Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Census VS Meltano

Compare Census VS Meltano and see what are their differences

Census logo Census

the #1 Reverse ETL tool for data teams

Meltano logo Meltano

Open source data dashboarding
  • Census Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-12-20

Sync data from your warehouse into all your business tools with Census. Give every team the data they need to act and automate with confidence.

  • Meltano Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-04

Census

$ Details
-
Release Date
2019 January
Startup details
Country
United States
State
California
Founder(s)
Anton Vaynshtok
Employees
10 - 19

Census features and specs

  • Data Integration
    Census provides an effective way to synchronize data between various tools and databases, offering seamless data integration capabilities.
  • No-Code Interface
    The platform's no-code interface allows business users to perform data operations without extensive technical knowledge, making it more accessible.
  • Real-Time Sync
    Census supports real-time data synchronization, ensuring that users have access to the most up-to-date information when needed.
  • Data Security
    Census offers robust security measures to protect sensitive data, giving users confidence in the privacy and safety of their information.
  • Scalability
    The platform is designed to scale with business needs, accommodating growing data volumes and integration complexity.

Possible disadvantages of Census

  • Cost
    For smaller businesses or startups, the cost of using Census might be high, potentially making it less accessible for those with limited budgets.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its no-code interface, some users may still encounter a learning curve when initially using the platform, especially when dealing with complex data tasks.
  • Limited Customization
    While offering many features, there might be limitations in terms of customization options for specific business needs, requiring alternative solutions or workarounds.
  • Dependency on Third-Party Integrations
    Census relies on integrations with third-party tools, which can pose challenges if there are issues with connectivity or changes in those external services.

Meltano features and specs

  • Open Source
    Meltano is open-source, which means that it is free to use and can be customized according to specific business needs. The open-source nature fosters a community-driven approach to improvements and updates.
  • Modular Architecture
    Meltano offers a modular architecture that allows users to mix and match different components like extractors, loaders, and transformers, providing flexibility and adaptability.
  • Integration with Singer Taps
    It is compatible with Singer Taps and Targets, enabling Meltano to connect with a wide variety of data sources and destinations, making data integration seamless.
  • Command Line Interface (CLI)
    Meltano provides a robust CLI that simplifies managing and orchestrating ETL workflows, which can be advantageous for developers who prefer working with command-line tools.
  • Community and Support
    There is a vibrant community and an active support system, which can be helpful for troubleshooting and getting advice on best practices regarding Meltano usage.

Possible disadvantages of Meltano

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For users who are not familiar with command line tools or open-source data integration platforms, Meltano can have a steep learning curve, requiring time and effort to master.
  • Limited Built-in Features
    While being modular offers flexibility, Meltano has fewer built-in features compared to some commercial ETL tools, which might require users to build custom solutions.
  • Variable Support for Sources/Destinations
    The quality and reliability of connectors can vary since Meltano relies on community-contributed Singer Taps, which may not be as stable or well-documented as proprietary alternatives.
  • Complex Configuration
    Initial setup and configuration can be complex, especially when connecting to multiple data sources or when customization is necessary, which may require significant technical expertise.
  • Resource Dependency
    As an evolving open-source project, Meltano may require more resources in terms of time and effort to stay updated with the latest features and community contributions.

Census videos

The Census: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

More videos:

  • Review - Census Data Release Tees Up Congressional Redistricting Battles, Shows U.S. Growing More Diverse
  • Review - Review | This Census-Taker
  • Review - U.S. Census Bureau report finds 'racial gap' in 2020 population count
  • Review - 2020 Post-Census Group Quarters Review (PCGQR) Operation
  • Review - I Was Right About the Census

Meltano videos

Meltano tutorial

More videos:

  • Demo - Meltano Sprint Review & Demo Day 2019-11-08
  • Review - Meltano Weekly Sprint Review 2019-11-01

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Census and Meltano)
Analytics
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Customer Data Platform
100 100%
0% 0
Data Dashboard
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Census and Meltano. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Census and Meltano

Census Reviews

2025 Guide | Best Hightouch alternatives
Like Hightouch, Census offers features that cover all CDP use cases (identity resolution, Reverse ETL, โ€œAudience Hub,โ€ etc.). Their pricing models are quite similar and the capabilities/performance of each are at the same level.
Source: www.dinmo.com

Meltano Reviews

Top 11 Fivetran Alternatives for 2024
Meltano was established in 2018 as an open-source project within GitLab to assist their data and analytics team. Itโ€™s a Python framework based on the Singer protocol. Originally developed by the founders of Stitch, the Singer framework saw reduced contributions after Stitch was acquired by Talend, which was later acquired by Qlik. Despite these changes, Meltano has continued...
Source: estuary.dev
Top 10 Fivetran Alternatives - Listing the best ETL tools
The platform provides users with a wide range of integration options, including connectors for databases, APIs, and application logs. Additionally, Meltano provides extensive support for data transformation and orchestration and integrates well with several cloud-based data warehouses.
Source: weld.app

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Meltano seems to be a lot more popular than Census. While we know about 26 links to Meltano, we've tracked only 1 mention of Census. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Census mentions (1)

  • From ETL and ELT to Reverse ETL
    A vibrant ecosystem of reverse ETL solutions is emerging, with startups like Hightouch, Census, Grouparoo (open source), Polytomic, Rudderstack, and Seekwell leading the charge. Even platforms like Workato are incorporating reverse ETL functionalities with differential sync capabilities. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago

Meltano mentions (26)

  • AI product development is being held back by data engineering
    Hey HN, Arch CEO here! Our team has been working at the intersection of data engineering and software engineering for a few years now with Meltano (https://meltano.com), and this year, the rise in Generative AI has made it clear that the bottleneck in unlocking the potential value of data has shifted from data integration on data teams to data engineering on software teams, so weโ€™ve decided to do something about... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • How useful is Airbytes in production pipelines?
    We use Meltano for (EL) and Prefect for scheduling. Is not click-ops, but works very well for us! Behind the scenes Meltano wraps up Singer spec similarly like Airbyte does with its connectors. Before that we tried Airbyte (~5 months ago?) and it was so bad.. We could not choose the columns to replicate and the connectors were unstable i.e. Skipping data, all sort of odd errors and so on.. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (May 2023)
    Meltano's all-remote team and community of thousands are on a mission to enable everyone to realize the full potential of their data. To this end, we are bringing software engineering best practices to data teams in the form of an open-source DataOps platform that we envision becoming the foundation of every team's ideal data stack. Our public company handbook (https://handbook.meltano.com/) has all the details on... - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (April 2023)
    Meltano | Full-Time | Remote | https://meltano.com Meltano's all-remote team and community of thousands are on a mission to enable everyone to realize the full potential of their data. To this end, we are bringing software engineering best practices to data teams in the form of an open-source DataOps platform that we envision becoming the foundation of every team's ideal data stack. Our public company handbook... - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • If dbt is the "T" part of an "ELT", what do you use for "EL"?
    We switched from AWS Glue to Meltano for the EL part of ELT and it's been a joy to use. We're moving so much faster now. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Census and Meltano, you can also consider the following products

Hightouch - What if you could power real-time product experiences with the analytical horsepower of a data warehouse?

Airbyte - Replicate data in minutes with prebuilt & custom connectors

DinMo - Turn your customer data into profitable growth. Discover the composable CDP which makes it easy to collect, enrich, segment, and activate your customer data in all your business platform.

Fivetran - Fivetran offers companies a data connector for extracting data from many different cloud and database sources.

RudderStack - Agentic power for the entire customer data lifecycle

Apache Superset - modern, enterprise-ready business intelligence web application