Fivetran vs Informatica PowerCenter comparison

Fivetran and Informatica are both solutions in the Data Integration category. Fivetran is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.8, while Informatica is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.0. Fivetran holds a 2.2% mindshare in DI, compared to Informatica’s 9.7% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Fivetran users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Informatica users who would recommend it.

Fivetran

Read 25 Fivetran reviews

3,228 Views
2,319 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Informatica PowerCenter

Read 81 Informatica PowerCenter reviews

14,722 Views
12,628 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Fivetran

Informatica PowerCenter

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Informatica PowerCenter and Fivetran are both renowned data integration platforms. Despite Informatica's extensive feature set, Fivetran often holds the upper hand due to its ease of use and faster deployment times.

Features: Informatica PowerCenter offers advanced capabilities for complex transformations, excellent scalability, and supports a wide range of data sources. It provides extensive customization options allowing for intricate data management. Fivetran focuses on automation and minimal configuration, making integration into cloud applications swift and efficient, with a strong emphasis on effortless operation for standard ETL processes.

Room for Improvement: Informatica PowerCenter can improve in ease of use due to its steep learning curve. Enhancing automation could streamline the setup process. Additional support for new data integrations would be beneficial. Fivetran could benefit from enhanced support structures and more comprehensive documentation for complex setups. Improving the customization options would cater to more specific user needs. Increasing the number of integrations could strengthen its overall offering.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Informatica PowerCenter requires significant setup and configuration efforts, benefiting from strong customer support and resources for enterprises. It does require a higher level of initial investment in time and training. Fivetran offers a straightforward setup process, focusing on simplicity and efficiency, which appeals to organizations seeking rapid deployment. However, it may lack the depth in customer service compared to its competitors, offering room for enhancements in support.

Pricing and ROI: Informatica PowerCenter involves higher initial setup costs, justified by its extensive customization and enterprise-grade features, and tends to deliver high ROI for companies with complex data operations. Fivetran offers a more competitive pricing model appealing to startups and mid-size businesses, providing rapid ROI through efficient data integration capabilities. The choice between them relies heavily on the specific needs and scale of data operations within the organization.

To learn more, read our detailed Fivetran vs. Informatica PowerCenter Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Fivetran vs. Informatica PowerCenter

February 2025

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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

Ranking in other categories

Data Replication (3rd), Cloud Data Integration (8th)

Informatica PowerCenter

Ranking in Data Integration

2nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Data Visualization (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Fivetran is 2.2%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Informatica PowerCenter is 9.7%, down from 11.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Data Integration

Featured Reviews

Erik Jones

Head of BI and Analytics at HyperScience

Solution reduces time-to-value; high ROI

Fivetran has room for improvement in data pipeline observability. The Fivetran logs are fairly basic, compared to, for example, the insight Fivetran gives into helping users understanding the performance of data pipelines. So I think their observability into the pipeline itself could be improved. In addition, Fivetran is in the very early stages of allowing other companies to access its metadata API, but that's something that could use improvement, and I know that they're working on right now. 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. It would be nice if Fivetran offered both their regular offering plus the reverse ETL option as well.

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Lars Borchers

Senior BI Backend Developer at ALD Automotive Portugal

A stable and reliable product that provides a variety of features for data integration

The solution is not for newcomers. It has an old touch. The solution must improve the integration with new services. It was part of the program at Informatica when they moved to their cloud platform. It is integrated. However, from an on-premise perspective, we need to buy licenses for PowerExchange. If we want a native driver to access a special service, we need to extend our license to those services. It is expensive. I don't like that it's not all included in the solution.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is not like a traditional ETL, but it gives quite a lot of flexibility."

"Fivetran's most valuable feature is replication."

"The compare feature is the most valuable piece of it."

"The most valuable feature of Fivetran is that it only synchronizes what needs to be synchronized."

"The simplicity and scalability are the strongest features of Fivetran."

"Fivetran offers native connectivity with Sybase"

"The portal is very intuitive and easy to use."

"It is easy for users to get accustomed to the tool due to its gentle learning curve and clear error transparency."

More Fivetran pros

"The number of docs has been reduced drastically, which is very good."

"It has a Data Catalog that uses the Model repository."

"Informatica PowerCenter has good user feedback. The developers can easily make mappings in the solution."

"The interface is very clean and clear."

"If the systems get migrated or upgraded, the amount of resources required are very minimal. We can change the connections and establish a new connection. It's very helpful."

"Among all the solutions I have used, I found Informatica PowerCenter to be much more stable in terms of application."

"Good product if you are trying implement data quality, data integration, and data management projects."

"Complex transformations can be easily achieved by using PowerCenter. The processing layer does transformations and other things. About 80% of my transformations can be achieved by using the middle layer. For the remaining 15% to 20% transformations, I can go in and create stored procedures in the respective databases. Mapplets is the feature through which we can reuse transformations across pipelines. Transformations and caching are the key features that we have been using frequently. Informatica PowerCenter is one of the best solutions or products in the data integration space. We have extensively used PowerCenter for integration purposes. We usually look at the best bridge solution in our architecture so that it can sustain for maybe a couple of years. Usually, we go with the solution that fits best and has proven and time-tested technology."

More Informatica PowerCenter pros

Cons

"I would like Fivetran to implement additional resource monitoring and restriction policies."

"More connectors are needed for exotic, popular, and rising star portals."

"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."

"The interface needs to be more user-friendly."

"I would like to see an improvement in the support offered by Fivetran."

"An in-line data quality checking capability is missing"

"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."

"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."

More Fivetran cons

"An issue which should be addressed is that the solution only allows us to do structured, as opposed to unstructured, data processing."

"The initial setup is not straightforward. You need expertise to do it."

"Integrating new tools can be tricky and challenging."

"PowerCenter could integrate better with cloud applications. We had to do a lot of configuration work using API integrations to connect with cloud applications. Informatica Cloud Data Integration has a generic connector that you can use directly, so it's much easier."

"We need another tool for monitoring. It would be easier if all the features were consolidated into one tool."

"I found it is kind of weird that not all of the mapping changes are treated as true changes."

"It would be nice to have all tools in one place. CDC needs more effort, as it's only easy to develop if you are familiar with Linux."

"There can be scalability issues. Huge amounts of data ingestion will impact performance."

More Informatica PowerCenter cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"Fivetran is very expensive, and its database-driven pricing model is outdated."

"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 product is reasonably expensive"

"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."

"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."

"I rate the pricing a six out of ten."

More Fivetran pricing and cost advice

"Informatica PowerCenter is reasonably priced. It is less expensive than Pentaho. There is a standard version fee in Taiwan. It is a one-time yearly subscription price that is approximately $3,010 US dollars for three users."

"We are satisfied with the pricing."

"Pricing for Informatica PowerCenter isn't cheap, but if I compare it with IBM, it's as expensive as IBM, however, Informatica PowerCenter is more innovative, especially when compared to a giant company such as IBM that has thousands of products. Informatica PowerCenter is limited only to data management, but it has new features that come out every quarter. Points for ease of use and flexibility go to Informatica PowerCenter, but price-wise, IBM and Informatica are equal because they're both expensive."

"The pricing for Informatica PowerCenter is expensive. Some clients have simple needs and only want to integrate and store data. Some clients have small needs, while some clients have bigger needs and focus more on performance and time. The licensing cost for Informatica PowerCenter isn't good. In my project, if I remember correctly, the company pays €20,000 per year for the Informatica PowerCenter license. I'm not aware of additional costs that you need to pay for some features of the solution. On a scale of one to five, I'm rating its price a three."

"The price could be better. It's very expensive. On a scale from one to five, I would give Informatica PowerCenter's price a one."

"It is for big enterprises. We have leveraged Informatica for big enterprises but not for small and medium enterprises because it is a very costly product as compared to other products. We propose this solution only for enterprise customers. For small to medium enterprises, we would propose the Microsoft solution. Its licensing is currently bundle-wise. It should be features-wise and not bundle-wise."

"Its maintenance is expensive."

"Price-wise, it's more expensive than SSIS, but it's a better tool, so it has more features. Licensing is on a yearly basis."

More Informatica PowerCenter pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user90069

BI Expert at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Feb 20, 2014

Informatica PowerCenter vs. Microsoft SSIS - each technology has its advantages but also have similarities

Technology has made it easier for businesses to organize and manipulate data to get a clearer picture of what’s going on with their business. Notably, ETL tools have made managing huge amounts of data significantly easier and faster, boosting many organizations’ business intelligence operations…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

27%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

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...

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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 ...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica PowerCenter?

Azure Data Factory is flexible, modular, and works well. In terms of cost, it is not too pricey. It offers the stability and reliability I am looking for, good scalability, and is easy to set up an...

See all answers

Which is better - SSIS or Informatica PowerCenter?

SSIS PowerPack is a group of drag and drop connectors for Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services, commonly called SSIS. The collection helps organizations boost productivity with code-free compo...

See all answers

Which Informatica product would you choose - PowerCenter or Cloud Data Integration?

Complex transformations can easily be achieved using PowerCenter, which has all the features and tools to establish a real data governance strategy. Additionally, PowerCenter is able to manage huge...

See all answers

Comparisons

AWS Database Migration Service vs Fivetran

Compared 16% of the time

Oracle GoldenGate vs Fivetran

Compared 14% of the time

Qlik Replicate vs Fivetran

Compared 8% of the time

Azure Data Factory vs Fivetran

Compared 7% of the time

SAP Replication Server vs Fivetran

Compared 2% of the time

More Fivetran Competitors

SSIS vs Informatica PowerCenter

Compared 15% of the time

Databricks vs Informatica PowerCenter

Compared 14% of the time

Azure Data Factory vs Informatica PowerCenter

Compared 12% of the time

Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) vs Informatica PowerCenter

Compared 8% of the time

Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs Informatica PowerCenter

Compared 7% of the time

More Informatica PowerCenter Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fivetran

March 2025

Download Fivetran product report

Buyer's Guide

Informatica PowerCenter

March 2025

Download Informatica PowerCenter product report

Also Known As

No data available

PowerCenter

Overview

Fivetran, the global leader in data movement, is trusted by companies like OpenAI, LVMH, Pfizer, Verizon and Spotify to centralize data from SaaS applications, databases, files, and other sources into cloud destinations, including data lakes. With high-performance pipelines, seamless interoperability, and enterprise-grade security, Fivetran empowers organizations to modernize their data infrastructure, power analytics and AI, ensure compliance, and achieve transformative business outcomes. Learn more at Fivetran.com

Fivetran

Informatica PowerCenter is a data integration and data visualization tool. The solution works as an enterprise data integration platform that helps organizations access, transform, and integrate data from various systems. The product is designed to support companies in the full cycle of a project, from its initial rollout to critical deployments. Informatica PowerCenter allows developers and analysts to collaborate while accelerating the work process to deploy projects within days instead of months.

The Advanced edition of the product provides an additional real-time engine which allows companies to have always-on enterprise data integration. This ensures seamless collaboration and increment of data lineage visibility and impacts analysis.

The Premium edition of the solution offers an early warning system that detects unexpected behaviors or incorrect utilization of resources in the workflows and alerts companies in the case that these occur. This version of the product also offers automatic data validation, which ensures data accuracy and reduces testing time and expenditure of resources for by up to 90%.

Informatica PowerCenter Features

The product provides users with various features which allow them to execute data integration initiatives such as analytics, data warehousing, data governance, consolidation, and application migration. The features of the solution include:

Collaboration: Informatica PowerCenter offers role-based tools and processes which enable business self-service while benefiting from high-quality IT resources.
Automation: Through various automations and easy-to-use software, users can utilize graphical and codeless tools and initiate effective data integration without additional knowledge.
Scalability: The tool provides high scalability to users, which ensures seamless performance and minimum downtime. PowerCenter also has adaptive load balancing, pushdown optimization, and dynamic partitioning.
Monitoring: Through the extensive monitoring feature, the operations and governance of the solution are easily overseen by users. The tool also provides alerts that can prevent damage to the system.
Real-time data: Through real-time data, users can monitor applications and analytics, ensuring their efficient operation.
Prototyping: Informatica lets its users collaborate with information technology to prototype, profile, and validate results in a timely manner.
Connectivity: Users can access and integrate data from different types of sources through high-performance connectors.
Automated data validation testing: The product offers script-free automated and repeatable audit and validation of data.
Data transformation: This feature allows users to use comprehensive parsing of JSON, PDF, XML, Microsoft Office, and the Internet of Things (IoT) for non-relation data.
Cloud applications connectivity: The product allows for seamless connection to cloud application sources and targets.

Informatica PowerCenter Benefits

The benefits of using Informatica PowerCenter include:

The tool can work over a wide range of systems and platforms and also allows for lean integration.
It enhances the quality and speed of performance and optimizes the cost of the process for your organization.
PowerCenter supports multiple databases, including TPump, Parallel Transporter Fastload, and Teradata MLoad.
The tool is very easy to monitor and maintain, which simplifies the data integration process for companies.
The centralized error logging system allows users to locate errors in a timely manner and correct them.
The tool can convert data from an application to another format, as it serves as one of the most powerful data transformation solutions.
PowerCenter can also serve as middleware between two applications.
The solution offers both parallel processing and load balancing.
PowerCenter is a tool with a high level of security, which also minimizes essential administration activities.
The solution ensures the quality of information, as it does not allow invalid or unwanted data to be uploaded to the source.

Reviews from Real Users

Yahya T., a developer and architect at L'Oreal, says the product is stable, provides good support, and integrating it with other systems is very fast.

Mohamed E., a senior manager for Data management and data governance at a tech company, says PowerCenter is stable, mature, and offers flexibility in building the pipeline and has a drag-and-drop mode because it's GUI-based; technical support is brilliant.

Informatica

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

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, LexisNexis, Rabobank

Buyer's Guide

Fivetran vs. Informatica PowerCenter

February 2025

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