Extract vs Fivetran: how do these 2 ELT platforms compare?
Clearly, this is a David vs Goliath comparison. If you’re looking to move data, you know Fivetran. It was founded in 2021, it’s a leader in the ETL space, and it has grown to be a giant in data movement: getting data from apps, databases, and event streams into data warehouses and lakes.
Extract is much younger.
In fact, this particular David is still kind of a baby, not even 1 year old yet. Even though the tool has been in development for years and is quite mature, Extract only launched this year.
But the comparison isn’t quite as lopsided as you might think.
A key reason for this is that the team behind Extract has been in the high-volume data movement space for well over a decade, moving massive, mission-critical, and real-time data streams for some of the world’s biggest companies. We’re talking Microsoft, Nike, Rovio, Uber, and more. Much more. That background — and the experience gained from using all the big data tools everyone knows in modern data movement — set the stage for building a new tool for a new era: the age of AI.
In this post we’re going to compare the giant and the minnow: Extract vs Fivetran. And there’s some reasons why the minnow might just be a better option for you than the giant.
In fact, if you want to move huge amounts of data quickly, reliably, and without huge bills … Extract is likely going to be your better option.
Let’s start with the big picture …
Key takeaways
- Performance: Extract’s Rust-based architecture delivers up to 17x efficiency vs Fivetran’s older Java/Python stack.
- Transparency: Extract offers full in-product logs and observability, while Fivetran remains more of a “black box.”
- Scheduling: Extract supports manual runs, cron, and 1-minute syncs (even at lower cost tiers). Fivetran requires enterprise pricing for similar flexibility.
- Free Tier: Extract’s free plan includes 1M rows/month, unlimited sources & destinations, and hourly syncs, compared to Fivetran’s 14-day trial only.
- Scalability: Both scale well, but Extract’s higher efficiency means lower costs at volume, making frequent syncs affordable.
- Pricing: Extract is 50–75% cheaper than Fivetran, with transparent row-based pricing starting at just $15/month.
- Heritage: Though newer, Extract’s team has decades of experience moving massive, mission-critical data for Microsoft, Uber, Nike, Rovio, and more.
Overview: Extract vs Fivetran
Extract, of course, is the upstart, which probably means you don’t know too much about it.
Here’s the TLDR on Extract, if you haven’t heard it yet:
Extract is a fully managed ELT platform engineered in Rust to maximize speed, dependability, and cost-effectiveness in the age of big data and AI. Designed for high throughput, it delivers up to 17X the efficiency of traditional data movement tools and cuts costs by as much as 75% compared to older vendors. Every connector is developed and supported internally, guaranteeing consistent quality and stable performance. The platform includes robust observability capabilities such as real-time detailed logging, customizable alerts, and comprehensive monitoring, along with flexible scheduling and automated schema management. Built for teams seeking enterprise-grade reliability, clear and predictable pricing, and minimal infrastructure burden, Extract is also engineered to be both super simple and incredibly inexpensive to operate.
You probably know Fivetran, but just for the sake of completeness …
Fivetran is also a managed ELT platform. It automates moving data from where it was created or where it lives to your cloud warehouse, as you’d expect. Also as you’d expect of a tool that was launched over a decade ago, Fivetran is built in Java and Python, which has some performance issues (more on that later). Fivetran has a lot of connectors to many different systems.
Feature comparison: Extract vs Fivetran
Let’s take a look at Extract vs Fivetran on a feature-by-feature basis:
Extract | Fivetran | |
---|---|---|
Type | Fully managed ELT | Fully managed ELT |
Open source | No | No |
Deployment | Cloud only | Cloud Self-hosted |
License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
Features | Extract | Fivetran |
Built in | Rust | Java/Python |
Connector reliability | High, 100% of the code is owned and maintained by the company | High, 100% of the code is owned and maintained by the company |
Efficiency | Heavily optimized with Rust; up to 17x more efficient | Standard Java/Python performance |
Scheduling | Manual Predefined Schedule, Custom Cron Expressions API Invocation | Manual Predefined Schedule API invocation |
Schema evolution | Automatic Configurable Full Audit Log | Automatic Configurable |
Transparency | Full visibility into API calls, queries, and processing | Black box |
Scalability | Enterprise grade | Struggles at high volume |
Customization | Advanced controls | Limited |
Transformation | SQL Column mapping Value mapping dbt (coming) | dbt integration Post-load |
Logs availability | Yes, super robust in-product logging interface + API access | Not in the product, can be synced to a database |
Quality of logs | Detailed and useful customer facing logs. Code review process guarantees that in present and future connectors. | Lots of internal API calls, unclear logs. |
Logs API | Yes | No, can be synced in the DB |
Realtime logs | Yes | No |
Alert customization | System event log + custom rule engine to define any alert you want. | Fixed list of events |
Alert types | Any system event: failures, success, retries, user login, connector edit, etc. | Failures |
Alert channels | Email Slack Webhooks | |
SSO | Yes | Yes |
RBAC | Yes | Yes |
Pricing | Extract | Fivetran |
Basis | Monthly rows | Monthly active rows |
Free tier | Yes | Yes |
Cost | Low (up to 75% cheaper) | High |
Security | Extract | Fivetran |
SOC 2 | Yes | Yes |
GDPR | Yes | Yes |
HIPPA | Yes | Yes |
Want to see how Extract stacks up against all the major ELT tools?
Check out our full ELT comparison of Extract vs Fivetran vs Stitch vs Airbyte.
This item-by-item ELT overview comparison is one thing. But if you’re serious about comparing Extract vs Fivetran, you’ll need a deeper dive.
Let’s jump in …
6 key comparison points
As you’d expect, there are a lot of similarities between the platforms. Both are ETL tools, after all, so a look at Extract vs Fivetran could a long list of what both platforms have. For example, both Extract and Fivetran are fully managed cloud ETLs, and both are proprietary systems. Both offer strong security and compliance features, and both offer schema evolution features, SOO, RBAC, and much more …
But what are some of the key differences?
1. A totally different experience
Extract is a totally different data movement experience. Sure, it’s a super-modern and simple user experience, but even more so, it’s made with strategic design decisions that transform your work with data.
That means radical usability, with on-screen help for every action. It also means radical transparency, with visible and searchable in-context logging showing you exactly how your connections are connecting and your pipelines are operating so you can see every API call, SQL query, and diagnose problems instantly.
The result is a unique blend of power and usability.
You need to see it and experience it … and it’s free to try.
2. Rifle vs shotgun
Extract is the world’s most efficient data pipeline that offers lightning-fast data movement at ridiculously affordable rates. When you want to move data, it’s the Lamborghini of options.
Fivetran is not as fast, not as efficient, and not as cost-effective. It does offer a wide range of connectors and a larger, more complex feature set.
3. Scheduling and run control
Extract is built to be simple but also enable higher-order flexibility and manageability. So it supports manual runs, predefined schedules, custom cron expressions, and API invocation. At higher tiers Extract allows seriously aggressive cadences: think 1-minute syncs.
So if you need basically instant data, you can get it.
Fivetran defaults to every 6 hours but can be set to a predefined schedule, or triggered via API. It can be configurable to minute-level frequency as well in the Enterprise or Business Critical plans, which do boost your costs.
Fivetran offers cron too, but only for dbt transformations, not connector syncs.
Essentially, this is close to a wash between the 2 ELT platforms with a key exception.
Due to Extract’s much greater efficiency, you get more sync flexibility because at any given usage tier, Extract costs you less. Enterprise, for instance, which offers 1-minute syncs, starts at $4,000/month on Extract for 500 million monthly rows. For half the number of rows, Fivetran Enterprise starts at $5,202.
4. Quick (and free) start
Both Extract and Fivetran offer a free tier, but Fivetran’s is only free for “up to 14 days.”
On Fivetran, that includes up to 500,000 monthly active rows, and 5,000 model runs for transformations.
On Extract, that includes up to 1 million monthly rows, along with unlimited sources & destinations, up to 5 live connections, 2 platform users, and hourly syncs.
Hands down, that means it’s easier, safer, and cheaper to test the Extract platform, and you can continue to test and use it in production in perpetuity, at least until you need more rows of data.
5. Scalability
It might seem surprising for a new platform, but Extract has insanely good scalability.
The reason is the product’s heritage: coming from the marketing analytics company Singular that has been moving high volumes of data for literally the world’s largest companies for over a decade.
Fivetran is also built to handle very large scale, though it requires significantly more hardware to manage it, given its roots in Python and Java, which are much less efficient platforms than Rust.
The challenges to scalability for these ELT platforms are two-fold:
- Structural/partner issues
At very high volumes, some sources or APIs will throttle requests. For very large initial syncs, the internet has variable speed limits depending on routing and congestion. - Cost issues
The bigger issue is cost, especially if your monthly active rows calculation goes off the charts. That can happen when Fivetran splits single records into multiple rows, or changes MAR discounts from per connector to overall.
All other things being equal, the platform that you can afford to use hard and often wins in scalability, sometimes more so than technical limits.
Which is a good segue to …
6. Pricing
Fivetran is notoriously pricey, especially with its new pricing model. Sometimes worse, it can also be unpredictable, resulting in unforeseen expenses that might require an awkward conversation with your CFO.
Here’s where Extract has an extremely clear advantage.
We’ve designed Extract to be so much more efficient than legacy ELT platforms that it can be 50–70% cheaper than other ELT platforms, like Fivetran, without compromising quality.
The pricing is clear, simple, and published. You can get started for free, and the first paid tier, which provides up to 100 million monthly rows, starts at just $15/month. Our Standard plan offers up to 200 million monthly rows and 15 minute syncs, and starts at just $1,400/month.
And Enterprise, which offers 1-minute syncs and basically as many rows as you want, starts at $4,000/month.
As our pricing page says, Extract’s lean infrastructure and rigorous engineering processes keep costs low … and we pass those savings directly to you.
Much more to know
There’s a lot more to see and experience if you’re comparing Extract vs Fivetran.
Try it free for yourself right now.
Or, give us a chance to walk you through it. Book a demo today.