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SAP Data Services vs dbt 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

dbt
Ranking in Data Integration
27th
Ranking in Data Quality
17th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAP Data Services
Ranking in Data Integration
10th
Ranking in Data Quality
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of dbt is 1.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Data Services is 1.5%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SAP Data Services1.5%
dbt1.7%
Other96.8%
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

Shubham-Agarwal - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager Projects at Cognizant
Incremental data models have cut full refresh time and support trusted executive reporting
I am not very familiar with dbt's version control system. I cannot identify any improvements in dbt because I am still exploring more functionality. I have been working with dbt for only three years, so I am exploring more functionalities and cannot see any limitations or improvement areas at this time. In the past, I used the seed functionality, which is used to load raw files, individual files, or static files into the database. Going forward, if dbt can improve or implement more features on the seed side, that would be beneficial, especially when we have large files available that take time to load the data into Snowflake database.
reviewer2686500 - PeerSpot reviewer
SAP BI Architect at a government with 10,001+ employees
Integration has become more robust and seamless
SAP Data Services is mainly used for extraction of data, and it works with all databases. The flows and everything are configured effectively. One of the most valuable features is that it is integrated. Compared to the past, it is much more robust and easier to use. The only issue is that documentation is not up to the mark. The data quality management features support our business because we can fetch anything based on the requirements. Before, we used to have a tough time getting data, but now, with HANA and all these tools, it is seamless.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is developer-friendly."
"dbt has positively impacted my organization by allowing us to create our data pipelines much faster, going from ingestion of data to creating a data product in weeks instead of months, and we can do it in-house with the skillset we already have."
"Since we migrated from SSIS to dbt model architecture, it takes around four hours only to complete a full refresh, and the client is now happy because our downtime was drastically reduced when we perform a complete refresh of the data."
"There is operational efficiency achieved, and data quality and governance have also been achieved with modular SQL and version controlling, which reduced duplication of data and data errors."
"The product's most valuable features are data validation and rules."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the scheduling part."
"The solution has good connectivity with SAP."
"The reporting on the data, even from third-party software, is very good."
"You can always manipulate a lot of things as long as you have the skill level."
"Technical support from SAP is awesome. If we have an issue, they give a good solution."
"I like how SAP Data Services links reporting and data integration. That's what's most interesting. You also have the opportunity to leverage the power of the Data Services server."
"The maintenance of data services is the solution's most valuable feature."
 

Cons

"Since dbt has a license cost, if a company is small and does not have much budget, they can explore other tools because there are other tools that provide the same functionality at a lower cost."
"Dbt is not as stable as preferred, as it has had a few outages in the current year itself, so improvement should be made in the outages section as it is not stable."
"The solution must add more Python-based implementations."
"dbt can be improved as I find the co-pilot in dbt is not very good, and my team has tried using it but opted to move off it and use other co-pilots such as GitHub."
"The solution could improve the overall features. There is a lot that can be done in the solution, therefor there are areas where it can improve. Additionally, there is a need to make it easier for one to create connections to other non-SAP systems. The flexibility to connect to other non-SAP systems is needed."
"It's an ETL that is very good with relational databases but not as good with files and semi-structured files."
"Integration with other products could be improved."
"There needs to be multi-language support, however, my understanding is they are working on multi-language now."
"Data Services SAP is lacking in sources and target databases compared to Informatica. SAP Data Services should have more connectivity."
"The pricing of the solution should be improved."
"We would like the different tools offered within this solution to be available as standalone entities, rather than having to purchase the entire package when we only require a few features."
"Some of the jobs that are built within Data Services require local files, and during initial deployment, those local files cannot be transported between machines simply because of security issues."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution’s pricing is affordable."
"The product’s on-premise version is expensive for a medium-sized company."
"The price of SAP Data Services is a little high when compared to other solutions. Due to the pricing and capabilities, many clients are switching to other solutions."
"Pricing is good, there is no problem."
"Speaking about prices, Oracle and SAP are market leaders. So, the prices are more."
"At the entry level, if you're using it only for data integration, it is a little bit cheap. However, for large organizations it can be expensive. There are additional costs apart from the license."
"The enterprise version of SAP Data Services is free."
"The license price is expensive but medium to large-scale companies, should be able to afford it. Other solutions, such as Talend are easier to afford for smaller companies. Depending on the sources of the data where you are receiving your data you could be paying for more than one license."
"There is a one time purchase fee plus annual maintenance."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Insurance Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise36
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for dbt?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was simple enough.
What needs improvement with dbt?
dbt can be improved as I find the co-pilot in dbt is not very good, and my team has tried using it but opted to move off it and use other co-pilots such as GitHub. Additionally, the debugging capab...
What is your primary use case for dbt?
My main use case for dbt is for data transformation and data engineering.A specific example of how I use dbt for data transformation and engineering is that we use it to connect and ingest data fro...
How do you evaluate the ratio of price to quality for SAP Data Services?
I believe the license for the product is fair, even though some competitors offer similar services at lower prices. The difference between the Edge edition and the next one up is significant in pr...
Would you recommend SAP Data Services to complete beginners?
I think after some preparation, a beginner will be able to use SAP Data Services, however, if you are completely unprepared, you may have some issues. I think that in particular you will need a mo...
How has SAP Data Services helped your organization?
SAP Data Services has helped our whole staff understand the data across various sources and systems within the company. Not everyone who works at my organization is an IT expert - most just have av...
 

Also Known As

No data available
SAP BusinessObjects Data Services, SAP BusinessObjects Data Integrator, BusinessObjects Data Integrator
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
EMC Corporation, LivePerson, Eldorado, Mozzart, The VELUX Group, AOK Bundesverband, Hilti Group, Nissha Printing Company Ltd., Asian Paints, Aareal Bank Group, Migros Group
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP Data Services vs. dbt and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.