No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Fivetran vs IBM InfoSphere Information Server 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
14th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Data Replication (3rd), Cloud Data Integration (9th)
IBM InfoSphere Information ...
Ranking in Data Integration
32nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Metadata Management (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Fivetran is 1.8%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM InfoSphere Information Server is 0.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fivetran1.8%
IBM InfoSphere Information Server0.9%
Other97.3%
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

Hafiz Usman - PeerSpot reviewer
Team Lead Data Engineer at Data Pilot
Has accelerated data integration workflows and supports seamless development of custom connectors
I've worked extensively with Fivetran, mainly used for extraction purposes, and I've worked with the transformation element in it as well. Fivetran not only has built-in connectors but also provides SDK connectors, allowing us to develop our own connectors in an easy manner. I don't have to write raw Python scripts or dumping scripts; it offers straightforward examples and guidelines, making it much simpler to develop custom connectors inside Fivetran. We've been able to develop many custom connectors as well, which is unique and beneficial for having everything centralized instead of having those connectors located elsewhere. One of the best features by Fivetran is its clean, simple, and intuitive UI. It includes a transformation section where I can deploy my DBT queries and scripts. It also supplies good tracking capabilities for billing estimates and user permissions, allowing for customization to the desired level. The number of connectors it has remains a standout feature, and within connectors, the options available are very helpful. Although it sometimes appears static due to its built-in nature, it offers good flexibility for data transformation and caching, which I appreciate because it saves us extensive script-writing time.
MI
Senior Data Engineer at Mohammed Mansour Alrumiah
Faced challenges with customer support and documentation but have benefited from reliable data integration over the years
As for utilizing the platform's metadata management feature, I have not worked on that feature yet, but personally, I have done that. To evaluate the effectiveness of IBM InfoSphere Information Server's data integration capabilities, if IBM is providing all the solutions we are using, then it is definitely a helpful thing. Mostly, the other thing is that it is a big area including data governance, data lineage, data management, and metadata, but every customer is not putting that much effort and money on that. They mostly migrate the data, use it, and forget it, but slowly things are changing. I am working in Saudi Arabia, so here also data governance, data management, and those kinds of things are getting attention. Regarding how scalable IBM InfoSphere Information Server is, I need to learn how to tune performance and scalability on the cloud. I am familiar with localized hardware, but on the cloud, I still have to do the work around it. In the beginning, we estimate the load and based on that, we put the hardware, but if there is continuous increase, I believe IBM also faces problems. Scalability needs to be improved because once the demand comes, you should be able to improve it, but for that, documentation on how to add hardware or resources to the software needs to be proper. I do not have much hands-on experience with that.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Fivetran is that it only synchronizes what needs to be synchronized."
"The solution is stable, and we've never faced any stability issues."
"Fivetran offers native connectivity with Sybase"
"Making the decision to implement Fivetran was supported by the fact that they have better connectors than other competitors."
"The most important feature of the solution is its ability to build data pipelines in less time."
"The user interface is mostly UI-based, eliminating the need for a lot of coding."
"The general data ingestion is valuable; it's used for a lot of data and provides about 90% of the data we use in our data warehouse without needing data engineering."
"The solution is stable. We've never faced any stability issues."
"Reduces the loading and development time for Datawarehouse ETL."
"Over the years of working with IBM InfoSphere Information Server, I see basically the strength of the tool, capability, and load balancing, which I see is really good."
"The initial IBM InfoSphere Information Server is straightforward and you can choose what type of installation you want, such as a customized installation, with clear-cut documentation that, if followed, works fine and the installation has not given us issues."
"This solution is extremely flexible and scalable."
"Data connections, data partitioning, flexibility, and performance are the most valuable features."
"Deploying the solution is straightforward for me."
"The integration with different technologies is the most valuable feature."
"The integration with different technologies is the most valuable feature."
 

Cons

"There is not a lot of options to customize the pipeline, and the cost is high."
"Fivetran is very expensive for data sources with a lot of rows, such as email data. I would like to see cheaper pricing for data sources like that."
"Fivetran is very expensive for data sources with a lot of rows, such as email data. I would like to see cheaper pricing for data sources like that."
"The experience of using SDK connectors can be improved, as it lacks computational power, which is an area that needs enhancement."
"This solution needs to improve its real-time data and transformation availability."
"The documentation is decent, but it's hard to find information online about Fivetran. For example, if you try to search for an error code, you won't find much information about it in forums."
"I would like for them to incorporate additional transformations."
"We use a separate tool for "reverse ETL", which is the opposite of what Fivetran does; it pushes data from your data warehouse back out to business applications. If Fivetran pulls data from those same applications, they should also enable users to push it back. I would love to do both ETL and reverse ETL in the same tool."
"This solution would benefit from the engine being made more lightweight."
"Their technical support needs improvement."
"IBM InfoSphere Information Server should be more scalable. It should have the option to change the configuration to run on a single, non-multiple node, or multi-threading processing."
"Customer Service: It's poor."
"Heavy use of scratch disk which sometimes leads to failure."
"There are certain shortcomings in the cloud side of the solution, where improvements are required."
"Their technical support needs improvement."
"We have decided to decrease the usage of metadata management because we did not see any significant advantages."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In the first year, we were given a very good discount. It was approximately 20,000 Euros per year. In the third year, we purchased credit for two years and the price was 33,000 Euros per year."
"I can't give exact amounts because that's based on usage, but it's more expensive than some of its competitors."
"I've heard that the license for HVR is a bit costly compared to its competitors, but since it's reliable and efficient, I think the customer shouldn't be bothered about the cost."
"I don't have the exact information, but I know it is high, and it is on a yearly basis. There is no additional cost for what we're doing. We're always open to doing things cheaper, so we might potentially implement a different solution."
"When you have a lot of workflows and complex use cases, pricing goes down as you use it more."
"The pricing model is okay and mid to large companies will not have an issue with it."
"I rate the pricing a six out of ten."
"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."
"The licensing cost of IBM InfoSphere Information Server depends on how many users there are."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Data Integration solutions are best for your needs.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Construction Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise16
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

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 needs improvement with IBM InfoSphere Information Server?
We are using the on-premises version of IBM InfoSphere Information Server, but we feel that all new development is mainly for the cloud. We receive corrections of errors, but we do not see new func...
What is your primary use case for IBM InfoSphere Information Server?
My usual use case for IBM InfoSphere Information Server is ETL, where we take data from one source to another data warehouse solution.
What advice do you have for others considering IBM InfoSphere Information Server?
We are about to change our platform from IBM AIX to SUSE Linux, as our whole platform is changing, so everyone should change from IBM to SUSE Linux. It would be very difficult for us to have a diff...
 

Also Known As

No data available
InfoSphere Information Server, IBM Information Server
 

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
Canadian National Railway Company, Chickasaw Nation Division of Commerce, Swedish Armed Forces, BG RCI, Janata Sahakari Bank Ltd., University of Arizona, Biogrid Australia
Find out what your peers are saying about Fivetran vs. IBM InfoSphere Information Server and other solutions. Updated: May 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.