Table of Contents 
  • Around 30 SaaS/database integrations, considerably fewer than Integrate.io. 
  • Popular integrations: Google Drive, Close.io, and Zendesk

The main differences between Alooma, MuleSoft, and Integrate.io:

  1. Data sources and integrations: Integrate.io has over 120 data sources and integrations, four times as many as Alooma. MuleSoft has more than 100 integrations. 
  2. Price: Integrate.io charges by the connector (not by data volume), making it an affordable option for many organizations. Alooma and MuleSoft don't publish their prices online. 
  3. Customer support: All three platforms provide free customer support. However, Integrate.io is renowned for its customer support and fast response times. 
  4. Skill level: Integrate.io requires no code, perfect for organizations without a data engineering team. Alooma and MuleSoft require at least an intermediate level of coding experience. 
  5. Reviews: Integrate.io and MuleSoft have the highest average user scores on the software review website G2 (4.4/5 and 4.5/5, respectively). Alooma has the lowest score (4/5). 

Data-driven organizations pull data from multiple locations such as in-house databases, SaaS, and cloud-based apps, making it difficult to determine accurate business insights. Moving all this information into a single location makes data analytics easier. 

This is where Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) comes in. This method:

  • Extracts data from various locations
  • Transforms it into a readable and useable format, and 
  • Loads it into a data lake or warehouse for deep analysis. 

The problem is, many organizations, including start-ups, don't have the capabilities required to facilitate the ETL process. 

The three tools on this list all claim to make ETL easier, but which one is the best? We compare Alooma, MuleSoft, and Integrate.io. 

  1. Alooma vs. MuleSoft vs. Integrate.io Overview
  2. Alooma vs. MuleSoft vs. Integrate.io Features 
  3. Data Sources and Integrations
  4. Support and Training
  5. Pricing
  6. Conclusion

Alooma vs. MuleSoft vs. Integrate.io Overview

Alooma Overview

Alooma is an ETL platform that extracts data sources from various locations via data pipelines, transforms the data into usable formats, and loads it into a single destination. According to Alooma, The New York Times uses the platform for ETL, presumably to receive data from news sources quickly. 

 Unlike the other tools on this list, Alooma performs streaming ETL (or "real-time ETL"), which differs from more traditional batch processing. Streaming ETL ingests data as soon as it's made available by data sources. This can be beneficial for sources that generate constant streams of data, such as social media platforms, but not all organizations will experience benefits. 

Note: Google purchased Alooma in 2019 and no longer supports non-Google data warehouses like Redshift, Snowflake, and Azure. As a result, many organizations are looking for Alooma alternatives. 

You can read more about Google's purchase of Alooma here. 

MuleSoft Overview

MuleSoft is a data integration platform that performs various tasks, including ETL. But unlike Alooma, it does it the traditional way — via batch processing. Because MuleSoft executes other functions, like iPaaS and Extract, Load, and Transform (ELT), organizations might prefer MuleSoft alternatives that focus exclusively on ETL. 

MuleSoft moves data from sources via its Anypoint Exchange and comes with various pre-built connectors that streamline the process. According to MuleSoft, world-famous organizations like AT&T, Mastercard, Spotify, and Verizon use its platform for data integration. But it's unclear if these companies use MuleSoft exclusively for ETL or rely on the other available tools. 

While it's true that Salesforce purchased MuleSoft in 2018, no exclusivity exists. You are not required to use Mulesoft as your ETL solution with Salesforce.

For a more detailed MuleSoft vs. Integrate.io review, click here. 

Integrate.io Overview

Integrate.io focuses exclusively on ETL (and ELT), with a cloud-native platform that, unlike Alooma and MuleSoft, requires no code, making it an excellent choice for companies that lack a data engineering team. All organizations, even those with limited data integration knowledge, can extract data from various sources, transform it into a readable format, load it into a single location (or different locations in the same pipeline), and run deep analytics for better business insights.  

Integrate.io has a unique Salesforce-to-Salesforce integration feature not found in most other ETL solutions, where users can integrate Salesforce ETL to their warehouse. This provides them with unparalleled customer intelligence, such as phone calls, website transactions, and social media analytics.  

Alooma vs. MuleSoft vs. Integrate.io Features

 

Alooma

MuleSoft

Integrate.io

Trial length

Alooma offers a free trial but doesn’t specify for how long

30 days

14 days 

User scores on G2.com

4

4.5

4/4

Data transformation

ETL (streaming ETL)/ELT

iPaaS/ETL/ELT

ETL/ELT

Skill level required

Intermediate

Intermediate

None required

Integrations/connectors

Around 30

100+

100+ integrations and connectors

Customizations

Yes

Yes

Yes

SaaS integration

Yes

Yes

Yes (over 100 SaaS sources)

Data warehouses?

Yes (But no longer non-Google warehouses)

Yes

Yes

Compliance, governance, and security certifications 

CCPA, GDPR, SSL/TLS encryption, and more

SOC 2, HIPAA and more

SOC 2, PCI, SOX, CCPA, GDPR, SSL/TLS encryption, and more

Developer tools

Python 

Runtime Manager REST API, CloudHub API

REST API, Native Scripting Language, SQL, and more

Data Sources and Integrations

Alooma

MuleSoft

  • Integration happens via MuleSoft's Anypoint Exchange. 
  • Popular integrations: Amazon, SAP, and Salesforce

Integrate.io

Integrate.io offers 200+ native connectors for data sources, including Salesforce. 

  • Database integrations: Amazon Aurora, Oracle, Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, MariaDB, Snowflake, Google Cloud Spanner, Microsoft Azure SQL Database, Postgre SQL, and more.
  • BI tool integrations: Looker, Chartio, Looker, Periscope Data, and more.
  • Cloud service integrations: Asana, Base CRM, Amazon Kinesis, Braintree, ChartMogul, Close.io, HubSpot, Marketo, Crunchbase, Elasticsearch, and more.
  • Salesforce-to-Salesforce integration

Support and Training 

Alooma

  • Documentation
  • Q&As
  • Events
  • Webinars
  • Blog
  • Free support

MuleSoft

  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Whitepapers
  • Ebooks
  • Analyst reports
  • Free support 

 Integrate.io

  • Resources for developers
  • Webinars
  • Books
  • Guides
  • Documentation 
  • Free support for all users (telephone, video, and email)

Pricing

Alooma

Alooma doesn't publish prices on its website, which makes it difficult to compare. 

MuleSoft

MuleSoft also doesn't publish its prices online. 

Integrate.io

Integrate.io charges by the connector and not by data volume. This flat rate pricing means there are no hidden fees. You will pay the same amount every month, regardless of volume.

Conclusion

All three tools execute ETL for more accurate data insights. However, there are differences in the methods used (Alooma uses streaming ETL) and required skill level (Alooma and MuleSoft require some knowledge of code). Alooma and MuleSoft alternatives like Integrate.io perform traditional batch processing ETL in a no-code environment, serving organizations that require a fast, effective, and simple data integration solution.  

Optimize data integration without a data engineering team. Discover a no-code ETL platform like Integrate.io. Schedule a call to see a demo and obtain a 14-day risk-free pilot.