Data integration tools are quickly becoming a crucial component of modern data infrastructure. Why? Because businesses today are adopting more and more SaaS apps, and there is no indication that this adoption will slow down anytime soon. Without a dedicated toolset to connect all the apps to dashboards, storages, and each other, it will soon become impossibly tedious to get timely insights from your company's data.
What data integration tool (or tools) your company adopts is therefore one of the most important tooling choices it can make.
Before we present the shortlist of our favorite data integration tools, let's take a quick look at how the vendor landscape is evolving. Being aware of the trends will help you pick a toolset that is ready for 2023 and beyond.
How the Vendor Landscape Is Changing
The market is currently filled with specialized integration tools for every use case—event-based messaging tools, ETL and ELT tools, database replication tools, and reverse ETL tools. Companies usually adopt these tools, in this order, as they proceed through the stages of organizational data maturity.
Traditionally, having different integration tools for different use cases has made sense. Now, this is changing.
The reason is that, as data and analytics becomes a bigger and bigger part of the everyday work of non-technical professionals, these professionals will stop perceiving the differences between integration types. For example, when ecommerce managers want to unite data from multiple eshops in a data warehouse, they won't want to think about whether they are doing ETL, reverse ETL, or some other type of integration. They will simply want to pick their sources, pick a destination, and let their integration platform figure out the rest.
Put another way, it will be increasingly important for data integrational tools to be architecturally agnostic, i.e. capable of connecting any source with any destination, regardless of where the connection sits in a data architecture.
For some organizations, like massive enterprises, using specialized vendors for different types of integration may still be practical. But, in organizations where line-of-business professionals need more analytics flexibility, having a single platform that can handle all relevant integration cases will be most practical.
Top Data Integration Software for 2023 and Beyond
Every tool here provides multiple integration types and—depending on the needs of a given organization—can be an invaluable component of a future-ready data stack.
1. Dataddo
Dataddo is a no-code, cloud-based data integration platform that is designed for business teams (marketing, sales, HR, accounting, etc.), yet friendly to engineers. Offering an extensive portfolio of 200+ connectors, the platform is capable of ETL, ELT, reverse ETL, and database replication, as well as end-to-end integration with dashboarding apps in case users need to get analyzing immediately for quick insights. Pipelines are fully managed and simple to set up. Pricing is scalable and transparent, and there is a free plan which is suitable for simpler use cases.
Key features:
- Fast, simple deployment
- New connectors added within 10 days on request
- GDPR, SOC2, and ISO 27001 compliant
- First any-to-any data integration platform on the market
2. Informatica PowerCenter
Powercenter is the cloud-native integration service from Informatica. Its low-code interface delivers powerful transformative action, giving users the choice between the ETL or ELT approach. It also offers reverse ETL and robust database replication capabilities. PowerCenter is best suited for large enterprises that need a heavy integration solution, and can therefore be quite expensive. It does not send data directly from online services to dashboarding apps for quick insights.
Key features:
- Powered by CLAIRE, a metadata-driven AI engine
- High-level data security for any business
- Easily scalable integrations
- Optimized for business data intelligence
3. Integrate
Integrate is a cloud data warehouse platform designed specifically for ecommerce use cases. The platform offers ETL, ELT, reverse ETL, and database replication functionality, so it's a competitive option on today's market. It focuses in particular on security, guaranteeing regulatory compliance with most industries and protection from attacks and security breaches. The platform requires some knowledge of coding, however, and doesn't support direct integration with most popular dashboarding apps. Customers pay a flat, annual fee based on how many connectors they need.
Key features:
- 190+ data sources
- Comprehensive support
- Advanced encryption, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA compliant
- Highly customizable for users with extensive coding knowledge
4. Fivetran
Fivetran is a cloud-based integration solution with a key distinction from the solutions above—it focuses only on ELT and data replication. This makes it suitable for companies that need to get all their data to a warehouse fast, and that have the engineering resources to clean it once it gets there. It offers an extensive connector library, but new connectors must be coded by you. It does not offer ETL, reverse ETL, or end-to-end integrtation with dashboarding apps. The pricing is volume-based, meaning your monthly bill will fluctuate. They offer a free plan as well.
Key features:
- 160+ data connectors
- Fully managed and secure
- Automatic data normalization between disparate sources
- Easy monitoring of all pipelines statuses
5. Airbyte
Airbyte is an open-source data integration tool for larger enterprises. Since it's open-source, it's highly flexible and supports custom connections. But, for this reason, it is not very out-of-the-box and requires a large data team to operate efficiently. Indeed, if something breaks, you will need to rely on community support and your own engineers to fix it. It does not offer reverse ETL functionality or direct integration of online sources with dashboards. It's pricing is credit-based, where the credits are used to pay for the number of rows or gigabytes synced. There is also a free plan for starters.
Key features:
- Customizable data sources
- Custom transformations available via dbt
- Support via Slack
- Full user agency over modifying and debugging pipelines
6. Hevo Data
Hevo is another reliable, no-code integration platform that focuses on ETL, ELT, and reverse ETL. This makes it a good integration option for the majority of use cases. It is secure and fully maintained, and its intuitive interface makes it friendly to non-technical users. It also offers data replication functionality, but only between a few sources and a few destinations. It does not support direct connections with dashboarding applications, which is typically quite important for non-technical users. The pricing is volume-based, so it will fluctuate from month to month, and there is a free plan for teams new to data and analytics.
Key features:
- 150+ data sources, including many dashboarding apps (but only as sources)
- Unlimited sources in pay-per-row pricing model
- Real-time data replication in your warehouse
Conclusion
With so many high-quality integration tools on the market with many of the same features, choosing the right tool for your use case is vital. And it's something you only want to do once, because switching tools can be a pain.
Dataddo is a flexible, central management platform that can handle all of your data integration requirements. To see for yourself, contact Dataddo support or start for free today.
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