Changes / ETL / ELT & ingestion / Fivetran
Price increasehigh impact
Fivetran moves MAR volume tiering from account to connection level
MAR volume tiering is applied per connection instead of per account from March 1, 2025, raising costs for accounts with many equal-sized connections.
Who’s affected
Fivetran customers on pay-as-you-go (since March 1, 2025) and annual-contract customers at their first renewal after that date, especially accounts with many similarly sized, smaller connections.
Not affected: Accounts with a few very large connections that already reach the top volume tiers on their own are likely to see little change. Annual-contract customers who have not yet renewed since March 1, 2025 keep their current terms until renewal.
What it costs
Each connection now gets its own volume-discount curve instead of sharing one account-wide curve, so many small connections stop benefiting from pooled volume and the bill can rise. The record gives no list prices, so the size of the increase depends on your connection count and how MAR is spread across them.
When to act
The change is already in effect for PAYG and applies at your next annual renewal, so start modelling and negotiating 60-90 days before that renewal date.
Blast radius: Finance forecasts and budgets built on account-level tiering; renewal quotes and committed-spend contracts. Moving connectors off Fivetran would also affect dbt sources, schema and table names, and sync schedules.
What should you do? decision tree
- you are on PAYG and your invoices have risen since March 2025Pull MAR per connection from your usage export and re-run the estimate with per-connection tiering to confirm the cause.
- you are on an annual contract that has not yet renewed since March 1, 2025Model your renewal under per-connection tiering now and open negotiations 60-90 days ahead of the renewal date.
- your MAR is spread across many small, similar-sized connectionsConsolidate or prune low-value connections and tables, and ask for a committed-spend or custom rate that reflects the pooled volume.
- A few large connections carry most of your MARExpect a small impact; just verify the next invoice or renewal quote against the estimate.
- the modelled increase is still unacceptable after negotiationMove the highest-cost small connectors to an alternative ingestion tool and keep Fivetran for the large or hard-to-replace sources.
Options
- OptimizePause or remove unused connections, schemas and tables so low-volume connections stop carrying their own tier.
- NegotiateAt renewal, ask for pooled-volume pricing or a custom rate; list pricing is not what committed customers typically pay.
- Re-architectConsolidate sources where possible (fewer connections, larger volume each) so more MAR reaches deeper discount tiers.
- MigrateMove many small, simple connectors to Airbyte, Estuary or dlt and keep Fivetran for the sources where it is worth the premium.
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The facts straight from the source
Facts above are extracted from the source and checked word-for-word before publishing. The guidance sections are AI-assisted analysis based only on those facts: a starting point, not legal or procurement advice. Spotted an error? Tell us.
Related changes
- FivetranFivetran signs agreement to acquire Census (reverse ETL)
Fivetran announced a signed agreement to acquire Census, funded by cash and equity; terms were not disclosed and closing is pending.
M&A - FivetranFivetran acquires Tobiko Data (SQLMesh, SQLGlot)
Fivetran announced it has acquired Tobiko Data, the open source company behind SQLMesh and SQLGlot, adding transformation capabilities to its platform.
M&A - FivetranFivetran adds a $5 minimum per connection (1 to 1M MAR)
A $5 minimum base charge applies to standard connections generating between 1 and 1 million MAR per month, starting January 1, 2026 for PAYG.
Price ↑ - FivetranFivetran deletes now count toward paid MAR
Inserts, updates and deletes all count toward paid MAR; previously deletes did not contribute to paid MAR.
Billing - FivetranFivetran now bills history-mode repeated updates as paid MAR
Repeated updates tracked in history mode now count toward paid MAR; soft delete and live modes are alternatives.
Billing - FivetranCensus becomes Fivetran Activations, billed on MAR
Activations is billed on inserted, updated and deleted data measured in MAR, with cost per MAR decreasing on each activation's consumption curve.
Packaging