Census vs Airbyte Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Census pricing | Airbyte pricing | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | Custom | $20/mo |
| Number of plans | 4 | 4 |
| Free plan | — | |
| Free trial | ||
| Pricing model | usage-based | hybrid |
Price is one row. To weigh the features too, use our feature comparison template →
Free
- 500,000 monthly active rows (MAR) for connections
- 3,500 monthly active rows (MAR) for activations
- 5,000 monthly model runs (MMR) for transformations
Standard
Popular- Unlimited users
- 15-minute syncs
- 700+ fully managed connectors
- 200+ fully managed activation destinations
- Integration for dbt Core
- Role-based access control
- Access to Fivetran REST API
- Access to SSH tunnels for encryption
Enterprise
- 1-minute syncs
- Fivetran Activations' Audience Hub
- Enterprise database connectors
- Custom roles
- VPN tunnels (annual contract only)
- SCIM/user provisioning
- Pick any cloud provider (GCP, AWS, Azure)
- Hybrid deployment option
Business Critical
- Customer-managed keys for encryption
- PCI DSS Level 1 certification
- Private networking options
Standard
- Fully managed cloud hosting
- Volume-based pricing
- Deploy quickly
Plus
Popular- All the features in Standard
- SSO
- Field renaming
- 15-minute syncs
Pro
- Fully managed cloud hosting
- Capacity-based pricing
- Multiple Workspaces
- SSO, RBAC
- Up to 5-minute sync frequency
- Custom mappings
Enterprise Flex
- Sovereign data movement inside your own boundary
- Available on-premises and multi-region
- Hybrid deployment with Airbyte managed control plane
- All the features of Airbyte Pro
Census vs Airbyte FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Census has a free plan. Airbyte doesn't — though they do offer a free trial.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Census uses usage-based pricing, while Airbyte goes with hybrid. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Census: Census plays in the middle-to-premium band of the reverse ETL space, priced to compete with Hightouch rather than DIY scripts or cheap connectors — they're betting on being the polished, enterprise-ready option rather than the budget pick. The custom-quote-everything approach signals they're chasing mid-market and enterprise data teams, not self-serve solo users. Airbyte: Airbyte sits cheap-to-mid at the entry tier compared to Fivetran or Stitch, using that $20 price to hook teams who'd otherwise build custom ELT scripts, then makes its real money once usage scales into Pro/Enterprise territory. They're clearly chasing the open-source-to-commercial pipeline: win developers on cost and connector breadth, then convert them as data volume grows past what self-serve pricing can handle.
Still deciding? See the best Census alternatives or the best Airbyte alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
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