Redpanda vs Census Pricing (2026)

How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.

Redpanda pricing Census pricing
Starts at Custom Custom
Number of plans 3 4
Free plan
Free trial
Pricing model hybrid usage-based

Price is one row. To weigh the features too, use our feature comparison template →

Redpanda pricing

Official page

Serverless

$0/mo
  • Multi-tenant AWS, GCP
  • 100 MB/s max write throughput
  • 300 MB/s max read throughput

Bring Your Own Cloud

Custom
  • In your cloud AWS, Azure, GCP
  • 2 GB/s max write throughput

Enterprise Edition

Custom
  • Built-in HTTP proxy & schema registry
  • Prometheus support

Census pricing

Official page

Free

$0/mo
  • 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
Custom
  • 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

Custom
  • 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

Custom
  • Customer-managed keys for encryption
  • PCI DSS Level 1 certification
  • Private networking options

Redpanda vs Census 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?
Different approach here. Redpanda uses hybrid pricing, while Census goes with usage-based. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
Which one is a better deal?
Depends on what you need. Redpanda: Redpanda plays as the performance-focused alternative to Kafka and Confluent, leaning on 'no ZooKeeper, no JVM' as a technical wedge rather than a price wedge. The free serverless tier undercuts Confluent's more enterprise-heavy sales motion for small teams, but once you're in BYOC or Enterprise territory, pricing is opaque and clearly aimed at matching (not undercutting) what large data platform teams already expect to pay. 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.

Still deciding? See the best Redpanda alternatives or the best Census alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.

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