Dunwich vs Fivetran: A Comprehensive Comparison of Data Integration Platforms

By Admin — 2025-11-18

When it comes to data integration and warehouse ingestion, choosing the right platform can significantly impact your operational costs, data security, and overall infrastructure strategy. In this article, we'll compare Dunwich and Fivetran—two fundamentally different approaches to solving the same problem: getting data from source systems into your data warehouse.

Executive Summary

Dunwich is an on-premises data ingestion platform designed for organizations that prioritize data sovereignty, predictable costs, and privacy-by-design architecture. It offers flat yearly licensing with no volume-based pricing.
Fivetran is a cloud-native, fully managed ELT platform with 700+ pre-built connectors, designed for organizations seeking automation, scalability, and minimal maintenance overhead. It uses volume-based pricing calculated per connection.

Pricing Model: The Fundamental Difference

Dunwich: Flat Yearly Licensing

Dunwich's pricing philosophy is straightforward: flat yearly licensing with no volume-based costs. Whether you're processing 100 GB or 100 TB of data, your costs remain predictable and stable.
Key Advantages:
  • No surprise billing based on data volume
  • Scale from small to massive datasets without renegotiating contracts
  • Perfect for high-volume operations where traditional SaaS pricing becomes prohibitive
  • No per-row, per-GB, or per-API-call charges
Ideal For:
  • Organizations with rapidly growing data volumes
  • Companies that want cost certainty in their budgets
  • High-volume data operations

Fivetran: Usage-Based Pricing (MAR Model)

Fivetran operates on a Monthly Active Rows (MAR) pricing model, where costs are based on the number of rows inserted, updated, or deleted each month. As of March 2025, Fivetran shifted from account-level to connection-level MAR billing.
How It Works:
  • Each data connection is billed separately based on its MAR
  • The more data you move, the lower your per-row cost (within each connection)
  • Four pricing tiers: Free (up to 500K MAR), Standard, Enterprise, and Business Critical
  • Minimum annual commitment of $12,000 for contracted plans
2025 Pricing Changes Impact: According to recent reports, the shift to connection-level billing has increased costs by 40-70% for organizations using multiple connectors, as bulk discounts no longer apply account-wide.
Challenges:
  • Unpredictable costs due to data volume fluctuations
  • Seasonal spikes, marketing campaigns, or business growth can trigger unexpected billing increases
  • Complex cost estimation for multi-connector setups
  • Many users report pricing concerns, with some reducing usage by 70% due to cost escalation
Ideal For:
  • Organizations with predictable, low-to-moderate data volumes
  • Teams that can closely monitor and optimize MAR usage
  • Companies willing to accept variable costs in exchange for managed services

Deployment Model: Cloud vs On-Premises

Dunwich: On-Premises Sovereignty

Dunwich runs entirely within your infrastructure. Your data never leaves your network, providing absolute control over your data warehouse operations.
Benefits:
  • Complete data sovereignty—no third-party cloud dependencies
  • Ideal for regulated industries (healthcare, finance, government)
  • Meet strict data residency requirements
  • No compliance compromises
Considerations:
  • Requires internal infrastructure to host
  • Your team manages updates and maintenance
  • Need technical expertise for deployment and operations

Fivetran: Fully Managed Cloud Service

Fivetran is a cloud-native SaaS platform where the entire infrastructure is managed by Fivetran.
Benefits:
  • Zero infrastructure management
  • Automatic updates and maintenance
  • No need for dedicated DevOps resources
  • Quick setup and deployment (often within hours)
  • 15-minute sync frequencies on Standard tier and above
Considerations:
  • Data passes through Fivetran's cloud infrastructure
  • Not suitable for organizations with strict on-premises requirements
  • Dependent on Fivetran's uptime and reliability

Data Privacy and Compliance

Dunwich: Privacy-First Architecture

Dunwich takes a unique approach to GDPR compliance and data privacy by building it into the ingestion layer itself.
Key Features:
  • Flag columns for hashing, encryption, or complete omission at the schema level
  • Privacy-by-design architecture—no post-processing required
  • Data transformations happen before entering the warehouse
  • No manual scrubbing needed
  • Audit-friendly compliance approach
Perfect For:
  • Organizations handling PII or sensitive data
  • Companies with strict GDPR, CCPA, or HIPAA requirements
  • Industries where data governance is critical

Fivetran: Enterprise Security Features

Fivetran offers comprehensive security features, particularly in higher-tier plans.
Security Features:
  • Role-based access control (Standard tier and up)
  • SSH tunnels for encryption
  • SOC 2 Type II certified
  • Business Critical tier includes: 
    • Private networking options
    • Enhanced data protection
    • Strictest compliance requirements support
Approach:
  • Security managed at the platform level
  • Privacy controls applied in the data warehouse or through transformations
  • Compliance handled through platform certifications

Connector Ecosystem and Integration

Dunwich: Protocol-Focused Universal Ingestion

Dunwich takes a protocol-first approach rather than building connector libraries.
Supported Protocols:
  • REST APIs
  • gRPC endpoints
  • Debezium CDC (Change Data Capture) streams
Philosophy:
  • Integrate with existing systems without architectural sacrifices
  • Brownfield-friendly design
  • Works with your current infrastructure
Warehouse Support:
  • AWS Redshift
  • PostgreSQL
  • MySQL/MariaDB
  • Warehouse-agnostic architecture—switch targets without rewriting ingestion logic

Fivetran: Extensive Pre-Built Connector Library

Fivetran's primary strength is its massive connector ecosystem.
Connector Library:
  • 700+ pre-built, fully managed connectors
  • Covers SaaS applications, databases, files, events, and more
  • Automated schema drift handling
  • Zero-code integration setup
Popular Connectors Include:
  • Salesforce, HubSpot, and other CRM systems
  • Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, and marketing platforms
  • MongoDB, PostgreSQL, MySQL databases
  • AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage
  • Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, and more
Maintenance:
  • Fivetran handles connector updates and maintenance
  • API changes managed automatically
  • Schema changes adapted without manual intervention
Warehouse Support:
  • Broader range including Snowflake, BigQuery, Azure Synapse, Databricks, and more

Use Case Scenarios

When to Choose Dunwich

1. Regulated Industries with Data Sovereignty Requirements If you're in healthcare, finance, government contracting, or any industry with strict data residency rules, Dunwich's on-premises deployment ensures compliance without compromise.
2. High-Volume Data Operations Organizations processing terabytes of data monthly will benefit enormously from flat pricing. As your data scales, Dunwich becomes increasingly cost-effective compared to volume-based alternatives.
3. Privacy-First Organizations If GDPR, CCPA, or other privacy regulations are central to your business, Dunwich's ingestion-layer privacy controls provide built-in compliance without additional tooling.
4. Companies Seeking Vendor Independence Dunwich's warehouse-agnostic approach and protocol-based integration mean you're not locked into specific vendors. Switch data warehouses without rebuilding pipelines.
5. Teams with Technical Infrastructure Organizations with existing DevOps capabilities and on-premises infrastructure can leverage Dunwich effectively while maintaining full control.

When to Choose Fivetran

1. Rapid Deployment Without Infrastructure Investment If you need to start syncing data today without provisioning servers or managing infrastructure, Fivetran's cloud-native approach delivers immediate value.
2. Limited Technical Resources Teams without dedicated data engineers or DevOps staff benefit from Fivetran's fully managed service. No maintenance, no connector updates—just working data pipelines.
3. Broad SaaS Integration Needs If your data lives across dozens of SaaS applications (marketing tools, CRMs, support platforms), Fivetran's 700+ connectors provide plug-and-play integration.
4. Predictable, Moderate Data Volumes Organizations with stable data volumes in the hundreds of thousands to low millions of monthly active rows can manage costs effectively on Fivetran.
5. Cloud-Native Data Stack Companies fully committed to cloud infrastructure (Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks) and without on-premises constraints will appreciate Fivetran's seamless integration.

Real-World Cost Analysis Example

Let's compare the two platforms with a hypothetical scenario:
Scenario: A mid-sized e-commerce company processes 50 million rows per month across 5 data sources (website analytics, CRM, payment processor, marketing automation, customer support).

Fivetran Costs (Estimated)

Based on connection-level MAR billing:
  • 5 connections × ~10M MAR average per connection
  • Standard tier pricing: approximately $2-4 per million MAR (varies by tier)
  • Estimated monthly cost: $2,500 - $5,000+
  • Annual cost: $30,000 - $60,000+
Note: Actual costs vary based on specific usage patterns and negotiated rates. With March 2025 pricing changes, costs for multi-connector setups have reportedly increased 40-70%.

Dunwich Costs (Estimated)

  • Flat yearly licensing (example estimate)
  • Annual cost: Fixed (contact for quote)
  • No additional costs as data volume grows
Cost Advantage: If Dunwich's annual license is comparable to or less than Fivetran's annual spending, it becomes significantly more cost-effective as data volumes grow—with zero risk of cost overruns.

Technical Considerations

Observability and Monitoring

Dunwich:
  • Real-time monitoring built-in
  • Detailed logging for troubleshooting
  • Actionable alerts
  • On-premises visibility into all pipeline operations
Fivetran:
  • Centralized dashboard for all connections
  • MAR tracking per connection
  • Sync status monitoring
  • Alert system for failed syncs
  • Platform Connector for detailed MAR analysis

Data Transformation

Dunwich:
  • Privacy transformations (hashing, encryption) at ingestion
  • Focus on data preparation for warehouse loading
  • Additional transformation typically handled in warehouse
Fivetran:
  • Native dbt Core integration (charged separately as of Jan 2025)
  • 50+ Quickstart Data Models for common sources
  • Transformation scheduled within Fivetran platform
  • Free tier: up to 5,000 model runs per month

Change Data Capture (CDC)

Dunwich:
  • Supports Debezium CDC streams
  • Real-time change capture for databases
Fivetran:
  • Built-in CDC for supported database connectors
  • Automatic detection of inserts, updates, and deletes
  • Log-based CDC for minimal source impact

Migration and Switching Costs

Moving to Dunwich

  • Requires infrastructure setup and deployment
  • Protocol-based approach means adapting existing connectors or building new ones
  • One-time setup investment
  • Long-term cost savings for high-volume operations

Moving to Fivetran

  • Minimal switching costs—set up new connectors
  • Fast time-to-value (days or weeks)
  • 14-day free trial for evaluation
  • Risk of vendor lock-in due to proprietary connectors

Moving Away from Either Platform

  • From Dunwich: Since it's on-premises, your data pipeline code remains under your control; can be adapted or replaced
  • From Fivetran: Need to rebuild integrations with another tool or custom code; may require significant re-engineering

Customer Feedback and Pain Points

Dunwich Positioning

As a boutique, focused solution, Dunwich emphasizes:
  • "No feature bloat"
  • "Battle-tested engineering"
  • "One thing exceptionally well" philosophy
  • Enterprise quality without trying to be everything to everyone

Fivetran User Experiences (from 2025 reports)

Positive:
  • "Great interface, easy to manage, and connections just work"
  • Strong reliability and uptime
  • Excellent connector coverage
  • Good customer support
Challenges:
  • "Pricing model is too high. Hard to justify the value"
  • Multiple users report cutting usage by 70% due to cost concerns
  • March 2025 pricing changes causing significant cost increases
  • "Fivetran has been getting increasingly more expensive"
  • Companies exploring alternatives like Estuary, Airbyte, or warehouse-native solutions

The Verdict: Which Should You Choose?

Choose Dunwich If:

✅ You need complete data sovereignty and on-premises control
 ✅ You handle sensitive data requiring privacy-by-design architecture
 ✅ You process high data volumes and need cost predictability
 ✅ You're in a regulated industry (healthcare, finance, government)
 ✅ You have technical infrastructure and capabilities
 ✅ You want vendor independence and warehouse flexibility
 ✅ You're concerned about long-term SaaS cost escalation

Choose Fivetran If:

✅ You need 700+ pre-built connectors for diverse data sources
 ✅ You want zero infrastructure management and maintenance
 ✅ You need to deploy data pipelines within days, not weeks
 ✅ You have moderate, predictable data volumes
 ✅ You lack dedicated data engineering resources
 ✅ You're fully committed to cloud infrastructure
 ✅ You can manage and optimize volume-based costs

Hybrid Approach and Alternatives

Some organizations may benefit from a hybrid approach:
  • Use Fivetran for easy-to-connect SaaS applications with low data volumes
  • Use Dunwich for high-volume database replication and sensitive data sources
  • This optimizes costs while leveraging each platform's strengths
Other alternatives to consider:
  • Airbyte: Open-source, self-hosted or cloud, extensive connectors
  • Estuary Flow: Real-time CDC focus with competitive pricing
  • dlt (data load tool): Python library for building custom pipelines
  • Warehouse-native solutions: Snowflake Streams, BigQuery Data Transfer Service

Final Thoughts

The choice between Dunwich and Fivetran ultimately depends on your organization's priorities:
Fivetran excels as a comprehensive, fully managed solution for teams that value ease of use, broad connectivity, and don't mind variable costs tied to data volume.
Dunwich stands out for organizations that prioritize cost predictability, data sovereignty, privacy-first architecture, and maintain the infrastructure to run on-premises solutions.
For many enterprises, particularly those in regulated industries or with high data volumes, Dunwich's flat licensing model and privacy-first design may offer compelling long-term value. For startups and small-to-medium businesses seeking rapid deployment without infrastructure investment, Fivetran's managed service remains attractive—though the March 2025 pricing changes warrant careful cost analysis.
As the data integration landscape continues evolving, understanding your organization's specific needs around cost structure, data governance, deployment model, and technical capabilities will guide you to the right choice.
Ready to evaluate?
  • Dunwich: Visit starless.io/modules/dunwich for trial information
  • Fivetran: Start with their 14-day free trial to test connectors and features

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