Fivetran vs Starburst Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
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
Free
- Create and run up to 3 clusters
- Access to standard cluster execution mode for ad hoc queries
Pro
- Flexible cluster execution modes
- Streaming Ingest
- Advanced cluster management
Enterprise
Popular- Advanced autoscaling features
- Fine-grained access controls (ABAC, SCIM)
- AWS PrivateLink for data sources
- Early access to features (Private Preview)
- AIDA (token usage billed separately)
Mission-Critical
- Elite support and ticketing
- Advanced governance integrations
- Lakehouse security and compliance tools
- Highest uptime guarantees
- AIDA (token usage billed separately)
Fivetran vs Starburst 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?
- Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
- How do they charge?
- Both use a usage-based model, so the comparison is straightforward — it comes down to features and limits at each price point.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Fivetran: Fivetran sits at the premium end of the ELT connector market — they're not trying to win on price, they're selling reliability and connector breadth against cheaper alternatives like Airbyte or Stitch. The custom pricing wall signals they're targeting mid-market and enterprise data teams with budget, not scrappy startups watching every dollar. Starburst: Starburst isn't fighting on sticker price — the credit cost actually increases as you climb tiers, which is unusual and signals they're positioning as a premium, enterprise-grade Trino distribution rather than a budget query engine. They're chasing large data teams already committed to a multi-cloud or lakehouse strategy who'll pay more for reliability and support rather than startups hunting for the cheapest compute.
Still deciding? See the best Fivetran alternatives or the best Starburst alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
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