5 Postgres ETL Tools for Seamless Data Integration

As technology advances, one thing remains certain among businesses across nearly every industry — data drives competitive advantages. However, combining data from multiple sources to achieve a unified view, known as data integration, is easier said than done, and it requires the right tools, including those that support Postgres ETL.

To truly maximize the power of data integration, consider these variables when selecting the best Postgres ETL tool:

Is the tool GUI-based?
How easy is the tool to use? For example, does it have a drag-and-drop interface?
Does it offer built-in integrations & ETL transformations?
How expensive is it based on the features provided?
Does it integrate with Postgres as a source for extraction and a destination for loading?

The ability to pull business intelligence from data analytics and use that information to develop strategies has been a game-changer. This article will provide the insight needed to choose the best Postgres ETL tool based on the considerations above. Choose from these five tools to ensure seamless data management and integration this year and beyond.

What Are Postgres ETL Tools?

Although major competitors have entered the market, like Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, and Google BigQuery, PostgreSQL — or Postgres — has remained relevant because it's open source and runs on-premises and in the cloud.

Since organizations often use Postgres as an ETL data source, tools are needed to move data from one system to another — typically a data warehousing solution. This ensures a more unified view of your data. A common use case for a Postgres database would be real-time eCommerce transactions. For example, you can create a pipeline that moves Ecommerce data from a Postgres database to a centralized location, then transform that data for big data analytics. You can also produce data visualizations, data models, and machine learning models about products and customers to improve marketing, sales, and customer service operations.

A Postgres ETL (extract, transform, load) tool is how you successfully move data in and out of PostgreSQL. This advanced, open-source database system supports functions of SQL and JSON and is used in many applications, including Skype and Etsy.

An ETL tool is the solution when data needs to be pulled for analytics purposes or loaded from other sources — in this case, the top Postgres ETL tools. Key features and capabilities vary with these tools, with many capable of working with PostgreSQL on-premises or in the cloud.

So, how do you choose the right option for you?

Read more: Heroku PostgreSQL and Integrate.io

Considerations When Choosing the Best ETL Tools for Postgres

For Postgres ETL tools, there are CLI (command line interface) tools and GUI (graphical user interface) tools. While CLI is the traditional method, there are some limitations, including:

The difficulty of finding needed information, as the console display provides little.
Browsing through indexes, tables, databases, etc., is also challenging in the console display.

To avoid these concerns, GUI tools exist. With GUI-based ETL tools, you can visualize data, benefit from shortcut keys, and more easily access files, features, and the operating system.

Some other key considerations include the following:

Can your chosen data integration tool integrate your most crucial data? Does it have the ability to ingest data from all the apps you need?
Does the tool offer popular and rare connectors? Is the platform open to new connector suggestions based on your needs?
Was the tool built with Postgres in mind? Nearly every ETL supports Postgres, but not all integrate with the system as an extraction data source and loading destination.
What level of customer support will you get?
How does pricing compare to other options based on what you need from your ETL tool? For many, a flat rate is more attractive than a potentially unpredictable consumption-based pricing model.

With this list in mind, check out the best Postgres ETL tools.

1. Integrate.io

Integrate.io is a no-code platform that supports ETL, reverse ETL, ELT, API management, and data observability. This cloud-native platform offers a complete set of connectors for building and managing secure, clean data pipelines, supporting real-time data integrations, ETL migrations, and replication from on-premises to cloud environments. Integrate.io CDC provides fast, secure, and reliable data pipelines from data sources like transactional databases (like PostgreSQL) to cloud data warehouses.

Features and benefits:

Code-free data integration, ensuring ease of use. However, additional features are available for developers building rich data pipelines.
Powerful drag-and-drop interface that allows for the preparation and management of data for analytics and reporting.
Unify data every 60 seconds for a single source of truth via the industry's fastest ELT data replication.
Enjoy self-hosted API management and secure REST API automation.
Custom automated alerting features for optimal observability monitoring.
Centralizes data from hundreds of data sources into a data warehouse. Integrate.io also moves and transforms data internally among data stores (i.e., from MySQL to Postgres databases).
Excellent scalability, security, and customer support.
Competitive pricing for budget-minded customers.

Cons:

Integrate.io does not offer third-party to third-party data integration.
It does not support pure data replication use cases.
Integrate.io focuses on being the best in what it offers, limiting certain overpriced and underused features. Unless your company has the skillset and need for these advanced features, this disadvantage is an advantage concerning pricing and ease of use.

Pricing: Enjoy flat-rate pricing that's clear and flexible. Try the Starter ($15,000 per year) and Professional ($25,000 per year) plans for free. Custom plans are built upon request to support those who require advanced features.

Integrate.io's G2 rating: 4.3/5

2. Stitch

Stitch is an ETL tool that's part of the Talend ecosystem. This tool supports data transformations with Java, SQL, and Python, but it's fairly basic in its capabilities. Best suited for small firms seeking a more lightweight "EL" solution, Stitch offers a free option for those who need very low-volume data transfers.

Features and benefits:

Beginner-friendly, visual user interface helps ensure ease of use.
Offers various pre-built connectors to integrate datasets with the most popular data warehouse options.
Enterprise-grade compliance and security.
Offers an extendable platform with Singer open-source framework.

Cons:

Can't handle large volumes of data, reducing scalability.
It supports limited data sources and destinations, which is problematic for many businesses.
Doesn't handle complex data transformations as well as most alternatives.
The volume-based structure is problematic for larger firms or growing startups.

Pricing: Stitch offers a volume-based pricing structure, so you must consider your needs. If you require more than lightweight data extraction, Stitch could be expensive. The standard tier starts at $100, and the premium tier starts at $2,500.

Stitch's G2 rating: 4.5/5

3. Fivetran

Fivetran is another popular cloud-based, low-code integration platform that can pull data from various sources to push into the most popular warehouses, including Oracle Database, PostgreSQL, and MySQL. The available features make it easy to connect data sources and update them without manual intervention.

Features and benefits:

Point-and-click interface, making it relatively easy to use.
An extensive selection of pre-built connectors for customization.
Comes with built-in schemas designed for analytics.
Offers simple data replication and automatic schema migrations.

Cons:

Compared to other alternatives, this is a higher-priced tool.
It only supports one-way Salesforce CRM integration, unlike other options that offer a two-way Salesforce-to-Salesforce connector.
When setting up automated data transformations, developers must code the transformations in SQL. So, some coding experience is required.
Fivetran offers a limited number of supported destinations for data warehouses only.

Pricing: A free plan is available. However, its capacity and level of support are limited. Paid pricing is based on a consumption-based model, making it ideal for those with minimal data demands.

Fivetran's G2 rating: 4.2/5

4. Pentaho

Also known as Kettle, Pentaho is an open-source data integration and analytics platform supported by Hitachi Data Systems. Companies use Pentaho to copy or move data from SaaS applications and databases into their data warehouse of choice.

Features and benefits:

A self-service tool that's relatively simple to use and understand.
Accurate documentation and user-friendly GUI.
Follows a metadata approach, offering the Pentaho Metadata Editor.
Support a wide range of data stores and can run on operating systems like Unix, Linux, and Windows.

Cons:

Pentaho is not a simple tool and not the best option if you're looking to migrate data from one database to another without any cleansing.
When migrating large data volumes, performance can suffer.
Limited templates and weak error codes.

Pricing: Pricing is based on each client's needs. Although this model is flexible, it can be costly. The average price point means this platform is unsuitable for most small-to-medium businesses.

Pentaho's G2 rating: 4.1/5

5. IBM InfoSphere DataStage

IBM Infosphere was first developed in 2008 to target large-scale and big data companies. It's a leading option for data integration and offers excellent cross-platform compatibility. This tool can be integrated with multiple databases, ranging from Hadoop to IBM DB2 database. If you choose this option, you'll need an extensive budget.

Features and benefits:

Transfer and process colossal volumes of structured or unstructured data.
Implementation is easy; you can quickly establish connections between source and destination and connect to different external data sources.
If you are using other existing IBM licensing tools, integration is extremely simple.

Cons:

Considering average monthly pricing ranges from $6,800 to nearly $20,000 per month, only select companies can afford this tool.
Significant architectural differences exist when comparing the Server and Enterprise editions, which can make future migration time- and resource-intensive.
Available only under Windows.
No automated error handling system.

Pricing: Four options are available: Service, Enterprise, Enterprise Plus, and an on-site edition. Contact the sales team for more information. A free trial is available.

IBM Infosphere DataStage's G2 rating: 4.0/5

What ETL Tool Is Best for You?

No two Postgres ETL tools are built the same, so you must focus on what's most important to your organization regarding features, pricing, and possible limitations. If one of your primary concerns is the best tool for migrating to Postgres, choose one designed to address all your Postgres-related needs. Are you most concerned about transferring data from Postgres to Salesforce? Perhaps you use Redshift more often?

When choosing the right tool for the job, you should be able to start analyzing your data in Postgres within minutes. For seamless replication, Integrate.io is an ideal choice. This turnkey solution ticks all the boxes when seeking one of the top Postgres ETL tools. Also, using Integrate.io's REST API connector, you can fetch data from nearly any service with a REST API. Pull data through HTTP endpoints and use that data to create highly-customized ETL pipelines for your specific use case.

Discover more about connecting PostgreSQL to RESTful API and try it in your environment. Sign up for your 14-day free trial today!

ETL

5 Postgres ETL Tools for Seamless Data Integration

Table of Contents

What Are Postgres ETL Tools?