Fivetran vs Portable
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Fivetran and Portable built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose Fivetran if…
Sources whose rows keep changing. A monthly active row is counted once however many times it changed that month, unchanged rows on a re-sync cost nothing, and the initial bulk load is excluded entirely — so a churny table is billed on how many rows moved, not how often. 500,000 MAR free, standing.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose Portable if…
A bill that does not move and a long tail of obscure sources. 1,500+ connectors is the largest catalogue here, data volume is unlimited on every plan, and the only thing that changes the price is enabling another flow — so a nightly full reload of a huge table costs exactly what a small one does.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Fivetran: Many DISTINCT rows change each month. A growing fact table bills every new row, and the meter that forgives churn does not forgive breadth. Freshness is also gated: 15-minute syncs are the Standard ceiling and 1-minute syncs are two plans up on Enterprise.
- Portable: You have a handful of pipelines, or want to start without committing. $1,800 a month for six flows is the floor and there is no free tier, only a 14-day trial — one pipeline here costs what a light Fivetran connection costs 360 times over. Standard also syncs hourly; 15 minutes means Pro at $2,800.
8 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Fivetran 0
Portable 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Fivetran | Portable |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Kind of free offer | Free tier | Free trial |
| When the free offer ends | Each new connection carries its own 14-day free trial, which runs alongside the standing free plan rather than replacing it. | A 14-day trial on both paid plans. It is the only free access — the plan table has no $0 row. |
| Entry paid plan | $5 base charge per standard connection using between 1 and 1 million MAR in a month, charged on top of per-MAR usage. There is no plan fee to clear first, so a single light connection is the floor. | $1,800 a month for Standard, which enables 6 data flows and includes unlimited data volume. |
| Pricing model | Consumption on monthly active rows. Inserts and updates count, deletes included; rows that come back unchanged on a scheduled re-sync do not, and neither does the initial bulk load when a connector is set up. Metered per million MAR. | A fixed monthly fee set by the number of enabled data flows, with unlimited data volume on every plan. Each unique source-destination pair counts as one flow. |
| Pipelines | ||
| Connectors published | 700+ fully managed connectors, plus 200+ fully managed activation destinations for the reverse direction. | 1,500+ no-code ETL connectors, the largest published catalogue of the four. |
| Sync frequency | 15-minute syncs on Standard. One-minute syncs arrive on Enterprise, two plans up. | Every 1 hour on Standard. Every 15 minutes, or at a chosen time by cron, from Pro. |
| Compliance | ||
| Role-based access control | Role-based access control is included on Standard. Custom roles are an Enterprise feature. | Role-based access control and multi-factor authentication are described as platform-wide practice, with no plan gating stated. |
Where they differ.
Free tier
- Fivetran
- Yes
- Portable
- No
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Fivetran Pricing ↗
“Access Standard Plan features, free up to the following: 500,000 monthly active rows (MAR) for connections”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Portable Pricing ↗
“ELT Capabilities Free trial 14 day Unlimited data volumes”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Kind of free offer
- Fivetran
- Free tier
- Portable
- Free trial
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Fivetran Pricing ↗
“This does not apply to accounts on the Free plan, which remains entirely free.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Portable Pricing ↗
“ELT Capabilities Free trial 14 day Unlimited data volumes”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
When the free offer ends
- Fivetran
- Each new connection carries its own 14-day free trial, which runs alongside the standing free plan rather than replacing it.
- Portable
- A 14-day trial on both paid plans. It is the only free access — the plan table has no $0 row.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Fivetran Pricing ↗
“Each new connection comes with a 14-day free trial.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Portable Pricing ↗
“Start a 14-Day Trial Access to Standard sources”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Entry paid plan
- Fivetran
- $5 base charge per standard connection using between 1 and 1 million MAR in a month, charged on top of per-MAR usage. There is no plan fee to clear first, so a single light connection is the floor.
- Portable
- $1,800 a month for Standard, which enables 6 data flows and includes unlimited data volume.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Fivetran Pricing ↗
“We apply a $5 base charge to all standard connections that have a monthly usage between 1 MAR and 1M MAR.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Portable Pricing ↗
“$1,800 billed monthly Start a 14-Day Trial Access to Standard sources Access to data warehouse and database destinations Unlimited data volumes”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Pricing model
- Fivetran
- Consumption on monthly active rows. Inserts and updates count, deletes included; rows that come back unchanged on a scheduled re-sync do not, and neither does the initial bulk load when a connector is set up. Metered per million MAR.
- Portable
- A fixed monthly fee set by the number of enabled data flows, with unlimited data volume on every plan. Each unique source-destination pair counts as one flow.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Fivetran Pricing ↗
“monthly usage refers to the number of monthly active rows (MAR) processed by Fivetran in a calendar month. This usage is measured based on per million MAR. Usage includes: Inserts: New rows added to your destination. Updates: Modifications made to existing rows in your destination, including deletes. Usage excludes: Unchanged rows: Rows retrieved during scheduled re-syncs that haven't changed since the previous sync. Initial syncs: The initial bulk data load performed when setting up a connector.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Portable Pricing ↗
“If you have multiple sources or destinations, each unique source-destination pair counts as a separate flow. [...] Unlimited data volumes”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Connectors published
700+ fully managed connectors, plus 200+ fully managed activation destinations for the reverse direction.
1,500+ no-code ETL connectors, the largest published catalogue of the four.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Fivetran Pricing ↗
“700+ fully managed connectors 200+ fully managed activation destinations”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Portable Connectors ↗
“1500+ No-Code ETL Connectors”
Read 2026-09-15 · official site
Sync frequency
- Fivetran
- 15-minute syncs on Standard. One-minute syncs arrive on Enterprise, two plans up.
- Portable
- Every 1 hour on Standard. Every 15 minutes, or at a chosen time by cron, from Pro.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Fivetran Pricing ↗
“Unlimited users 15-minute syncs 700+ fully managed connectors [...] All Standard features, plus: 1-minute syncs”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Portable Pricing ↗
“Unlimited data volumes Sync data every 1 hour Incremental syncing [...] Unlimited data volumes Sync data every 15 minutes Sync data at a specific time via Cron scheduling”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Role-based access control
- Fivetran
- Role-based access control is included on Standard. Custom roles are an Enterprise feature.
- Portable
- Role-based access control and multi-factor authentication are described as platform-wide practice, with no plan gating stated.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Fivetran Pricing ↗
“Role-based access control Access to Fivetran REST API [...] All Standard features, plus: 1-minute syncs Fivetran Activations' Audience Hub Enterprise database connectors Custom roles”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- Portable Security ↗
“We implement role-based access control, multi-factor authentication, and other best practices”
Read 2026-09-15 · official site
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: Fivetran or Portable?
Fivetran: $5 base charge per standard connection using between 1 and 1 million MAR in a month, charged on top of per-MAR usage. There is no plan fee to clear first, so a single light connection is the floor.
Portable: $1,800 a month for Standard, which enables 6 data flows and includes unlimited data volume.
Free tier: Fivetran or Portable?
Fivetran: Yes
Portable: No
Should I choose Fivetran or Portable?
Pick Fivetran if Sources whose rows keep changing. A monthly active row is counted once however many times it changed that month, unchanged rows on a re-sync cost nothing, and the initial bulk load is excluded entirely — so a churny table is billed on how many rows moved, not how often. 500,000 MAR free, standing.
Pick Portable if A bill that does not move and a long tail of obscure sources. 1,500+ connectors is the largest catalogue here, data volume is unlimited on every plan, and the only thing that changes the price is enabling another flow — so a nightly full reload of a huge table costs exactly what a small one does.