Comparing Meltano with Portable.io and Weld
Carolina Russ6 min read
What is Meltano
Meltano is another open-source data integration platform like Airbyte that is designed to help businesses build their own data integration pipelines.
The platform provides users with a wide range of integration options, including connectors for databases, APIs, and application logs. Additionally, Meltano provides extensive support for data transformation and orchestration and integrates well with several cloud-based data warehouses.
Pros
- Open-source platform
- A really large number of connectors through Singer
- Offer an SDK to more easily build Singer taps and targets
Cons
- No fully managed options so you need to deploy yourself (in Beta though)
- Requires high maintenance
- Limited data transformation capabilities (only through deep integration with DBT)
- Only has a limited number of connectors that are natively built outside of Singer
As a user on G2 puts it::
What I like about Meltano
The best thing about Meltano is that it's simple and easy to use. It's portable, so I can run it on the command line, or in a docker container, or in any number of orchestration tools.
What I dislike about Meltano
What is Portable.io
Portable.io is a cloud-based ETL service specializing in “long-tail” connectors—niche APIs that other platforms rarely support. It offers over 1,000 pre-built connectors, and if a required connector isn’t available, their team will build it on-demand at no extra cost. Portable focuses exclusively on extract-and-load into data warehouses, with a flat per-connector pricing model.
Pros
- Unmatched connector breadth: 1,000+ connectors for niche and popular sources
- On-demand custom connector development at no additional cost
- Flat per-connector pricing; no volume-based fees
- Fully managed – Portable handles API changes, schema updates, and pipeline maintenance
- Set-and-forget simplicity with minimal configuration needed
Cons
- EL-only (no in-platform transformations)
- Cloud-only SaaS (no on-prem option)
- No reverse ETL or activation features—it only loads to warehouses
- Some new connectors may require initial tuning if usage is low until fully hardened
- Limited scheduling granularity (mostly daily or on-demand syncs out of the box)
Portable Connector Catalog:
What I like about Portable.io
Portable focuses on the hard-to-find ETL connectors that you can’t find elsewhere. Our specialty is niche tools… If you can’t find the connector you need, we’ll build it on-demand for you.
What I dislike about Portable.io
What is Weld
Weld is a powerful ETL platform that seamlessly integrates ELT, data transformations, reverse ETL, and AI-assisted features into one user-friendly solution. With its intuitive interface, Weld makes it easy for anyone, regardless of technical expertise, to build and manage data workflows. Known for its premium quality connectors, all built in-house, Weld ensures the highest quality and reliability for its users. It is designed to handle large datasets with near real-time data synchronization, making it ideal for modern data teams that require robust and efficient data integration solutions. Weld also leverages AI to automate repetitive tasks, optimize workflows, and enhance data transformation capabilities, ensuring maximum efficiency and productivity. Users can combine data from a wide variety of sources, including marketing platforms, CRMs, e-commerce platforms like Shopify, APIs, databases, Excel, Google Sheets, and more, providing a single source of truth for all their data.
Pros
- Premium quality connectors and reliability
- User-friendly and easy to set up
- AI assistant
- Very competitive and easy-to-understand pricing model
- Reverse ETL option
- Lineage, orchestration, and workflow features
- Advanced transformation and SQL modeling capabilities
- Ability to handle large datasets and near real-time data sync
- Combines data from a wide range of sources for a single source of truth
Cons
- Requires some technical knowledge around data warehousing and SQL
- Limited features for advanced data teams
A reviewer on G2 said:
What I like about Weld
First and foremost, Weld is incredibly user-friendly. The graphical interface is intuitive, which makes it easy to build data workflows quickly and efficiently. Even with little experience in SQL and pipeline management, we found that Weld was straightforward and easy to use. What really impressed me, however, was Weld's flexibility. It was able to handle data from a wide variety of sources, including SQL databases, Google Sheets, and even APIs. The solution also allowed us to customize my data transformations in a way that best suited my needs. Whether I needed to clean data, join tables, or aggregate data, Weld had the necessary tools to accomplish the task. Weld's performance was also exceptional. I was able to run large-scale ETL jobs quickly and efficiently, with minimal downtime via a Snowflake instance and visualization via own-hosted Metabase. The solution's scalability meant that I could process more data without any issues. Another standout feature of Weld was its support. I never felt lost or unsure about how to use a particular feature, as the support team was always quick to respond to any questions or concerns that I had. Overall, I highly recommend Weld as an ETL solution. Its user-friendliness, flexibility, performance, and support make it an excellent choice for anyone looking to streamline their data integration processes. I will definitely be using Weld for all my ETL needs going forward.
What I dislike about Weld
Weld is still limited to a certain number of integrations - although the team is super interested to hear if you need custom integrations.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
Ease of Use & Interface
Meltano
Meltano is simple and easy to use for those with technical expertise, particularly due to its portability and command-line usability, but may be challenging for less technical users.
Portable.io
Portable’s interface is minimalistic—users pick a source, enter credentials, and choose a destination. It’s extremely easy for non-technical users to onboard new connectors.
Pricing & Affordability
Meltano
Meltano is open-source and free to use, making it highly affordable, but requires significant investment in deployment and maintenance, especially without a fully managed option.
Portable.io
Portable’s per-connector flat pricing makes costs predictable and often more affordable for companies with many small-volume sources, compared to volume-based models.
Feature Set
Meltano
The platform offers extensive integration options, including support for data transformation and orchestration, but relies heavily on the Singer framework, which can limit capabilities.
Portable.io
Focus on broad source coverage and reliability: over 1,000 connectors, incremental syncs, schema change handling, and managed maintenance. It does not provide transformations or reverse ETL, assuming those happen downstream.
Flexibility & Customization
Meltano
Meltano is highly flexible for advanced users who can manage their own deployments and build on the platform, but it requires substantial maintenance and lacks a fully managed option.
Portable.io
While there is no in-platform coding, Portable’s on-demand connector dev ensures virtually any source can be supported. Users trade transformation flexibility for maximum connector coverage and simplicity.
Summary of Meltano vs Portable.io vs Weld
| Weld | Meltano | Portable.io | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connectors | 200+ | 600+ | 1000+ |
| Price | $79 / 5M Active Rows | N/A | Flat per connector (no volume fees) |
| Free tier | No | Yes | Yes |
| Location | EU | US | US |
| Extract data (ETL) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sync data to HubSpot, Salesforce, Klaviyo, Excel etc. (reverse ETL) | Yes | No | No |
| Transformations | Yes | No | No |
| AI Assistant | Yes | No | No |
| On-Premise | No | Yes | No |
| Orchestration | Yes | Yes | No |
| Lineage | Yes | No | No |
| Version control | Yes | No | No |
| Load data to and from Excel | Yes | No | No |
| Load data to and from Google Sheets | Yes | No | No |
| Two-Way Sync | Yes | No | No |
| dbt Core Integration | Yes | Yes | No |
| dbt Cloud Integration | Yes | No | No |
| OpenAPI / Developer API | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| G2 Rating | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.8 |
Conclusion
You’re comparing Meltano, Portable.io, Weld. Each of these tools has its own strengths:
- Meltano: the platform offers extensive integration options, including support for data transformation and orchestration, but relies heavily on the singer framework, which can limit capabilities.. meltano is open-source and free to use, making it highly affordable, but requires significant investment in deployment and maintenance, especially without a fully managed option..
- Portable.io: focus on broad source coverage and reliability: over 1,000 connectors, incremental syncs, schema change handling, and managed maintenance. it does not provide transformations or reverse etl, assuming those happen downstream.. portable’s per-connector flat pricing makes costs predictable and often more affordable for companies with many small-volume sources, compared to volume-based models..
- Weld: weld integrates elt, data transformations, and reverse etl all within one platform. it also provides advanced features such as data lineage, orchestration, workflow management, and an ai assistant, which helps in automating repetitive tasks and optimizing workflows.. weld offers a straightforward and competitive pricing model, starting at $99 for 2 million active rows, making it more affordable and predictable, especially for small to medium-sized enterprises..
