# Airbyte vs Meltano

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Airbyte

| Attribute | Airbyte | Meltano |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 65.3 (76% (high)) | 53.7 (41% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 61 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 7 | 42 |
| adoption.github_stars | 21,957 | 2,609 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 269,893 | - |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Infrastructure that connects your business systems, pre-indexes and unifies their data, and serves it to AI agents through a managed context layer. Supports both real-time queries and pre-materialized context, with built-in OAuth, connector management, and data activation to operational tools. | Meltano provides a code-first approach to data integration, offering 600+ pre-built connectors with compute-time pricing and integrated governance. It enables teams to combine data extraction, loading, and transformation workflows with native dbt support and orchestration capabilities. |
| features.capabilities | `{"paradigm":"both","python_first":true,"managed_cloud":true,"connector_count":"50+","self_hosted_oss":true,"incremental_runs":true}` | `{"cdc":true,"role":"elt","paradigm":"both","dbt_native":true,"elt_pushdown":true,"managed_cloud":true,"connector_count":"600+","self_hosted_oss":true,"incremental_runs":true}` |
| integrations.count | 50 | 8 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Salesforce"},{"name":"Zendesk"},{"name":"Stripe"},{"name":"HubSpot"},{"name":"Gong"},{"name":"Linear"},{"name":"ActiveCampaign"},{"name":"Azure Blob Storage"},{"name":"BigQuery"},{"name":"Facebook Marketing"},{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"GitLab"},{"name":"Google Analytics"},{"name":"Google Drive"}]` | `[{"name":"Singer"},{"name":"dbt"},{"name":"Airflow"},{"name":"PostgreSQL"},{"name":"Snowflake"},{"name":"Great Expectations"},{"name":"Dagster"},{"name":"Superset"}]` |
| language.primary | Python | Python |
| license.spdx | - | MIT |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free (Agents)","summary":"Free","features":["Single user","API and MCP access","Context Store refreshes daily (hourly for first 14 days)","Community and AI support","No overage available"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Get started for free before picking a plan","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"agent_operations":"1000/mo"}},{"free":false,"name":"Individual (Agents)","summary":"$29/month","features":["Single user","API and MCP access","Context Store with hourly refresh","Standard and AI support","Overage AOs available"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":29,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"AO"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.004,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"For personal use and small scale workflows","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"agent_operations":"5000/mo"}},{"free":false,"name":"Team (Agents)","summary":"$299/month","features":["Everything in Individual","Parallel workflow execution","Multiple users and workspaces","Standard and AI support","Overage AOs available"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":299,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"AO"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.005,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"For teams building agents in production","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"agent_operations":"10000/mo"}},{"free":false,"name":"Custom (Agents)","summary":"Custom pricing","features":["Everything in Team","Custom AO limits","Custom Context Store refresh frequency","Dedicated Solutions Architect","Dedicated support with SLA"],"description":"For companies with enterprise needs","contactSales":true},{"free":true,"name":"Core (Data Replication)","summary":"Free (self-managed)","features":["Self-managed","Open source","Always free"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For data engineering orgs comfortable running open source entirely on their own","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Standard (Data Replication)","summary":"Starting at $10/month","features":["Fully managed cloud hosting","Volume-based pricing","Quick deployment"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":10,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For practitioners looking for fully managed software with volume-based pricing","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Pro (Data Replication)","summary":"Capacity-based pricing (talk to sales)","features":["Fully managed cloud hosting","Capacity-based pricing","Multiple Workspaces","SSO and RBAC","Premium Support","15-minute syncs","Custom mappings"],"description":"For organizations needing scalability, governance, and security","contactSales":true},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise Flex (Data Replication)","summary":"Custom pricing (talk to sales)","features":["Sovereign data movement inside your boundary","On-premises and multi-region options","Hybrid deployment with Airbyte managed control plane","All Pro features","Premium support"],"description":"For enterprises in regulated industries requiring full control of sovereign data","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free tier available. Agent pricing from $29/month to $299/month. Data Replication from $10/month to enterprise custom pricing.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://airbyte.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-05T14:24:37.249Z","startingPrice":{"amount":0.004,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Starter","features":["200 compute hours/mo","Managed infrastructure","25 workspaces","Unlimited users","600+ connectors","Reverse ETL included","AI Data engineer agent","Direct access to Meltano Engineers via Slack","Enterprise security","Best in class SLA"],"commitment":"monthly","description":"Get your first managed pipelines running in hours, not weeks","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"users":"unlimited","connectors":"600+","workspaces":"25","compute_hours":"200/mo"}},{"free":false,"name":"Growth","features":["2000 compute hours/mo","Everything in Starter","100 workspaces","8 hours of engineering on demand/mo","Shared account management"],"commitment":"monthly","description":"Scale pipelines with real engineering support baked in","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"connectors":"600+","workspaces":"100","compute_hours":"2000/mo"}},{"free":false,"name":"Scale","features":["5000 compute hours/mo","Everything in Growth","Unlimited workspaces","15 hours of engineering on demand/mo","Dedicated account management","Cost monitoring workspace included"],"commitment":"monthly","description":"Dedicated support. Full platform access. Nothing held back.","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"connectors":"600+","workspaces":"unlimited","compute_hours":"5000/mo"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","features":["Unlimited compute hours/mo","Everything in Scale","Custom connectors","Custom hours of engineering on demand/mo","Custom SLA"],"commitment":"monthly","description":"Truly custom. For organisations with serious data at scale.","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"connectors":"600+","compute_hours":"unlimited"}}],"summary":"Free open-source version. Managed cloud plans from Starter (200 compute hrs/mo) to Enterprise (unlimited). Pay for compute, not rows.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://meltano.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T14:26:46.478Z","billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | low | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | no |
| release.cadence_days | 7 | 3 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v2.0.0","date":"2025-10-15T21:21:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v1.8.0","date":"2025-08-14T17:41:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v1.7.0","date":"2025-06-17T22:23:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v1.6.0","date":"2025-04-11T20:12:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v1.5.0","date":"2025-02-21T00:24:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v1.4.0","date":"2025-01-17T22:40:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v1.3.0","date":"2024-12-09T22:12:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v1.2.0","date":"2024-11-07T16:53:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v1.1.0","date":"2024-10-03T18:26:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v1.0.0","date":"2024-09-24T13:04:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v0.64.7","date":"2024-09-18T14:26:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.64.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v0.64.6","date":"2024-09-17T20:24:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.64.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v0.64.5","date":"2024-09-17T17:59:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.64.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v0.64.4","date":"2024-09-13T18:06:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.64.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v0.64.3","date":"2024-09-06T18:23:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.64.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v0.64.2","date":"2024-09-04T23:54:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.64.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v0.64.1","date":"2024-08-30T21:28:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.64.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v0.64.0","date":"2024-08-27T20:47:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.64.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v0.63.20","date":"2024-08-27T20:19:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.63.20"},{"url":"https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte/releases/tag/v0.63.19","date":"2024-08-20T18:17:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.63.19"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.2.2","date":"2026-07-22T15:52:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v3.9.5","date":"2026-07-22T15:23:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.9.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.2.1","date":"2026-06-16T22:28:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v3.9.4","date":"2026-06-16T22:27:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.9.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v3.9.3","date":"2026-04-13T20:41:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.9.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.2.0","date":"2026-04-10T23:16:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.1.2","date":"2026-02-03T03:20:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v3.9.2","date":"2026-02-03T13:39:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.9.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.1.1","date":"2026-01-31T18:19:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.1.0","date":"2026-01-30T23:39:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.0.9","date":"2026-01-19T19:14:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.0.8","date":"2025-12-17T19:50:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.0.7","date":"2025-12-09T02:51:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.0.6","date":"2025-11-20T00:02:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.0.5","date":"2025-11-04T15:26:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.0.4","date":"2025-10-31T17:09:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.0.3","date":"2025-10-30T22:13:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.0.2","date":"2025-10-29T01:52:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.0.1","date":"2025-10-23T21:35:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/meltano/meltano/releases/tag/v4.0.0","date":"2025-10-23T18:08:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.0"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | yes | yes |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 4.3 | - |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=airbyte-source-typeform&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=meltano&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Data Engineering Tools)

| Capability | Airbyte | Meltano |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Tool role | - | ELT / ingestion |
| Processing paradigm | Batch + streaming | Batch + streaming |
| **Connectivity** |  |  |
| Connector count | 50+ | 600+ |
| CDC / log-based replication | - | ✓ |
| **Transformation** |  |  |
| In-warehouse transformation (push-down) | - | ✓ |
| dbt-native orchestration | - | ✓ |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Self-hosted / open-source available | ✓ | ✓ |
| Managed cloud available | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Governance** |  |  |
| Data lineage / asset catalog | - | - |
| **Authoring** |  |  |
| Python-first authoring | ✓ | - |
| **Execution** |  |  |
| Incremental / partition-aware runs | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Quality** |  |  |
| Built-in data quality / tests | - | - |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Horizontal scale (distributed executor) | - | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:46:22.875Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*