You’re comparing Weld vs Hightouch vs Pentaho Data Integration. Explore how they differ on connectors, pricing, and features. 
Loved by data teams from around the world
| Feature | Weld | Hightouch | Pentaho Data Integration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core Platform | |||
| Price | $79 / 5M Active Rows | Free tier; Growth plans start around $800+/month | Community Edition: Free; Enterprise Edition: Custom pricing |
| Free tier | No | Yes | Yes |
| Location | DK, (EU) | US | US |
| Connectors & Sync | |||
| Connectors | 200+ | 70+ | 150+ |
| Extract data (ETL) | Yes | No | Yes |
| Sync to HubSpot, Salesforce, Klaviyo, Excel (reverse ETL) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Two-Way Sync | Yes | No | No |
| Transformations & AI | |||
| Transformations | Yes | No | Yes |
| AI Assistant | Yes | No | No |
| dbt Core Integration | Yes | Yes | No |
| dbt Cloud Integration | Yes | No | No |
| Governance & DevOps | |||
| Orchestration | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lineage | Yes | No | Yes |
| Version control | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| On-Premise | No | No | Yes |
| OpenAPI / Developer API | Yes | Yes | No |
| Integrations | |||
| Load to/from Excel | Yes | No | Yes (Excel/CSV input/output) |
| Load to/from Google Sheets | Yes | No | Yes (via Google Sheets plugin) |
| Ratings | |||
| G2 rating | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.1 |
Overview
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.
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
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
A reviewer on G2 said:
Overview
Hightouch is a reverse ETL platform and composable CDP designed to sync data from cloud data warehouses into operational tools such as CRMs, ad platforms, and email providers. It supports SQL-based and no-code audience creation, enabling teams to operationalize warehouse data for sales, marketing, and customer success use cases.
Audience builder allows non-technical users to create and segment audiences visually
Supports 70+ operational destinations across CRM, ads, email, and support
Does not store data; reads directly from the warehouse for security
Supports near real-time and frequent syncs depending on destination capabilities
SQL queries and expressions allow granular control for technical users
Strong product documentation, community content, and support resources
Reverse ETL only—requires separate tooling for ingestion or warehouse modeling
Usage-based pricing (rows/fields) can increase for high-volume workloads
Destination API limits can affect sync frequency and throughput
Custom connectors depend on vendor prioritization
Complex audience or identity resolution still requires upstream modeling
Hightouch Product Description:
“Hightouch is the easiest way to sync customer data into tools like CRMs, email platforms, and ad networks, using either SQL or a point-and-click UI without requiring engineering involvement.”
Overview
Pentaho Data Integration (PDI), also known as Kettle, is an open-source ETL tool from Hitachi Vantara. It offers a graphical Spoon interface for building transformations and jobs, with support for more than 150 data sources including relational databases, flat files, cloud storage, and NoSQL systems. PDI includes step-based transformations, data cleansing, lookups, and joins, and can execute workloads in a clustered environment. It also integrates with the Pentaho BI platform for reporting and analytics.
Open-source Community Edition with no licensing costs; Enterprise Edition adds advanced capabilities and support
150+ connectors covering databases, files, cloud storage, big data technologies, and NoSQL systems
Graphical Spoon interface for visual ETL design, with real-time preview and debugging
Supports clustered execution via Carte for parallel processing and scalability
Community Edition lacks advanced features such as lineage, enterprise monitoring, and built-in data quality tools
Performance can degrade with very large datasets unless transformations are tuned
User interface and overall UX feel dated compared to modern cloud-native tools
Pentaho Data Integration Overview:
“PDI’s free community edition and Spoon GUI allow rapid ETL prototyping; its step library is extensive, and clustering support is solid for scale.”
“Limited data quality features and slower development speed compared to modern cloud ETL. Community support can be slow for fixes.”
Side-by-side
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.
Hightouch provides a modern interface with visual audience building for non-technical teams and SQL-based configuration for advanced users. Mapping and validation workflows are straightforward and approachable.
PDI’s Spoon interface uses a canvas-based approach where users drag steps, connect them, and configure transformations. While powerful, it can feel dated and becomes cluttered for very large workflows.
Side-by-side
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.
Hightouch provides a modern interface with visual audience building for non-technical teams and SQL-based configuration for advanced users. Mapping and validation workflows are straightforward and approachable.
PDI’s Spoon interface uses a canvas-based approach where users drag steps, connect them, and configure transformations. While powerful, it can feel dated and becomes cluttered for very large workflows.
Side-by-side
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.
Hightouch offers a free tier for small workloads. Paid plans scale based on usage, which can be cost-effective for targeted operational syncs but may increase for high-volume enterprise use cases.
The free Community Edition is cost-effective for experimentation and small teams. Enterprise Edition is priced via custom contracts and includes lineage, monitoring, and support, making it better suited for mid-sized or large organizations.
Side-by-side
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.
Hightouch offers a free tier for small workloads. Paid plans scale based on usage, which can be cost-effective for targeted operational syncs but may increase for high-volume enterprise use cases.
The free Community Edition is cost-effective for experimentation and small teams. Enterprise Edition is priced via custom contracts and includes lineage, monitoring, and support, making it better suited for mid-sized or large organizations.
Side-by-side
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.
Hightouch includes reverse ETL features such as SQL-based syncs, audience building, incremental updates, scheduling, monitoring, alerting, and support for real-time triggers depending on destination APIs. It integrates with dbt and offers API/CLI tools for GitOps workflows.
PDI provides visual data transformation, orchestration, cleansing, joins, lookups, scripting (JavaScript and Java), logging, and clustered execution. Enterprise Edition adds lineage, enterprise monitoring, and tighter BI integration.
Side-by-side
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.
Hightouch includes reverse ETL features such as SQL-based syncs, audience building, incremental updates, scheduling, monitoring, alerting, and support for real-time triggers depending on destination APIs. It integrates with dbt and offers API/CLI tools for GitOps workflows.
PDI provides visual data transformation, orchestration, cleansing, joins, lookups, scripting (JavaScript and Java), logging, and clustered execution. Enterprise Edition adds lineage, enterprise monitoring, and tighter BI integration.
Side-by-side
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.
Users can define sync logic via SQL, configure mapping rules, and trigger syncs via API. Hightouch supports webhook destinations and generic connectors, offering additional flexibility while relying on the warehouse for complex transformations.
Users can extend PDI with custom plugins, embed Java or JavaScript code, and call external scripts. Its open-source nature makes it highly customizable, though it requires Java expertise for plugin development.
Side-by-side
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.
Users can define sync logic via SQL, configure mapping rules, and trigger syncs via API. Hightouch supports webhook destinations and generic connectors, offering additional flexibility while relying on the warehouse for complex transformations.
Users can extend PDI with custom plugins, embed Java or JavaScript code, and call external scripts. Its open-source nature makes it highly customizable, though it requires Java expertise for plugin development.
Select up to three tools to compare.
CUSTOMER STORIES
“One of the biggest impacts has been unlocking new ways to buy media. Before, we didn’t have the data to back up strategic decisions – now we do.”
“Before Weld, we had to rely on custom Python scripts and manual processes that were time-consuming and error-prone.”
“We’re still a team of three, but we’re often doing far more than the equivalent of three full-time employees. That’s down to how we're able to leverage systems, data, and processes.”
“We’ve always been a KPI-driven company. But we wanted to scale that mindset across every team member, every team, every decision.”
“Before Weld, our data infrastructure was limited and we relied heavily on Excel files and custom Python scripts.”
“Weld has saved us a ton of time, from not having data ready to having a fully functional data warehouse and connectors.”
“By integrating Weld, Amazon S3, and Databricks, Soundboks built a modern data pipeline that automates data ingestion, improves reporting, and provides up-to-date visibility into sales performance”
“We didn’t have a good data setup, so we lacked the business insights we needed. Weld has allowed us to set up a structured data infrastructure and access insights quickly.”
AWARD WINNING ETL PLATFORM
Spend less time managing data and more time getting real insights.
