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Automation Integration · head to head

Flowise vs Meltano

Flowise logo

Flowise

Automation Integration

Build AI Agents, Visually

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Meltano logo

Meltano

Automation Integration

Open source ELT built on the Singer tap and target ecosystem, configured as code

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Flowise enterprise tier requires custom pricing with no published rates; Meltano the company behind Meltano wound down in December 2025 and the project was transferred to Matatika, a much smaller organisation, so roadmap velocity and the size of the maintenance team are now materially lower than the tool's reputation suggests.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Flowise and Meltano actually diverge.

Attributes where Flowise and Meltano differ
AttributeFlowiseMeltano
Pricing modelfreemiumOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Docker, Windows (via WSL)

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Automation Integration).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Flowise

Nothing recorded that Meltano does not also cover.

Only in Meltano

  • Singer plugin management
  • Project as code
  • Environments
  • Incremental state
  • dbt integration
  • Custom taps
  • Orchestrator hooks
  • Container deployment

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Flowise

  • Building multi-agent systems with orchestrated workflowsnot Meltano
  • Creating chatbots that retrieve knowledge from uploaded documentsnot Meltano
  • Implementing human-in-the-loop approval for AI agent decisionsnot Meltano
  • Deploying conversational AI without writing backend codenot Meltano

Meltano

  • A data team that wants to stop paying per-row connector fees on high-volume sources they can extract themselvesnot Flowise
  • Loading from an API that no commercial ELT vendor supports, by writing a tap with the Meltano SDKnot Flowise
  • Keeping pipeline configuration in the same Git repository and review process as the rest of the platform codenot Flowise
  • A regulated environment where extraction must run inside your own network with no data passing through a vendornot Flowise

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Flowise

  • Enterprise tier requires custom pricing with no published rates

Meltano

  • The company behind Meltano wound down in December 2025 and the project was transferred to Matatika, a much smaller organisation, so roadmap velocity and the size of the maintenance team are now materially lower than the tool's reputation suggests.
  • Singer connector quality varies enormously; a tap may be maintained, abandoned, or maintained only for the subset of endpoints its original author needed, and you will not know which until a schema change breaks a load at 3am.
  • There is no managed hosting from the project itself, so someone on your team owns scheduling, secrets, retries, alerting and upgrades, which is real headcount that a per-row SaaS bill was buying for you.
  • It is command-line and YAML first with no meaningful web interface, so analysts who are not comfortable in Git and a terminal cannot maintain pipelines themselves.
  • Debugging spans three layers, the tap, Meltano itself and the target, and each has its own logging conventions, so failures often require reading Python source in a third-party connector.

Pricing, plan by plan

Flowise

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 2 Flows & Assistants
    • 100 predictions per month
    • 5 MB storage
  • Starter$35/month
    • Unlimited flows & assistants
    • 10,000 predictions per month
    • 1 GB storage
  • Pro$65/month
    • 50,000 predictions per month
    • 10 GB storage
    • Unlimited workspaces

Meltano

Free
  • MeltanoFree
    • MIT licensed, self-hosted
    • No paid Meltano Cloud tier; it was retired before the company wound down
    • Community support via Slack and GitHub

Which should you pick?

Choose Flowise if

  • You want to start without paying.
Flowise review

Choose Meltano if

  • You need singer plugin management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Docker, Windows (via WSL).
  • You also want project as code.
Meltano review

Questions people ask

Is Flowise or Meltano better?
Neither clearly leads. Flowise starts at Free and Meltano at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Flowise or Meltano?
Flowise starts at Free and Meltano at Free.
Does Flowise or Meltano run on more platforms?
Flowise runs on Web. Meltano runs on Linux, macOS, Docker, Windows (via WSL).
Can I use Flowise for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Flowise best used for?
Flowise is most often used for building multi-agent systems with orchestrated workflows, creating chatbots that retrieve knowledge from uploaded documents, implementing human-in-the-loop approval for ai agent decisions, deploying conversational ai without writing backend code. Of those, building multi-agent systems with orchestrated workflows and creating chatbots that retrieve knowledge from uploaded documents are not what Meltano is typically brought in for.
What can Flowise do that Meltano cannot?
Meltano covers Singer plugin management, Project as code, Environments, Incremental state.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Flowise: Does Flowise have a free tier?

Yes, Flowise offers a free plan with 2 flows and assistants, 100 predictions per month, 5 MB storage, and community support.

Source
Meltano: Is Meltano still maintained after the company shut down?

Yes. Arch, formerly Meltano, was acquired by Matatika in December 2025 and the open source project continues under their stewardship, with releases through 2026.

Flowise: What is Flowise's Starter plan pricing?

The Starter plan costs $35 per month (first month free) and includes unlimited flows and assistants, 10,000 predictions per month, and 1 GB storage.

Source
Meltano: Is there a hosted Meltano?

Not from the project. Meltano Cloud was retired, and hosting now comes from Matatika or from running the container yourself.

Flowise: How does Flowise charge for additional users?

Additional users on the Pro plan cost $15 per user per month. The Pro plan supports 5+ users with this per-user add-on pricing.

Source
Meltano: How does it compare on cost with Fivetran?

Meltano has no licence fee, so the comparison is your engineering time versus Fivetran's per-monthly-active-row billing. High-volume, low-complexity sources favour Meltano; long tails of fiddly SaaS APIs favour Fivetran.

Meltano: Can I use Airbyte connectors with it?

Yes, Meltano can run Airbyte source connectors through a bridge, which widens the connector pool beyond Singer taps.

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