ETL and ELT · November 2026 Edition
Fivetran vs Apache Airflow
Seven of fourteen models named Fivetran first on the direct prompt; zero named Apache Airflow. Fivetran was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Apache Airflow by ten and Fivetran carries 66 labels and Apache Airflow 21, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in two categories this edition.
Named in two categories this edition.
First-choice share31%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate18%10%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#6A position in a field of 19; printed, not drawn.
Labels6621A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Fivetran reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Airbyte was named alongside these two in eleven of the fourteen direct answers. Airbyte vs Fivetran · Airbyte vs Apache Airflow · Fivetran vs Integrate.io
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the ETL and ELT page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
FivetranFirst choices, of fourteen modelsApache Airflow
Direct70
Paraphrase902 against Fivetran · 1 against Apache Airflow
Comparative80
Budget-constrained012 against Fivetran
Scale-constrained10
Negative218 against Fivetran · 1 against Apache Airflow
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Fivetran and Apache Airflow stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | |||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | ||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | |||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | | |||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | ||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | ||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | |||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | | | |
Fivetran Apache Airflow first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Fivetran on the left and Apache Airflow on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Fivetran and Apache Airflow stood in it.
Fivetran first, Apache Airflow not the choice
7 of 14 modelsApache Airflow was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GPT-5.4 miniFivetran alternatives: Airbyte, Matillion
Gemini 3.5 FlashFivetran alternatives: Airbyte, Matillion, Rivery, dbt
Mistral SmallFivetran alternatives: Integrate.io, Kleene.ai, Matillion
DeepSeek V4 FlashFivetran alternatives: Airbyte, Hevo Data, Integrate.io
Llama 4 MaverickFivetran, Integrate.io, Kleene.ai
Qwen 3.7 FlashFivetran alternatives: Airbyte, Matillion
GPT-6 LunaFivetran alternatives: Airbyte, dbt
Neither was the first choice, one was named
6 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Perplexity SonarHevo Data alternatives: Airbyte, Fivetran, Integrate.io, Matillion
Grok 4.20Integrate.io alternatives: Airbyte, Fivetran, Matillion, dbt
Kimi K2Integrate.io alternatives: Airbyte, Apache Airflow, Fivetran, Kleene.ai, dbt
GLM 4.7 FlashXIntegrate.io alternatives: Airbyte, Fivetran, Hevo Data, Matillion, Stitch
MiniMax M2.5Integrate.io alternatives: Airbyte, Apache Airflow, Fivetran, dbt
Muse Glimmer 30BIntegrate.io, Kleene.ai alternatives: Airbyte, Fivetran, Hevo Data
Neither was named
1 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Fivetran leads by fourteen points.
Fivetran14%#4 of 15Apache Airflow0%#14 of 15Mid-marketThe figures above
Fivetran leads by twenty-nine points.
Fivetran31%#2 of 19Apache Airflow2%#6 of 19Enterprise
Fivetran leads by forty-three points.
Fivetran45%#1 of 14Apache Airflow2%#8 of 14What the models said about Fivetran
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Avoid per-row pricing models - tools like Fivetran can have costs multiply by 5x in a single quarter” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · hard negative
“Tools like Fivetran are industry standards for simplicity, but their consumption-based pricing models scale based on active rows synced” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Many mid-sized companies outgrow Fivetran when their Monthly Active Row (MAR) costs scale faster than their revenue.” Kimi K2 · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“Most mid-market teams land on a combination like Fivetran or Airbyte (ingestion) + dbt (transformation) + an orchestrator (Airflow/Dagster)” DeepSeek V4 Flash · scale prompt · first choice
“Choose Fivetran + dbt if you want a modern, low-maintenance ELT stack for a cloud warehouse with minimal engineering overhead.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Go with Fivetran + dbt + Snowflake if you want to minimize engineering oversight and get up and running within days” Gemini 3.5 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice
What the models said about Apache Airflow
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. One of one in this category shown.
“Apache Airflow or Airbyte are popular choices because they're free, have strong community support” Claude Haiku 4.5 · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.