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Informatica PowerCenter vs Talend Open Studio comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Informatica PowerCenter
Ranking in Data Integration
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
Data Visualization (8th)
Talend Open Studio
Ranking in Data Integration
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of Informatica PowerCenter is 9.7%, down from 11.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Talend Open Studio is 4.9%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

Lars Borchers - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable and reliable product that provides a variety of features for data integration
The solution is not for newcomers. It has an old touch. The solution must improve the integration with new services. It was part of the program at Informatica when they moved to their cloud platform. It is integrated. However, from an on-premise perspective, we need to buy licenses for PowerExchange. If we want a native driver to access a special service, we need to extend our license to those services. It is expensive. I don't like that it's not all included in the solution.
Jason Hale - PeerSpot reviewer
Intuitive interface and documentation make it simple to build jobs and APIs and logging helps pinpoint and resolve issues quickly
Talend is doing a lot of work at the moment, and it's not there yet, but the whole platform could be managed in a SaaS-type environment. You still need to have the Studio running on a virtual desktop or a PC. They will get to be able to do the whole thing inside your browser, so you don't need to install anything locally. It's down the track, and it's the nirvana that we were looking for in Boomi. But the biggest challenge they have is that the platform is so focused on the Studio for all of its development. They'll probably get there, but they have such a mature Studio client that it's a huge amount of work to get all of that functionality into a browser or SaaS platform. That's pretty much the biggest flaw with the Talend environment—being reliant on the Studio, which needed to be on a local machine. The only other thing is that you have to integrate into an API gateway. We're in Azure, so we use Microsoft Azure Gateway. It doesn't come with its own gateway, which is another sort of big plus side that we saw in Boomi. Talend isn't quite there yet with the API gateway. Other than that, it's bloody hard to find something because it just seems to be all good.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It has good standard features for ETL development."
"The most valuable features are the metadata repository and the data warehouse application console."
"It's a complete package, which is why we use this solution."
"The support is valuable. There are also open-source ETL products, which work very well, but there is no support. When we face a production problem, being able to get support is valuable, and it brings efficiency. With an open-source solution, we can't engage anyone to resolve the problem as quickly as possible."
"Technical support is great. It's one of the reasons we really like them. When you compare support from IBM and support from Informatica, Informatica is much better."
"Once you figure it out, it is a powerful and simple ETL tool. Its stability has been very satisfactory."
"Complex transformations can be easily achieved by using PowerCenter. The processing layer does transformations and other things. About 80% of my transformations can be achieved by using the middle layer. For the remaining 15% to 20% transformations, I can go in and create stored procedures in the respective databases. Mapplets is the feature through which we can reuse transformations across pipelines. Transformations and caching are the key features that we have been using frequently. Informatica PowerCenter is one of the best solutions or products in the data integration space. We have extensively used PowerCenter for integration purposes. We usually look at the best bridge solution in our architecture so that it can sustain for maybe a couple of years. Usually, we go with the solution that fits best and has proven and time-tested technology."
"One of the most valuable features for us is the metadata repository because it can easily understand the lineage of first target mapping. My company and I also find Informatica really easy to use—when a consultant joins our company, in just a few days to a few weeks, they can understand how to use it—so we prefer to use this ETL tool."
"The main differentiator that I have seen between Talend and other data integration tools is the ability to view the data pipeline in the form of a program."
"It's a good tool. It has the ability to take apart and install whatever we need. It's very good for data, transformation, and loading."
"I can connect with different databases such as Oracle Database or SQL Server. It allows you to extract the data from one database to another. I can structure the data by filtering and mapping the fields. It is very user-friendly. You need to know the basics of SQL development or SQL queries, and you can use this tool."
"The API integration and big data approach are very good because of how you extract data from JSP files or big data web repositories like MongoDB."
"A helpful feature for us is the integration with NoSQL databases."
"Stability feels fine."
"We're sold on the customization part of the solution."
"The initial setup of the product was very easy."
 

Cons

"Some of the conversions are done inside the product. We use work tables that are created by the engine itself, but the names of the work tables are very long, and they don't have any meaning, which makes it a bit difficult to understand and follow exactly what is happening inside."
"The solution could have better documentation on basic steps or blocks that specify what to do."
"PowerCenter has three clients. I wish they would consolidate everything into one GUI, not three. Also, we had a persistent issue with the Informatica Developer tool but it was solved when we migrated to the newest one."
"The real-time database connectivity when getting the real-time data using the VPN is an area that needs improvement."
"Include more instruments for LOGs analysis, interpretation, and job corrections."
"I found it is kind of weird that not all of the mapping changes are treated as true changes."
"The UI is a little outdated."
"Integration with Artificial Intelligence would benefit this solution."
"If I compare Open Studion to other solutions, their interface is robust but not so fancy looking. This is an area that could use improvement. I would like to see an updated interface."
"The security features could be improved."
"The server-side should be completely revamped."
"The stability of the solution could improve when running jobs. There can be errors when running projects but in the end, it works well and the errors do not impact the result."
"The technical support and documentation need a lot of work to come up to standard."
"We don't get continuous replication of the data."
"It is not as visually appealing as some of the other tools."
"The price for Talend Data Integration should be less expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of this solution is high."
"Pricing for Informatica PowerCenter isn't cheap, but if I compare it with IBM, it's as expensive as IBM, however, Informatica PowerCenter is more innovative, especially when compared to a giant company such as IBM that has thousands of products. Informatica PowerCenter is limited only to data management, but it has new features that come out every quarter. Points for ease of use and flexibility go to Informatica PowerCenter, but price-wise, IBM and Informatica are equal because they're both expensive."
"Informatica PowerCenter is reasonably priced. It is less expensive than Pentaho. There is a standard version fee in Taiwan. It is a one-time yearly subscription price that is approximately $3,010 US dollars for three users."
"Cost could be improved."
"The price is mostly reasonable."
"Price-wise, it's more expensive than SSIS, but it's a better tool, so it has more features. Licensing is on a yearly basis."
"Licensing is a one time cost. But maintenance costs depend on what you want, how long you need it. Maintenance is a kind of insurance. With health insurance, you don't know whether you will get sick or need to go to hospital or not but you have to have insurance. It's the same thing with support. If you have that expertise in resolving issues, if you have enough experience in your IT department, I would say you don't need the support. But in practice, they recommend you go with the support. If you want support you have to pay for it."
"I am not sure about the most recent price, but I think it should be $100,000 or more."
"We are using the free version of the tool, because the enterprise version is a little expensive."
"Open Studio has a basic license and additional costs for services, including customer support and technical assistance."
"Right now, because we're using the open-source version, there's no cost."
"Talend Open Studio costs about 11,000 a year."
"For Talend Open Studio, there is a need to make yearly payments towards the licensing cost. Talend Open Studio is a bit expensive, in my opinion."
"Pricing is always a challenge. It is quite an expensive model, but because the platform is so simple to use, we haven't had to purchase any additional licenses."
"The cost, particularly in Africa, is quite high."
"The paid version of this solution has a very high price, but even with the limitations, the Community version works fine."
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Comparison Review

it_user90069 - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 20, 2014
Informatica PowerCenter vs. Microsoft SSIS - each technology has its advantages but also have similarities
Technology has made it easier for businesses to organize and manipulate data to get a clearer picture of what’s going on with their business. Notably, ETL tools have made managing huge amounts of data significantly easier and faster, boosting many organizations’ business intelligence operations…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica PowerCenter?
Azure Data Factory is flexible, modular, and works well. In terms of cost, it is not too pricey. It offers the stability and reliability I am looking for, good scalability, and is easy to set up an...
Which is better - SSIS or Informatica PowerCenter?
SSIS PowerPack is a group of drag and drop connectors for Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services, commonly called SSIS. The collection helps organizations boost productivity with code-free compo...
Which Informatica product would you choose - PowerCenter or Cloud Data Integration?
Complex transformations can easily be achieved using PowerCenter, which has all the features and tools to establish a real data governance strategy. Additionally, PowerCenter is able to manage huge...
How does Talend Open Studio compare with AWS Glue?
We reviewed AWS Glue before choosing Talend Open Studio. AWS Glue is the managed ETL (extract, transform, and load) from Amazon Web Services. AWS Glue enables AWS users to create and manage jobs in...
What do you like most about Talend Open Studio?
It is easy to use and covers most of the functions needed. We can use the code without any extra effort. The open source is very good. They have the same commercials with additional connectors. The...
 

Also Known As

PowerCenter
Open Studio
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, LexisNexis, Rabobank
Almerys, BF&M, Findus
Find out what your peers are saying about Informatica PowerCenter vs. Talend Open Studio and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
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