--- title: "Fivetran vs Matillion: Which is Better in 2026? | App Stack Builder" description: "Fivetran vs Matillion compared for 2026: pricing, free tiers, features, pros & cons. See which etl & elt tool is the better fit for your startup." source: https://appstackbuilder.com/compare/fivetran-vs-matillion retrieved: 2026-11-10 --- ![](https://appstackbuilder.com/logos/fivetran.png) vs ![](https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=matillion.com&sz=128) # Fivetran vs Matillion: Which is Better in 2026? ETL & ELT [Fivetran](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/fivetran) and [Matillion](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/matillion) are both ETL & ELT tools, made for different people. Fivetran is for data teams that want managed connectors into a warehouse and would rather pay by usage than maintain sync code. Matillion is for warehouse teams on Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery or Redshift who want a visual pipeline canvas that still accepts SQL and Python. Quick verdict There’s no single winner; pick on your constraint. Choose Fivetran if you want connectors that someone else keeps working when source APIs change. Choose Matillion if your team mixes analysts who like a canvas with engineers who write SQL. ## Fivetran vs Matillion: Side by Side | | Fivetran | Matillion | | -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | Category | ETL & ELT | ETL & ELT | | What it is | Managed ELT connectors | Cloud ETL/ELT platform | | How you pay | Monthly active rows per connection; monthly, yearly or pay-as-you-go | Credits for task hours and extra users | | Free access | Free plan with 500,000 MAR a month | Free trial (length not stated) | | Where it runs | Fivetran’s cloud | Matillion’s cloud, or hybrid on Scale | | Connectors | Managed connector catalogue (count not stated on the pricing page) | Pre-built connectors (count not stated on the pricing page) | | Pricing | Free · then usage-based | Usage-based | | Starting price | Free tier available | Pay-as-you-go | | Free tier | ✓ | — | | Rating | 4.4 | 4.3 | | Best for | ETL & ELT: managed connectors, MAR billing, warehouse loading | ETL & ELT: visual pipelines, Snowflake, low-code ETL | Ratings are App Stack Builder’s editorial score out of 5, not an average of user reviews. ## Pros & Cons ![](https://appstackbuilder.com/logos/fivetran.png) [Fivetran](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/fivetran) * ✓Widest managed connector catalog * ✓Schema drift handled for you * ✓Free tier covers small pipelines * ✓Rate declines with volume * ✗MAR billing is hard to forecast * ✗Costs escalate fast on chatty tables * ✗Little control over sync internals ![](https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=matillion.com&sz=128) [Matillion](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/matillion) * ✓Visual canvas and SQL/Python in the same pipeline * ✓Git built into every project * ✓Validation and sampling runs are not billed * ✓Streaming CDC on the Scale plan * ✗No published prices on any plan * ✗Credit billing needs forecasting * ✗Aimed at warehouse teams, not one-off scripts ## Key Features Compared ### Fivetran * ✓Free plan: 500,000 monthly active rows (MAR) for connections, 3,500 MAR for activations and 5,000 model runs a month * ✓Standard, Enterprise and Business Critical have no list price on the page; connection rates depend on volume and plan * ✓A $5 base charge applies to each Standard connection with 1 to 1 million MAR in a month * ✓Model runs above 5,000 cost $0.01 each, falling to $0.002 above 100,000 * ✓Activations (reverse ETL, formerly Census syncs) are billed on MAR too * ✓14-day trial, and every new connection gets 14 free days ### Matillion * ✓Developer: 1 developer user, unlimited projects, pre-built connectors, built-in Git repository * ✓Teams: 5 developer users, audit log, standard support with an SLA * ✓Scale: custom SSO, hybrid cloud deployment, data lineage, streaming CDC and 180+ days of logs * ✓Consumption-based: credits for pipeline task hours and for extra developer users; no prices on the page * ✓Validation and sampling runs are not billed ### Choose Fivetran if… * ✓You want to start free. Fivetran has a free tier and Matillion does not. * ✓You want connectors that someone else keeps working when source APIs change. * ✓Your pipelines are mostly SaaS apps and databases loading into one warehouse. * ✓You want ingestion, dbt transformations and reverse ETL from one vendor. [Fivetran review & pricing ](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/fivetran) ### Choose Matillion if… * ✓Your team mixes analysts who like a canvas with engineers who write SQL. * ✓You want load and transform designed in the same tool. * ✓You need hybrid deployment or streaming CDC from one vendor. [Matillion review & pricing ](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/matillion) ## Frequently Asked Questions Is Fivetran better than Matillion?⌄ There’s no single winner; pick on your constraint. Choose Fivetran if you want connectors that someone else keeps working when source APIs change. Choose Matillion if your team mixes analysts who like a canvas with engineers who write SQL. What is the difference between Fivetran and Matillion?⌄ What it is. Fivetran: Managed ELT connectors. Matillion: Cloud ETL/ELT platform. How you pay. Fivetran: Monthly active rows per connection; monthly, yearly or pay-as-you-go. Matillion: Credits for task hours and extra users. Free access. Fivetran: Free plan with 500,000 MAR a month. Matillion: Free trial (length not stated). Where it runs. Fivetran: Fivetran’s cloud. Matillion: Matillion’s cloud, or hybrid on Scale. Connectors. Fivetran: Managed connector catalogue (count not stated on the pricing page). Matillion: Pre-built connectors (count not stated on the pricing page). Fivetran vs Matillion: which is cheaper?⌄ Fivetran pricing: Free · then usage-based. Matillion pricing: Usage-based. Confirm current pricing on each tool's official site, as plans change. Which is rated higher, Fivetran or Matillion?⌄ On our editorial score, Fivetran is 4.4 out of 5 and Matillion is 4.3 out of 5, so Fivetran is slightly ahead. This is our own score, not an average of user reviews. When should I skip both Fivetran and Matillion?⌄ Skip Fivetran if you need to forecast the bill exactly. MAR pricing moves with how often rows change; Airbyte sells fixed credit packs. Skip Matillion if you want a published price before talking to sales. Airbyte and Estuary list theirs. Sources · tool facts checked November 2026 1. 1.[Fivetran pricingfivetran.com ](https://www.fivetran.com/pricing) 2. 2.[Fivetran + dbt Labs complete mergerfivetran.com ](https://www.fivetran.com/press/fivetran-dbt-labs-complete-merger-to-create-the-data-infrastructure-for-trusted-ai-agents) 3. 3.[Matillion pricingmatillion.com ](https://www.matillion.com/pricing) See more options in our guide to the [best etl & elt tools for startups](https://appstackbuilder.com/categories/data-engineering). ## Still not sure which to pick? Get a free, AI-powered tech stack, including the best etl & elt pick for your budget and team, in 60 seconds. 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