Introduction
What is ETL? The ELT (extract, load, transform) process represents an evolution of traditional ETL (extract, transform, load) for data integration. By switching the orders of the load and transform operations, ELT enables users to access data faster and perform more flexible queries and analyses.
But while the benefits of ELT may be obvious, the question of which ELT tool to use is less clear. With a wide range of solutions now on the market, you need to consider your own situation and use cases in order to select the best ELT tool for you. Below, we’ll go over 7 of the top ELT tools, so that you can make the choice that’s right for your organization. What is ETLT?
About FlyData
FlyData is a cloud-native databased replication solution that supports replicating data from databases to Amazon Redshift and Snowflake data warehouses. The platform uses Change Data Capture (CDC) for ingesting the data from databases. With supporting incremental loads of 5 minutes, the solution is the fastest replication platform on the market.
Unlike Xplenty, however, FlyData uses a credit-based pricing system: users purchase credits, and then use them to pay for the amount of rows of data they transfer each month.
According to G2, FlyData has received an average of 4.8 out of 5 stars based on 8 ratings. User Anders C. gives FlyData a 4.5-star review, praising the tool’s simplicity and customer support but criticizing its lack of certain integrations.
Visit FlyData.comAbout Fivetran
Last but not least, Fivetran is a cloud-based ELT and ETL data integration solution that connects your source data with Redshift, Snowflake, BigQuery, and Azure data warehouses. Although it originally used a connector-based pricing model like Xplenty, Fivetran switched to a consumption-based pricing structure, eliciting complaints from some users.
With more than 100 data source connectors, Fivetran stands toe to toe with tools like Xplenty and Stitch in terms of the number of integrations it offers. In addition, unlike some other tools on this list, Fivetran allows users to add their own custom integrations.
As of writing, Fivetran currently has an average rating of 4.2 out 5 stars on G2. Reviewer Shibin N. praises Fivetran’s “extremely user-friendly interface” and comprehensive list of connectors, but dislikes the tool’s consumption-based pricing model and poor customer support.
Visit Fivetran.comAbout Xplenty
Xplenty is a powerful, feature-rich data integration platform that makes it easy to build both ELT and ETL data pipelines to your cloud data warehouse. With an intuitive, drag-and-drop interface, Xplenty enables even non-technical users to link data sources with destinations in just a few clicks.
One of the biggest advantages of Xplenty is that it includes over 100 pre-built connectors to popular databases, SaaS applications, and analytics tools. Xplenty also emphasizes scalability, customer support, and excellent security, with features such as field-level encryption to keep sensitive and confidential data safe. The Xplenty pricing model charges a flat monthly fee for each connector you use, so customers don’t need to worry if they use more data than usual, or if their data volumes grow over time.
As of writing, Xplenty has achieved an average rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars on the business software review website G2. Reviewer Kerry D. writes: “I have not found anything I could not accomplish with Xplenty. Support and development have been very responsive and effective.”
Visit Xplenty.comAbout Stitch
Stitch is an open-source ELT and ETL data integration platform that was acquired by its competitor Talend in 2018. Stitch calls itself a “self-service ELT tool,” with over 100 data integrations and connectors to choose from when building your ELT data pipelines.
Unlike Xplenty and Matillion, Stitch charges users per the rows of data they process each month. Another important point to note is that Stitch does not allow users to perform arbitrary data transformations; instead, the company encourages users to add transformations on top of raw data in layers once the information is inside your data warehouse.
Stitch also enjoys generally positive reviews on G2; like Xplenty and Matillion, it has earned G2’s title of “Leader” in the space of ETL tools. Reviews generally praise Stitch’s ease of use and customer support, but are less enthusiastic about the pricing structure and the lack of certain features or connectors.
Visit StitchData.comAbout Hevo Data
Hevo Data (or just Hevo) calls itself a “no-code data pipeline as a service,” with more than 100 pre-built integrations to move information from your sources to your target data warehouse. Like Xplenty, supports both ELT and ETL data pipelines, so you can mix and match both approaches as best suits your needs.
Technically savvy users can define their own pre-load data transformations in Hevo with the Python programming language before sending the data to Redshift, Snowflake, or BigQuery. However, this flexibility doesn’t extend to the data sources themselves: users can’t add their own sources, so if the tool doesn’t include the functionality you need (or if your needs change in the future), you’re out of luck.
Despite this limitation, Hevo enjoys generally positive reviews on G2. User Vlad Z. gives Hevo a 4.5-star review, highlighting the tool’s ease of configuration and reliability but citing its event-based pricing as a drawback.
Visit hevodata.comAbout Oracle Data Integrator
Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) is an ELT data integration solution that belongs to the Oracle software ecosystem. The tool has been part of the Oracle family since 2006, when it was rebranded from Sunopsis after Oracle acquired the company.
If you’re already heavily using other Oracle applications such as Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS), then ODI is a natural choice for your ELT needs. ODI integrates with other Oracle products such as Oracle Sales Cloud and Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse.
ODI currently has an average rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars on G2, based on 17 reviews. Database and middleware specialist Christopher T. gives ODI a 4-star review, writing that the software is “a very powerful tool with tons of options,” but also “too hard to learn… training is definitely needed.”
Visit Oracle.comAbout Blendo
Blendo is an ELT and ETL data integration platform that was acquired by RudderStack in 2020. As of writing, Blendo integrated with more than 40 possible data sources and 6 different destinations: Redshift, BigQuery, Snowflake, Panoply, Microsoft SQL Server, and PostgreSQL.
Like Hevo, Blendo/RudderStack uses an event-based pricing model, with a free tier and a paid tier starting at $750/month for 25 million events. In addition, some of Blendo’s data connectors—including MongoDB, SQL Server, and Salesforce—are locked behind an “advanced” payment tier.
Despite the limited selection of data connectors, Blendo enjoys generally positive reviews on G2. Reviewer Michael P. writes that Blendo provided “easy out-of-the-box integration with most of our data,” but also mentions the need for connectors with a greater variety of data sources.
Visit Blendo.com