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Fivetran vs IBM Cloud Pak for Data 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

Fivetran
Ranking in Data Integration
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Data Replication (3rd), Cloud Data Integration (8th)
IBM Cloud Pak for Data
Ranking in Data Integration
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Data Virtualization (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Fivetran is 2.3%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Cloud Pak for Data is 1.8%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

Mediha Šiljić - PeerSpot reviewer
Built-in connectors offer extensive data source integration and time savings
Fivetran could improve by adapting more for technical users and by providing more options for such users. There should be more adaptability in terms of new features. If a specific feature is required, it should be integrated promptly. Improvement in existing connectors with new features is desirable. Enhancements around customer-focused product adaptation are also suggested.
Michelle Leslie - PeerSpot reviewer
Starts strong with data management capabilities but needs a demo database
What I would love to see is an end-to-end, almost a training demo database of some sort, where one of the biggest problems with data management is demonstrated. There are so many components to data management, and more often than not, people understand one thing really well. They may understand DataStage and how to move data around, but they do not see the impact of moving data incorrectly. They also do not see the impact of everyone understanding a piece of data in the same way. I would love Cloud Pak to come with a demo database that illustrates the different components of data management in a logical way, so I can see the whole picture instead of just the area I'm specializing in. It would be great if Cloud Pak, from a data modeling point of view, allowed us to import our PDMs, for example. It would be ideal to import and create business terms in Cloud Pak. The PEA would be great to create the technical data. The association between the business and the technical metadata could then be automated by pulling it through from your ACE models. The data modeling component is available in Cloud Pak. Additionally, when it comes to Cloud Pak, even though it has the NextGen DataStage built into it, there is Cloud Pak for data integration as well. Currently, I do not think we have a full enough understanding of how CP4D and CP4I can enhance each other.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Fivetran's most valuable feature is replication."
"The portal is very intuitive and easy to use."
"SysTrack load is the best feature."
"The product has some seamless connectors, which are readily available."
"Fivetran is an easy-to-deploy solution for organizations looking at integrating a wide variety of data sources."
"The product is very easy to use and very easy to configure."
"The user interface is mostly UI-based, eliminating the need for a lot of coding."
"The simplicity of the solution is its valuable feature."
"It is a scalable solution, and we have had no issues with its scalability in our company. I rate the solution's scalability a nine out of ten."
"The most valuable features are data virtualization and reporting."
"You can model the data there, connect the data models with the business processes and create data lineage processes."
"Cloud Pak is a very, very, very good system."
"One of Cloud Pak's best features is the Watson Knowledge Catalog, which helps you implement data governance."
"IBM Watson Catalog and data pipelines are the most valuable features of the solution."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine or ten out of ten."
"DataStage allows me to connect to different data sources."
 

Cons

"In our case, we ultimately did not end up using Fivetran because we were able to do custom connects at a lower cost compared to Fivetran. From a cost perspective, if the number of connectors is lesser, then Fivetran is not the most cost-efficient option."
"The solution is very expensive. I would like to have a better integration of the solution with Azure."
"An in-line data quality checking capability is missing"
"More connectors are needed for exotic, popular, and rising star portals."
"Some of the pain points we're looking at are trying to integrate some of the items in the Microsoft stack, so SharePoint and Excel, and then some of the newer Azure services."
"There was a random change to our contract in a unilateral manner after the first year. The overall cost of using Fivetran was then unclear and this is the reason I would not recommend this solution."
"The documentation can be laid out better to make it easier to find things, and I really wish there was built-in support for changing passwords. Some features don't work as advertised for the platform/repository database, and HVR is not always the fastest at getting results."
"The customization could improve because Fivetran gives more thought to people who don't want to manage analytics workflows rather than engineers who want to be able to customize pipelines more thoroughly."
"The solution's catalog searching or map search needs to be improved."
"The solution's user experience is an area that has room for improvement."
"The setup cost is very expensive. The cost depends on the pieces of the solution I'm using, how much data I have, and whether it's on the cloud or on-prem."
"The solution could have more connectors."
"One challenge I'm facing with IBM Cloud Pak for Data is native features have been decommissioned, such as XML input and output. Too many changes have been made, and my company has around one hundred thousand mappings, so my team has been putting more effort into alternative ways to do things. Another area for improvement in IBM Cloud Pak for Data is that it's more complicated to shift from on-premise to the cloud. Other vendors provide secure agents that easily connect with your existing setup. Still, with IBM Cloud Pak for Data, you have to perform connection migration steps, upgrade to the latest version, etc., which makes it more complicated, especially as my company has XML-based mappings. Still, the XML input and output capabilities of IBM Cloud Pak for Data have been discontinued, so I'd like IBM to bring that back."
"Cloud Pak would be improved with integration with cloud service providers like Cloudera."
"The technical support could be a little better."
"One thing that bugs me is how much infrastructure Cloud Pak requires for the initial deployment. It doesn't allow you to start small. The smallest permitted deployment is too big. It's a huge problem that prevents us from implementing the solution in many scenarios."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fivetran is very expensive, and its database-driven pricing model is outdated."
"I rate the pricing a six out of ten."
"The licensing costs are extremely high for the usage of somebody who has one GB or two GB of usage per day for real-time traffic. There are many other players in the market which are similarly priced or competitively priced. On average per month, it used to come around 12,000-15,000 USD, which is very high."
"The pricing model is okay and mid to large companies will not have an issue with it."
"I can't give exact amounts because that's based on usage, but it's more expensive than some of its competitors."
"The solution is affordable."
"When you have a lot of workflows and complex use cases, pricing goes down as you use it more."
"I would say they're a little bit on the expensive side, and their contract process is not particularly good, but there is a lot of potential flexibility."
"For the licensing of the solution, there is a yearly payment that needs to be made. Also, since it is expensive, cost-wise, I rate the solution an eight or nine out of ten."
"The solution is expensive."
"Cloud Pak's cost is a little high."
"The solution's pricing is competitive with that of other vendors."
"IBM Cloud Pak for Data is expensive. If we include the training time and the machine learning, it's expensive. The cost of the execution is more reasonable."
"It's quite expensive."
"I don't have the exact licensing cost for IBM Cloud Pak for Data, as my company is still finalizing requirements, including monthly, yearly, and three-year licensing fees. Still, on a scale of one to five, I'd rate it a three because, compared to other vendors, it's more complicated."
"I think that this product is too expensive for smaller companies."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
27%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What's the deal with the HVR software acquisition?
As a user of HVR Software I followed this deal closely. Fivetran is apparently trying to establish more in its sector and by buying an already established data replication software, they become som...
Does HVR Software provide reliable insights?
I honestly can't think of another data replication software that can give you better statistics and insight than HVR Software. There's the feature for topology and statistics and both of them can ...
How much traffic can HVR Software handle?
As someone who works at a company where a high volume of information is replicated and has tried several data replication softwares, I can tell you that you're looking at the right one. HVR Softwar...
What do you like most about IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
DataStage allows me to connect to different data sources.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
The setup cost is very expensive. The cost depends on the pieces of the solution I'm using, how much data I have, and whether it's on the cloud or on-prem.
What needs improvement with IBM Cloud Pak for Data?
What I would love to see is an end-to-end, almost a training demo database of some sort, where one of the biggest problems with data management is demonstrated. There are so many components to data...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Cloud Pak for Data
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Autodesk, Condé Nast, JetBlue, Morgan Stanley, OpenAI, LVMH, Pfizer, Verizon, SpotifyNational Australia Bank, Saks, Cemex, Okta, Dropbox, Pitney Bowes, World Fuel Services,Lufthansa, AutoZone, ASICS, ASOS, Coupa, Databricks, Hermes, New Relic, Intercom,Canva, Honeywell, Square, DocuSign, Nandos, Oldcastle Infrastructure
Qatar Development Bank, GuideWell, Skanderborg Music Festival
Find out what your peers are saying about Fivetran vs. IBM Cloud Pak for Data and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.