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Kettle Pentaho VS dbt

Compare Kettle Pentaho VS dbt and see what are their differences

Kettle Pentaho logo Kettle Pentaho

Pentaho Data Integration ( ETL ) a.k.a Kettle

dbt logo dbt

dbt is a data transformation tool that enables data analysts and engineers to transform, test and document data in the cloud data warehouse.
  • Kettle Pentaho Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-22
  • dbt Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-16

Kettle Pentaho features and specs

  • Open Source
    Kettle Pentaho is open source, which means it is free to use and has a large community supporting and contributing to the software, allowing for continual improvements and shared resources.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    It provides a graphical drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy for users to design and execute data integration workflows without the need to write complex code.
  • Extensive Integration Support
    Kettle Pentaho supports a wide range of data sources and destinations, making it highly adaptable to different environments and enabling seamless integration across various platforms.
  • Scalability
    It is designed to handle both small and large data volumes efficiently, providing businesses the ability to scale their operations as necessary.
  • Flexible Deployment Options
    The tool offers flexibility in deployment, allowing users to install it either on-premises or in cloud environments, depending on their organization's needs.

Possible disadvantages of Kettle Pentaho

  • Steeper Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basic operations are user-friendly, mastering advanced features and customizing complex workflows can be challenging for new users, requiring significant time and effort.
  • Performance Issues with Very Large Data Sets
    Although scalable, some users report performance bottlenecks when dealing with exceptionally large datasets or complex transformations.
  • Limited Real-Time Data Processing
    Kettle Pentaho is primarily batch-oriented, which can limit its effectiveness in scenarios requiring real-time data processing or streaming analytics.
  • Support Limitations
    As the community edition is open source, support relies heavily on community forums and documentation, which might not always provide the immediate or comprehensive help needed.
  • Compatibility and Upgrade Management
    Users may face challenges when dealing with version compatibility and upgrades, especially in maintaining custom integrations or plug-ins developed in older versions.

dbt features and specs

  • Modularity
    dbt promotes a modular approach to building analytics workflows, allowing data teams to break down transformations into smaller, more manageable SQL scripts. This improves code readability, maintainability, and collaboration among team members.
  • Version Control Integration
    By integrating with Git, dbt enables teams to version control their data transformation scripts, fostering collaboration, auditability, and change tracking over time.
  • CI/CD Pipeline Compatibility
    dbt supports integration with continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) systems, allowing automated testing and deployment of transformations as part of the data pipeline.
  • Data Quality Testing
    dbt offers built-in testing functionalities, which enable developers to write tests to validate data transformations and ensure data quality/integrity within their data models.
  • Documentation and Lineage
    dbt automatically generates documentation for the data models and creates a lineage graph, providing transparency and understanding of data flows and dependencies.

Possible disadvantages of dbt

  • SQL Limitations
    Since dbt primarily relies on SQL for transformations, complex transformations may become cumbersome or difficult to implement compared to programming languages like Python or R.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may face a learning curve in setting up and effectively using dbt, especially if they are unfamiliar with concepts like data modeling, Git, or command-line tools.
  • Performance Constraints
    The performance of dbt transformations is dependent on the underlying data warehouse. Large-scale transformations could lead to performance inefficiencies if the warehouse is not optimized.
  • Cost
    Running dbt transformations continuously can incur costs associated with warehouse usage, especially if the data models involve processing large volumes of data regularly.
  • Dependency on Data Stack
    dbt's effectiveness is reliant on having a robust data warehouse and surrounding data stack, meaning smaller or less mature setups may struggle to leverage its full potential.

Kettle Pentaho videos

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dbt videos

Introduction to dbt (data build tool) from Fishtown Analytics

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Kettle Pentaho and dbt)
Data Integration
55 55%
45% 45
ETL
63 63%
37% 37
Web Service Automation
52 52%
48% 48
Automation
39 39%
61% 61

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Kettle Pentaho and dbt

Kettle Pentaho Reviews

10 Best Open Source ETL Tools for Data Integration
The best ETL tool is the one that aligns with your demands and provides the solution that you are looking for. Perhaps, you can choose Keboola, Pentaho Kettle, CloverDX, Logstash, and Apache Kafka. However, you must go for Scriptella or Talend Open Studio if your team wants to save time manually creating and connecting data pipelines. These tools are perfect for technically...
Source: testsigma.com
11 Best FREE Open-Source ETL Tools in 2024
Pentaho Kettle is now a part of the Hitachi Vantara Community and provides ETL capabilities using a metadata-driven approach. This tool allows users to create their own data manipulation jobs without writing a single line of code. Hitachi Vantara also offers Open-Source BI tools for reporting and Data Mining that work seamlessly with Pentaho Kettle.
Source: hevodata.com
Top 10 Popular Open-Source ETL Tools for 2021
Pentaho Kettle is now a part of the Hitachi Vantara Community and provides ETL capabilities using a metadata-driven approach. It has a graphical drag and drop UI and standard architecture. This tool allows users to create their own data manipulation jobs without writing a single line of code. Hitachi Vantara also offers Open-Source BI tools for reporting and Data Mining that...
Source: hevodata.com

dbt Reviews

13 data integration tools: a comparative analysis of the top solutions
Reading about the previous integration tool, you probably noticed the support of dbt Core (Data Build Tools) for data transformations. In fact, dbt Core is a product of its own – an open-source command-line tool for data pipelines. In addition to the Core product, dbt also offers a Cloud platform that strives to bridge the gap between software developers and data management...
Source: blog.n8n.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, dbt seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 2 times since March 2021. 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.

Kettle Pentaho mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Kettle Pentaho yet. Tracking of Kettle Pentaho recommendations started around Mar 2021.

dbt mentions (2)

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Kettle Pentaho and dbt, you can also consider the following products

Oracle Data Integrator - Oracle Data Integrator is a data integration platform that covers batch loads, to trickle-feed integration processes.

Datacoves - Managed dbt-core, VS Code in the browser, and Managed Airflow.

Talend - Talend Cloud delivers a single, open platform for data integration across cloud and on-premises environments. Put more data to work for your business faster with Talend.

dataloader.io - Quickly and securely import, export and delete unlimited amounts of data for your enterprise.

Datavault Builder - 4th generation automation tool covering all aspects and phases of a DWH. Design & Development

CData Sync - Straightforward data synchronizing between on-premise and cloud data sources with a wide range of traditional and emerging databases.