Comparing Fivetran with Twilio Segment and Weld

You’re comparing Fivetran vs Twilio Segment vs Weld. Explore how they differ on connectors, pricing, and features.

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Weld vs Fivetran vs Twilio Segment

	Weld	Fivetran	Twilio Segment
Connectors	200+	740+	300+
Price	$79 / 5M Active Rows	Usage-based: charged by Monthly Active Rows and model runs.	$120/month for 10,000 visitors
Free tier
Location	DK, (EU)	US	US
Extract data (ETL)
Sync to HubSpot, Salesforce, Klaviyo, Excel (reverse ETL)
Transformations
AI Assistant
On-Premise
Orchestration
Lineage
Version control
Load to/from Excel
Load to/from Google Sheets
Two-Way Sync
dbt Core Integration
dbt Cloud Integration
OpenAPI / Developer API
G2 rating	4.8	4.2	4.6

Overview

Fivetran in Short

Fivetran is a well-established ELT tool focused on automating data ingestion through prebuilt connectors. It supports transformation orchestration and reverse ETL via its acquisition of Census. While it’s widely used in enterprise settings, its reliance on SQL-based workflows and external tools can increase complexity and cost for teams without dedicated data engineering resources.

Pros

Large library of prebuilt connectors (740+)
Support for dbt-based transformations
Reverse ETL through Census integration
Option for hybrid deployment in sensitive environments
Granular access control and metadata logging

Cons

Usage-based pricing can escalate quickly
Transformations require SQL and dbt expertise
Limited flexibility in Quickstart models
No support for AI-assisted SQL generation
Reverse ETL is managed via a separate product (Census)

Reviews & Quotes

From a review on G2:

What I like about Fivetran

“The pre-built connectors make data integration super easy, without the need for an expensive data engineering team. If you're using dbt, there's a package for most connectors that gives you ready-to-go data models.”

What I dislike about Fivetran

“New connectors are released infrequently, and pricing can be opaque. If you're not already using a modern data stack with their preferred tools, integration can be tricky.”

Read full review

Overview

Twilio Segment in Short

Twilio Segment is a customer data platform (CDP) focused on collecting, unifying, and activating customer event data across products and channels. It centralizes behavioral data from web, mobile, and server sources, and uses identity resolution to build unified customer profiles. Segment is heavily oriented toward marketing, product, and analytics use cases, offering pre-built integrations and Reverse ETL capabilities to sync cleaned data back into operational tools. While powerful for customer data workflows, Segment is less suited for teams looking for a general-purpose ELT platform.

Pros

Strong real-time event tracking and data collection
Large catalog of fully managed marketing and product integrations
Identity resolution and audience management features
Reverse ETL powered by native integrations and dbt model sync

Cons

Becomes expensive quickly as usage scales
Not ideal as a standalone ELT platform
Optimized for marketing and product tools rather than general data engineering
Customization and complex integrations can require significant setup effort

Reviews & Quotes

A reviewer on G2 said::

What I like about Twilio Segment

“Segment connects to all the various platforms that we're using which makes it very easy to send data around. No engineering needed.”

What I dislike about Twilio Segment

“Pricing could be a bit more affordable, especially if you want to use ETL processes.”

Read full review

Overview

Weld in Short

Weld is a unified ELT and data activation platform that combines ingestion, modeling, transformations, orchestration, lineage, and reverse ETL in a single SaaS interface. With premium in-house–built connectors, an intuitive UI, and near real-time syncs, Weld enables both technical and non-technical users to create and manage data workflows efficiently. Weld also includes an AI assistant to support SQL modeling, generate transformations, and streamline repetitive tasks. Teams can ingest data from a wide range of sources—including marketing platforms, CRMs, databases, Google Sheets, Excel, and APIs—into their cloud data warehouse and activate it back into business tools.

Pros

Lineage, orchestration, and workflow features included by default
Handles large datasets and near real-time data sync
ELT and reverse ETL in one platform
User-friendly interface with minimal setup required
Flat, predictable monthly pricing model
200+ in-house–built, high-quality connectors
AI assistant for modeling and transformations

Cons

Some SQL knowledge is useful for advanced modeling
Optimized for cloud-warehouse workflows (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, etc.)
Feature set is streamlined for modern ELT/activation use cases

Reviews & Quotes

A reviewer on G2 said:

What I like about Weld

“Weld’s graphical interface is intuitive and easy to work with, even for teams with limited SQL experience. Its flexibility across sources—from databases to Google Sheets and APIs—made onboarding smooth, and performance across larger workloads was consistently strong. Support was responsive and helpful throughout our setup and ongoing use.”

Read full review

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Fivetran

Twilio Segment

Weld

Feature

Fivetran

Twilio Segment

Weld

Ease of Use & Interface

Side-by-side

Fivetran

Fivetran simplifies initial ingestion setup, but configuration and transformation workflows depend heavily on SQL and dbt. Teams without this experience may face a steeper learning curve.

Twilio Segment

Segment offers an accessible interface for collecting and routing customer data, but advanced setups—such as identity merging, custom sources, or Reverse ETL modeling—can require more technical configuration.

Weld

Weld’s interface is built for clarity and speed, enabling users with varying levels of technical experience to manage data pipelines and models efficiently. Its built-in lineage and orchestration tools provide transparency across workflows.

Ease of Use & Interface

Side-by-side

Fivetran simplifies initial ingestion setup, but configuration and transformation workflows depend heavily on SQL and dbt. Teams without this experience may face a steeper learning curve.

Pricing & Affordability

Side-by-side

Fivetran

Fivetran’s MAR-based pricing model makes it difficult to predict costs, especially for teams with growing or unpredictable data volumes.

Twilio Segment

Segment provides a free tier, but pricing scales rapidly with event volume and advanced features. Many businesses find it expensive once usage grows or enterprise features are enabled.

Weld

Weld offers a simple and predictable pricing model starting at $79 for 5 million active rows. This flat, usage-transparent structure makes budgeting straightforward for small and medium-sized teams.

Pricing & Affordability

Side-by-side

Fivetran’s MAR-based pricing model makes it difficult to predict costs, especially for teams with growing or unpredictable data volumes.

Segment provides a free tier, but pricing scales rapidly with event volume and advanced features. Many businesses find it expensive once usage grows or enterprise features are enabled.

Weld offers a simple and predictable pricing model starting at $79 for 5 million active rows. This flat, usage-transparent structure makes budgeting straightforward for small and medium-sized teams.

Feature Set

Side-by-side

Fivetran

Fivetran includes ELT, dbt-based transformations, and reverse ETL via Census. It also provides orchestration via API, Terraform, and Airflow, though customization is oriented toward technical users.

Twilio Segment

Segment includes real-time event tracking, identity resolution, profiles, and activation capabilities. It offers extensive sources and destinations, but it is less suited for traditional ELT or broader data engineering workflows.

Weld

Weld provides ELT ingestion, SQL-based transformations, reverse ETL activation, data lineage, orchestration, and workflow management in a single platform. Its AI assistant accelerates modeling and transformation tasks.

Feature Set

Side-by-side

Fivetran includes ELT, dbt-based transformations, and reverse ETL via Census. It also provides orchestration via API, Terraform, and Airflow, though customization is oriented toward technical users.

Flexibility & Customization

Side-by-side

Fivetran

While programmatic and infrastructure-based extensibility is supported, the platform lacks low-code or guided transformation features, limiting accessibility for non-engineering teams.

Twilio Segment

While Segment is flexible for customer-data workflows, it is more limited outside those use cases. Custom pipelines, transformations, or complex modeling typically require external tools like dbt or a data warehouse.

Weld

Users can model data using SQL enhanced by Weld’s AI assistant, automate workflows, and build custom connectors to any API. This provides strong flexibility for teams that want to tailor integrations and transformations within one platform.

Flexibility & Customization

Side-by-side

While programmatic and infrastructure-based extensibility is supported, the platform lacks low-code or guided transformation features, limiting accessibility for non-engineering teams.