Comparing Pentaho Data Integration with Segment and Weld
Carolina Russ6 min read
What is Pentaho Data Integration
Pentaho Data Integration (PDI), also known as Kettle, is an open-source ETL tool from Hitachi Vantara. It provides a graphical Spoon interface for building ETL transformations and jobs, supporting over 150 data sources (relational, NoSQL, cloud, files). PDI includes built-in steps for data cleansing, join, lookup, and can execute transformations in a clustered environment. It also integrates with Pentaho’s BI platform for analytics.
Pros
- Open-source (Community Edition) with no licensing costs; Enterprise Edition provides additional features and support.
- 150+ connectors (databases, cloud storage, big data, files, NoSQL) and flexible step-based transformations.
- Graphical Spoon interface for visual ETL job design; transformations can be previewed and tested in real-time.
- Support for clustered execution (Carte server) for parallel processing and higher throughput.
Cons
- Community Edition lacks advanced features (lineage, data quality, enterprise monitoring), requiring Enterprise Edition for production readiness.
- Performance can suffer with very large data volumes if not properly tuned (Java memory, clustering).
- User interface and user experience are dated compared to newer cloud-native ETL tools.
Pentaho Data Integration Overview:
What I like about Pentaho Data Integration
PDI’s free community edition and Spoon GUI allow rapid ETL prototyping; its step library is extensive, and clustering support is solid for scale.
What I dislike about Pentaho Data Integration
Limited data quality features and slower development speed compared to modern cloud ETL. Community support can be slow for fixes.
What is Segment
Acquired by Twilio in 2020, Segment is a Customer Data Platform (CDP) that offers real-time data connectivity and efficient data. Segment's core focus is gathering customer data through event tracking. It has unique features that allow you to segment your customers, and create personas and audiences for better targeting.
Pros
- Real-time data integration capabilities
- Pre-built and maintained connectors for popular data sources
- Has advanced features for managing customer data
- Easy to setup and use
Cons
- Quickly becomes very expensive
- Is purpose made for customer data and event tracking and thus lacks features outside of those areas
- Not suitable for only use for ELT
- Can have problems ingesting and working with historical data
- Heavily skewed toward sales and marketing platforms
- Custom integration or customization is really hard to do
As pointed out in this Capterra review::
What I like about Segment
Segment is a great tool, if you can afford it then you should start using it right now.
What I dislike about Segment
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.
Pentaho Data Integration vs Segment: Ease of Use and User Interface
Pentaho Data Integration
Pentaho’s Spoon GUI uses a canvas paradigm: drag "steps" onto a transformation, connect them, and configure. While powerful, it can feel clunky, especially for very complex flows with many steps.
Segment
Segment is easy to set up and use, offering real-time data integration and advanced features for managing customer data, making it a great choice for businesses focusing on customer data platforms.
Pentaho Data Integration vs Segment: Pricing Transparency and Affordability
Pentaho Data Integration
The free Community Edition is attractive for experimentation. Enterprise Edition pricing is usage-based and includes support, lineag, and more; typically suited for mid-sized to large organizations.
Segment
Segment can quickly become very expensive, especially for smaller businesses, due to its pricing model based on the number of visitors and advanced features.
Pentaho Data Integration vs Segment: Comprehensive Feature Set
Pentaho Data Integration
PDI features: GUI-based transformation designer, job orchestration, data cleansing, lookups, joins, scripting (JavaScript, PDI’s built-in “User Defined Java Expression”), logging, clustering, and integration with Pentaho BI for reporting. Lineage and monitoring in Enterprise.
Segment
The platform provides robust real-time data integration capabilities and is heavily skewed towards sales and marketing platforms, making it ideal for businesses with a strong focus on customer data.
Pentaho Data Integration vs Segment: Flexibility and Customization
Pentaho Data Integration
Users can embed Java, JavaScript, or invoke external scripts. PDI’s open architecture allows custom plugins for new steps/connectors. The code is open-source, so full extensibility is available, though it requires Java development.
Segment
Segment offers limited flexibility for use outside of customer data and event tracking, with customization options that can be challenging for more complex requirements.
Summary of Pentaho Data Integration vs Segment vs Weld
| Weld | Pentaho Data Integration | Segment | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connectors | 200+ | 150+ | 300+ |
| Price | €99 / 2 connectors | Community Edition: Free; Enterprise Edition: Custom pricing | €120/month 10,000 visitors |
| Free tier | No | Yes | Yes |
| Location | EU | Santa Clara, CA, USA (Hitachi Vantara HQ) | US |
| Extract data (ETL) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sync data to HubSpot, Salesforce, Klaviyo, Excel etc. (reverse ETL) | Yes | No | Yes |
| Transformations | Yes | Yes | No |
| AI Assistant | Yes | No | No |
| On-Premise | No | Yes | No |
| Orchestration | Yes | Yes | No |
| Lineage | Yes | Yes | No |
| Version control | Yes | Yes | No |
| Load data to and from Excel | Yes | Yes | No |
| Load data to and from Google Sheets | Yes | Yes | No |
| Two-Way Sync | Yes | No | No |
| dbt Core Integration | Yes | No | Yes |
| dbt Cloud Integration | Yes | No | No |
| OpenAPI / Developer API | Yes | No | Yes |
| G2 Rating | 4.8 | 4.1 | 4.6 |
Conclusion
You’re comparing Pentaho Data Integration, Segment, Weld. Each of these tools has its own strengths:
- Pentaho Data Integration: pdi features: gui-based transformation designer, job orchestration, data cleansing, lookups, joins, scripting (javascript, pdi’s built-in “user defined java expression”), logging, clustering, and integration with pentaho bi for reporting. lineage and monitoring in enterprise. . the free community edition is attractive for experimentation. enterprise edition pricing is usage-based and includes support, lineag, and more; typically suited for mid-sized to large organizations. .
- Segment: the platform provides robust real-time data integration capabilities and is heavily skewed towards sales and marketing platforms, making it ideal for businesses with a strong focus on customer data.. segment can quickly become very expensive, especially for smaller businesses, due to its pricing model based on the number of visitors and advanced features..
- 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..
