Keboola

Keboola is a cloud data platform for building and operating data pipelines, from ingestion and transformation to orchestration and governance. It best suits teams that want those functions in one managed environment, especially where deployment choice and access controls matter. Its free tier is a useful way to start, but limited compute and missing governance features make it a poor fit for an ongoing multi-project setup.

Overview

Keboola combines managed connectors with scheduled and conditional orchestration, monitoring, alerts and transformations in SQL, Python and R. It supports incremental loading and change data capture, and exposes a REST API, CLI and MCP server; AI agents and assistants can operate the platform through MCP. That breadth makes it more than a basic connector tool, but teams should weigh the free tier’s narrow backends and compute allowance against their expected workload.

Key features

Pipelines and integrations

The platform lists 1,601 connectors, including Shopify, Salesforce, HubSpot, Snowflake, PostgreSQL, Google Analytics, Stripe and BigQuery. Conditional flows, scheduling, triggers and monitoring give teams ways to coordinate jobs and respond to issues within the same platform. Transformations support SQL, Python and R, while custom-code transforms provide room for work beyond prebuilt connectors. The free plan, however, restricts transformation and workspace backends to Snowflake SQL and Python.

Governance and deployment

The Data Catalog, data sharing, active metadata, lineage, access controls, activity monitoring and logging are aimed at teams that need visibility and control across data work. Free projects lack the Catalog and project-to-project sharing, so those capabilities are a meaningful reason to consider Enterprise rather than treating the free option as a full-scale governance solution.

Keboola runs across AWS, Azure and GCP. Enterprise customers can select a provider or region, or use a private cloud deployment. It states AES-256 encryption at rest and TLS 1.2+ in transit, and lists SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA compliance capabilities. Enterprise access controls include role-based access, SSO/SAML 2.0 integrations and enforced multi-factor authentication. These options make the platform relevant to organizations with deployment and access requirements, though Enterprise pricing is custom.

Pricing

Free

The Free plan costs nothing. It provides 120 free compute minutes in the first month, then 60 minutes/month, one project, and Snowflake SQL and Python transformations. Additional compute is $0.14 per minute. There is no Data Catalog or project-to-project data sharing. This is a sensible starting point for a small evaluation or limited project, not an assured low-cost home for sustained processing: once compute minutes run out, jobs pause until credits are bought or the next monthly allocation arrives.

If credits run out and an account goes without login for two months, it may be suspended and data eventually deleted. Teams relying on the free project should therefore track usage and maintain regular access rather than assume paused jobs and stored data will remain indefinitely.

Compute top-up

The Compute top-up is shown as $0.14 a month, with additional compute minutes charged after included minutes are used. The stated per-minute rate is $0.14 per minute. Since the included allocation is small, teams with recurring workloads should consider whether topping up is preferable to moving to an Enterprise arrangement with custom pricing.

Enterprise

Enterprise has custom pricing and includes the Free tier, Data Share and Catalog, data applications and workflow templates, tailored CDC and streaming, and Dev/Prod mode with Git CI/CD and SOX. It supports public or private SaaS deployments (VPC) and lists SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA, plus SAML and Google/Azure SSO. It fits organizations that need governance, deployment choice or more involved data operations; teams with a single modest project may not need the additional scope.

A team of data experts can help set up a first project and navigate the platform. Support is offered through the in-project dialog, site chat or contact form.

Platforms

Keboola is available through API and web, and as a self-hosted deployment. Its cloud operation across AWS, Azure and GCP, with Enterprise provider, region and private-cloud options, gives organizations deployment flexibility beyond a web-only service.

Who it's for

Keboola is a strong fit for data teams that want managed ingestion, orchestration, transformations and governance together, and for enterprises that need controlled access or deployment options. The Free plan is better suited to trying a single project or running work that fits the monthly compute allotment. Look elsewhere if you need governance features on the free tier, transformation backends beyond Snowflake SQL and Python there, or predictable high-volume compute without assessing paid terms.

Pros and cons

• Pro: 1,601 connectors and orchestration, monitoring and transformation tools bring a broad pipeline workflow into one platform.
• Pro: Enterprise offers Catalog and sharing, lineage, access controls and deployment options across cloud providers or private cloud.
• Pro: REST API, CLI and MCP access give technical teams and AI assistants routes to operate Keboola programmatically.
• Con: Free projects are limited to one project, a small monthly compute allocation, Snowflake SQL and Python backends, and no Catalog or cross-project sharing.
• Con: Jobs pause when free compute runs out, and prolonged inactivity after credit exhaustion risks account suspension and eventual data deletion.
• Con: Enterprise has custom pricing, so organizations needing its governance and deployment features must seek a tailored quote.

Alternatives

For teams comparing categories, browse ETL Software, DataOps Platforms and Workflow Orchestration Software.

• Apache Hop is a free, open-source option for teams seeking a self-hosted platform across Linux, macOS and Windows; release 2.19.0 requires Java 21.
• Skyvia may suit a smaller scheduled-integration workload: its free plan allows 10k records per month, two scheduled integrations, once-a-day scheduling and 30-day schedule expiration.
• Apache Beam is a free open-source programming model for teams comfortable choosing their own runner and infrastructure, with execution costs depending on that choice.
• Apache Spark is a free open-source distributed data analytics engine, available through download, PyPI, Maven Central and Docker.
• EasyMorph may fit users looking for a desktop-oriented free option; its free plan is forever with restrictions, including 20 actions and 20 loop iterations per project.
• Qlik Talend Cloud is a paid web option for SaaS application and database replication with pre-built connectivity and managed cloud pipelines.
• Apache NiFi is a free-to-download Apache-licensed option for teams seeking a tool across API, desktop, web and self-hosted environments.
• Google Cloud Data Fusion is a paid cloud alternative with a free trial and a Developer plan priced at $0.35 a month, billed at $0.35 per instance hour by the minute.

Verdict

Choose Keboola if your data team wants ingestion, orchestration, transformation and governance in one platform, with Enterprise deployment and access controls available as requirements grow. Its strongest case is that breadth; its main caveat is the sharp divide between a constrained free project and custom-priced Enterprise capabilities. For lightweight work, the free tier is a reasonable start, but teams should look elsewhere or budget for a paid arrangement if they need steady compute or governance from day one.