Airbyte vs Stitch: Open Source vs Managed ELT
Stitch was the easy button for ELT. Airbyte is the open-source challenger that wants you to own your data pipelines.
The Short Version
Airbyte is the better choice for data teams that want control over their pipelines, need custom connectors, or want to avoid vendor lock-in. Stitch (now part of Talend/Qlik) is better for small teams that want a fully managed service with minimal setup. The catch: Stitch's future as a standalone product is uncertain since the Talend acquisition by Qlik.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Airbyte | stitch |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | Free (open source) | Free (5M rows/mo) |
| Cloud Pricing | $2.50/credit (~$0.15/row) | $100/mo base + usage |
| Connectors | 350+ | 130+ |
| Custom Connectors | Yes (CDK, Python/Java) | Limited (Import API) |
| Self-Hosted | Yes (Docker, Kubernetes) | No |
| CDC Support | Yes (Debezium-based) | Limited |
| Transformations | Basic (dbt integration) | No (EL only) |
| Reverse ETL | No (separate tool) | No |
| Community | Large open-source community | Minimal community |
| Best For | Data teams wanting control | Small teams wanting managed ELT |
| The Big Risk | Self-hosting complexity | Product uncertainty post-acquisition |
Deep Dive: Airbyte
What They're Selling
Airbyte is an open-source ELT platform with over 350 pre-built connectors. It's the fastest-growing data integration tool in the modern data stack, backed by $180M+ in funding. The pitch: own your data pipelines without vendor lock-in. Self-host for free, or use Airbyte Cloud for a managed experience.
What It Actually Costs
Self-hosted Airbyte is free but you're paying in engineering time for setup, monitoring, and maintenance. Budget 2-4 hours/month for a small deployment, more for complex setups. Airbyte Cloud charges per credit ($2.50/credit), where credits map to compute time. A typical mid-size deployment costs $200-800/month on Cloud. Team plan starts at $500/mo with SLAs.
What Users Say
Engineers love the open-source model and the connector breadth. The Connector Development Kit (CDK) makes building custom connectors straightforward. The main complaints: self-hosted Airbyte can be resource-hungry (memory and disk), the Cloud product has had reliability issues during rapid growth, and documentation sometimes lags behind features.
Pros
- Open source with no vendor lock-in
- 350+ connectors (most in the category)
- Custom connector development kit (CDK)
- Self-hosted or managed cloud options
- Active community and rapid connector additions
Cons
- Self-hosting requires DevOps resources
- Cloud product has had reliability growing pains
- Memory-intensive for self-hosted deployments
- No built-in transformation layer
- Enterprise features (RBAC, SSO) require paid plans
Deep Dive: stitch
What They're Selling
Stitch started as the simple, developer-friendly ELT tool. Connect your sources, pick a destination, and data starts flowing. No infrastructure to manage, no code to write. It was acquired by Talend in 2018, and Talend was subsequently acquired by Qlik in 2023. The product still exists as Stitch by Talend, but its roadmap and future as a standalone product are unclear.
What It Actually Costs
Stitch has a free tier with 5 million rows/month and 10 sources. The Standard plan at $100/month adds more sources and priority support. Advanced plan pricing is custom. The free tier is genuinely useful for small data volumes, but pricing scales with row counts, which can get expensive for high-volume pipelines.
What Users Say
Long-time users praise Stitch for reliability and simplicity. It's the "set and forget" ELT tool. The concerns are all about the future: since the Talend/Qlik acquisition, there's been minimal product innovation. New connectors are rare. Users worry about being on a product that's in maintenance mode rather than active development.
Pros
- Simple setup with minimal configuration
- Reliable for basic ELT workloads
- Free tier with 5M rows/month
- No infrastructure to manage
- Predictable pricing model
Cons
- Only 130 connectors (vs 350+ for Airbyte)
- Minimal product development since Talend acquisition
- No self-hosted option
- Limited custom connector support
- Uncertain product roadmap under Qlik ownership
Which Should You Pick?
The Honest Take
Two years ago, this was a closer comparison. Stitch was the simpler option for small teams, Airbyte was the technically ambitious open-source alternative. The Qlik acquisition changed the equation. Stitch's connector count has stagnated while Airbyte's has nearly tripled. For new implementations, Airbyte is the safer long-term bet whether you self-host or use their cloud. Stitch is fine if it's already working for you, but starting a new project on Stitch in 2026 is hard to justify.
Questions to Ask Before Buying
- Do you have data engineers who can manage self-hosted infrastructure?
- How many data sources do you need to connect?
- Are your required connectors available on both platforms?
- What's your monthly data volume (rows/events)?
- Do you need change data capture (CDC) for real-time sync?
- How important is vendor independence to your team?
- Do you already use a transformation tool like dbt?
- What's your total budget for data integration tooling?
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Airbyte really free?
The open-source version is free to self-host. You'll pay for compute (servers/containers) and engineering time to manage it. Airbyte Cloud is a paid managed service starting at $2.50/credit, which works out to roughly $200-800/month for most mid-size deployments.
Is Stitch being discontinued?
There's been no official announcement about discontinuing Stitch. However, product development has slowed significantly since the Talend and subsequent Qlik acquisitions. Existing customers report the product still works reliably, but new feature releases and connector additions have been minimal.
Can Airbyte replace Fivetran?
Airbyte and Fivetran compete directly. Airbyte has more connectors and the open-source option, but Fivetran has more mature enterprise features, better reliability SLAs, and a longer track record. For cost-sensitive teams, Airbyte Cloud is typically 30-50% cheaper than Fivetran.
Which handles larger data volumes better?
Airbyte handles large volumes better in self-hosted mode where you control the infrastructure. Stitch's row-based pricing can get expensive at scale. For pipelines moving billions of rows monthly, Airbyte's self-hosted deployment gives you more control over performance tuning.