ELT and ETL?
In ELT, data is extracted from a source, loaded raw into a warehouse or lake, and then transformed inside that warehouse. In ETL, data is transformed before it is loaded. ELT suits cloud warehouses because they can run the transformation step at scale, while ETL suits cases where data must be cleaned before it lands anywhere else.
Which ELT platform is best for real-time data?
Estuary is the best pick here for real-time database replication, because it uses log-based change data capture and lists real-time or batch moves from 200+ connectors. Fivetran Enterprise offers 1-minute syncs, Airbyte Pro offers 5-minute syncs, and Hevo Data reserves streaming pipelines for Professional and higher plans, so check the exact sync interval before you buy.
Do I need a separate tool for transformations?
It depends on the platform you choose. Fivetran includes transformations by model run, Matillion runs transformations inside your warehouse, and Hevo Data includes dbt Core integration on Starter. Stitch focuses on load and leaves transformation to a separate tool, so add that cost and setup work to your plan before you choose Stitch.
Sources
- https://www.fivetran.com/
- https://fivetran.com/pricing
- https://airbyte.com/
- https://airbyte.com/pricing
- https://www.stitchdata.com/
- https://www.stitchdata.com/pricing/
- https://hevodata.com/
- https://hevodata.com/pricing/consumption/
- https://www.integrate.io/
- https://www.integrate.io/pricing/
- https://www.matillion.com/
- https://www.matillion.com/pricing
- https://skyvia.com/
- https://skyvia.com/pricing
- https://estuary.dev/
- https://estuary.dev/pricing/
Prices and features were read on each company’s own website in November 2026. They change often, so confirm the current offer on the official site before you sign up or buy.