Airbyte

What it is for

Airbyte is an EL pipeline with 700+ connectors: you pick a source and destination, a sync burns credits (Cloud) or your metal (Core). Use it when the job is move data on a schedule you can self-host, not when you need a $20 chat seat.

What makes it unique: the cover is the official airbytehq/airbyte GitHub file list — the OSS mover — not a pricing card.

Key features

• Connectors — 700+ sources and destinations you configure once (pricing). A catalog. Enterprise connectors are SKU of this.
• CDC — change-data-capture so you stream diffs instead of full tables (same pricing matrix). A capture mode, not a second catalog.
• Connector Builder — a no-code/low-code builder when the connector is missing (all listed plans). A factory, not a sync.
• Cloud syncs — managed hosting, hourly → 5-minute cadence by plan (pricing). A host. Credits (Standard / Plus) vs Data Workers (Pro) are the meter of this.
• Airbyte Core — the same mover self-hosted for $0 (GitHub; pricing note “Airbyte Core is free to self-host”). A deploy, not Cloud.

PyAirbyte, Terraform, and the API are install. “Sync now” is ops. Workspaces (Plus: 2) and SSO are SKU. Schema propagation / mappings are modes of a connector.

Who it's for

Best fit: teams who will burn the 14-day Cloud trial (400 credits, ~100 GB) or stay on Core $0, then buy Standard at $20/month when they want hosted hourly syncs without standing up Docker.

Pricing

Verified 2026-10-22 (Asia/Shanghai) from airbyte.com/pricing. Trial: 14 days, 400 credits (~100 GB), no card.

• Airbyte Core (self-host) — $0. Community Slack/GitHub support. You run the metal.
• Standard — $20/month. 5 credits included (~1 GB). Fully managed. Syncs as often as every hour. Volume-based after that. Portal support, 7am–7pm EST.
• Plus — $189/month. SSO. 15-minute syncs. 24h support SLA. Up to 2 workspaces. Field renaming. Better value around 40+ credits/month (FAQ).
• Pro — capacity pricing (Data Workers), sales. 5-minute syncs. RBAC, row filtering, hashing, multiple regions. 12h critical response. Dedicated SA. Flat when volume spikes.
• Enterprise Flex — custom. Your VPC / on-prem / hybrid. Data stays in-boundary. Premium support.

Confirm checkout; taxes follow your location. Credit metering differs by source type — read the docs before you assume “1 GB = 4 credits.”

Limitations / costs

• Standard is $20 plus leftover credits. 5 included credits is about 1 GB, not unlimited.
• Plus is the SSO / 15-minute card. Do not buy Standard and expect SAML.
• A mover, not a warehouse. For cloud DuckDB after the sync see MotherDuck. For app-level Connect see Pipedream.

Alternatives

• Pipedream — 3,000 API connectors when the job is app events, not warehouse EL.
• n8n — self-host workflows when you do not need 700 EL connectors.
• MotherDuck — the warehouse you load into, not the pipe.

Official tutorial

No first-party YouTube embed on this pass (the popular getting-started upload is a third-party channel). Written path: airbytehq/airbyte plus Pricing.

Website

https://airbyte.com

Repository

https://github.com/airbytehq/airbyte

Source

Catalog row curated for AI Tools Nav. Cover is the official airbytehq/airbyte GitHub file list. Dollars checked on airbyte.com/pricing (trial 400 credits; Standard $20; Plus $189; Core $0).

Last verified

2026-10-22 (Asia/Shanghai) editorial check.