Open Source Series: What is Airbyte?

Data Ingestion Made Visual, Flexible, and Scalable

When data teams look for an open-source alternative to commercial ELT tools, Airbyte often stands out as the most feature-rich and fastest-growing option. With a slick UI, extensive connector support, and a growing ecosystem of integrations, Airbyte lowers the barrier to building pipelines—without giving up flexibility.

In this post, we’ll introduce what Airbyte is, how it works, and what types of teams it serves best.

What is Airbyte?

Airbyte is an open-source ELT platform that allows you to sync data from APIs, databases, and other sources into your data warehouse or lake. What sets it apart is its GUI-first experience, making it approachable for analysts and engineers alike.

Behind the scenes, Airbyte connectors are Dockerized microservices based on a custom specification (inspired by Singer but extended). This modular architecture powers an expanding catalog of data sources and destinations.

TL;DR: If you want a no-code/low-code data ingestion tool with wide connector support and solid cloud-native capabilities, Airbyte is a strong choice.

Core Concepts

To understand Airbyte, it helps to get familiar with its building blocks:

A Simple Example

Using Airbyte’s UI or API, you can:

1. Connect PostgreSQL as a source

2. Connect Snowflake as a destination

3. Define a sync schedule (e.g., every 6 hours)

4. Choose whether to normalize data

5. Click “Sync”

Here’s how a sync might look via the CLI (Airbyte also supports full UI-based setup):

airbyte deploy

airbyte create-source postgres-source \
  --config host=... port=... database=... user=... password=...

airbyte create-destination snowflake-destination \
  --config account=... warehouse=... database=... user=... password=...

airbyte create-connection \
  --source postgres-source \
  --destination snowflake-destination \
  --sync-mode incremental

airbyte run-connection --connection-id ...

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In just a few steps—whether via CLI or UI—you’ve created a complete ELT pipeline using open standards, configurable as code and ready for CI/CD.

Supported Integrations

Airbyte offers a massive and fast-growing catalog:

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Airbyte Cloud and Self-Hosted both support the same connector format.

Who is Airbyte For?

Airbyte is built to empower:

• Teams aiming for rapid deployment with minimal friction, especially via the cloud-managed service
• Data professionals who value a seamless GUI experience complemented by powerful CLI and API controls
• Organizations managing complex, heterogeneous data ecosystems with diverse connectors
• Builders who want an open, extensible platform that balances ease of use with deep customization

Pros and Considerations

Why choose Airbyte?

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Airbyte’s earlier Docker Compose support on EC2 made self-hosting easier. Now, with Kubernetes as the recommended path, deployments demand more infrastructure expertise, adding complexity for teams without Kubernetes experience.

Community and Evolution

Airbyte’s open-source repository is one of the most active in the data space. They offer:

• A large and engaged GitHub community
• Airbyte Cloud for hosted deployments
• A Connector Development Kit (CDK) for building custom connectors
• Regular roadmap updates and community sync meetings

Conclusion

Airbyte is a great open-source ELT solution for teams that want the flexibility of open standards with the usability of SaaS tools. It offers a visual way to manage pipelines while maintaining control and extensibility.

In our next post, we’ll dive into dlt Hub, a Python-based ELT framework that’s gaining traction for its simplicity and flexibility. Later on, we’ll also explore self-hosting options for Airbyte, Meltano, and dlt Hub—helping you find the best fit for your team’s needs and infrastructure.

Until then, you can try it out at airbyte.com or browse the code on GitHub.