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Alteryx Designer vs FME comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Alteryx Designer
Ranking in Data Integration
10th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
FME
Ranking in Data Integration
23rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Alteryx Designer is 2.4%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FME is 1.9%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

AHMAD FAIRUZ BIN ALI - PeerSpot reviewer
Able to hold a huge amount of data in its memory, but it is very expensive
We had challenges with a very complex workflow, and we couldn't find the root cause because it caused an error in the output. We recreated the workflow, and it solved the problem. Alteryx Designer integrated seamlessly with other tools and systems in our workflow. It's not convenient for us to develop any machine learning model using Alteryx Designer. Other data science studio tools are much more advanced than the data science studio tools in Alteryx. We do maintenance on our workflow, but we try to be careful with the upgrades because we don't want any upgrades to impact our production workflows. One or two people are needed to maintain the solution. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Alan Bloor - PeerSpot reviewer
Great for handling large volumes of data, but it is priced a bit high
When I do coding, I think about every single function. Some of these functions can be very elementary, like doing a substring or some capitalization. But FME removes all that coding because it's a transformer, so the time to develop an application to get to a point where you're producing results is decreased massively. It used to take weeks and months to develop software, and now I can use something like FME, and within one day, we get results. We can look at and validate data. We make minor subtle changes to the workbenches to improve it. We can share the workbenches. We don't have to use GitHub or anything else.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The product offers very good analytics."
"One of the things I like about Alteryx Designer is how easy it is to connect numerous data inputs, including API connectors. This helps tremendously in reducing the time required to extract data from systems like SAP that don't have straightforward connectivity options."
"Workflow automation, in general, is valuable."
"I believe in the ability to connect to multiple data sources, as well as the ease of use to transform data and output data in a variety of formats."
"It has great UI."
"Alteryx Designer is easier to use for machine learning models. However, I am not very good at Python scripts which you will need to make the machine learning scripts."
"Alteryx is quite easy to use, learn, and understand as a product."
"The most valuable feature of Alteryx Designer is its ability to select all the inputs and formulas."
"The most valuable feature of FME is the graphical user interface. There is nothing better. It is very easy to debug because you can see all steps where there are failures. Overall the software is easy to optimize a process."
"It has a very friendly user interface. You don't need to use a lot of code. For us that's the most important aspect about it. Also, it has a lot of connectors and few forms. It has a strong facial aspect. It can do a lot of facial analysis."
"All spatial features are unrivaled, and the possibility to execute them based on a scheduled trigger, manual, e-mail, Websocket, tweet, file/directory change or virtually any trigger is most valuable."
"We make minor subtle changes to the workbenches to improve it. We can share the workbenches. We don't have to use GitHub or anything else."
"It has standard plug-ins available for different data sources."
"FME is spatially aware and understands how to deal with the conversion of spatial objects and their attributes."
 

Cons

"We discontinued using Alteryx's data science studio because it was not very user-friendly."
"For smaller clients with ten to 15 employees, Alteryx can be expensive. The server capabilities are costly too. The technical support could also improve by being quicker in response times."
"Based on my experience, the tool could be improved by providing sample reports or pre-configured workflows tailored to specific industries, like finance. It needs to integrate an AI chatbot as well."
"The actual usage part of it needs to be explained more. It's too vague right now."
"The major concern in Alteryx Designer stems from the high costs attached to the product."
"Alteryx Designer is not as fast as SSIS and is not good for large datasets. It also needs to improve database procedures. Though it is easy to use, it is limited in terms of technical aspects."
"The price of the product is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"When configuring the Logix, the UA could be improved."
"We are looking at the possibility of using Glue instead of FME, using the native AWS product."
"To get a higher rating, it would have to improve the price and the associated scalability. These are the main issues."
"The one thing that always appears in the community is the ability to make really easy loops to loop through data efficiently. That needs to be added at some point."
"Improvements could be made to mapping presentations."
"FME can improve the geographical transformation. I've had some problems with the geographical transformations, but it's probably mostly because I'm not the most skilled geographer in-house. The solution requires some in-depth knowledge to perform some functions."
"FME's price needs improvement for the African market."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Each license is something like $4,000."
"I rate Alteryx Designer a six out of ten for pricing."
"Alteryx Designer is a very expensive solution."
"Alteryx Designer is an expensive solution."
"The solution is expensive. It has license fees, which are renewable every year."
"The tool is priced high."
"The pricing is bit expensive."
"The product is a bit expensive, it should be looked into."
"FME Server used to cost £10,000; now it can cost over £100,000."
"The product's price is reasonable."
"We used the standard licensing for our use of FME. The cost was approximately €15,000 annually. We always welcome less expensive solutions, if the solution could be less expensive it would be helpful."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Educational Organization
14%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
30%
Energy/Utilities Company
13%
Computer Software Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Alteryx Designer?
When you open a raw Excel file, it can be hard to look at everything in detail. Alteryx makes it much easier to go through the data, summarize it, and use different tools for analysis.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alteryx Designer?
It's cheaper than Palantir, but even Alteryx is too much for small clients. It is expensive, considering the server capabilities.
What needs improvement with Alteryx Designer?
For smaller clients with ten to 15 employees, Alteryx can be expensive. The server capabilities are costly too. The technical support could also improve by being quicker in response times.
What do you like most about FME?
We make minor subtle changes to the workbenches to improve it. We can share the workbenches. We don't have to use GitHub or anything else.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FME?
The pricing is really bad. Last year, they rebranded the whole pricing structure. It used to be moderately priced at about £400 per user per year. Now they've changed the whole thing, and it's expe...
What needs improvement with FME?
The one thing that always appears in the community is the ability to make really easy loops to loop through data efficiently. That needs to be added at some point. There must be a technical or comm...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

Information not available
 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Shell, US Department of Commerce, PG&E, BC Hydro, City of Vancouver, Enel, Iowa DoT, San Antonio Water System
Find out what your peers are saying about Alteryx Designer vs. FME and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.