At Fivetran, we have long prided ourselves on our extensive catalog of off-the-shelf connectors for common applications, databases, and file storage. Now, we want to help you easily capture data from the long right tail of unique data sources with the Fivetran Connector SDK, now generally available.
With the Fivetran Connector SDK, organizations are able to replicate data from any source system, application, API, database, or file. The Connector SDK — a powerful extension of the Fivetran platform — enables users to unlock all of their data for analytics and business insights with custom Python-based connectors.
The Connector SDK allows users to control how their data is replicated while Fivetran maintains the cloud infrastructure and destination writer to ensure your data is where it needs to be when you need it. In this blog, we will walk through common use cases for the Connector SDK as well as some of the technical specifications to get your connector up and running in less than an hour.
Build custom connectors, skip the operational overhead
The Fivetran Connector SDK empowers your team to create production-ready data connectors without needing to stand up or manage your own infrastructure. You bring the logic to extract data from your unique source; Fivetran handles orchestration, scaling, monitoring, retry logic, and idempotency.
What you build:
- Python-based connector logic that extracts data from any source
- Incremental or full-table sync strategy based on your needs
- Schema definition and data filtering requirements
What Fivetran manages:
- Infrastructure to run custom code
- Orchestration of pipeline operations
- Destination writing and schema inference
- Logging, retries, and error handling
- Enterprise-grade security and governance
Shifting the operational burden to Fivetran allows your team to focus entirely on delivering business value — not maintaining brittle data pipelines.
A flexible SDK for every scenario
The Connector SDK is built to support a wide range of integration needs without compromising on performance or security.
- Internal tools & niche systems: Sync data from internal applications or systems without prebuilt connectors.
- Custom APIs: Connect to proprietary or third-party APIs that power your business operations.
- Schema extensions: Add tables, fields, or properties to augment existing Fivetran connectors.
- Compliance customization: Filter or transform sensitive data in-flight to meet governance and regulatory requirements.
Whether it’s enriching your analytics platform with operational metrics from a factory system or syncing data from a custom-built HR tool, the Connector SDK makes it easy to extend your data pipelines to include every source that powers your business.
Granular control over your data movement
One of the Connector SDK’s most powerful capabilities is enabling precise control over what data is extracted and the schema that is delivered to your destination.
You can:
- Filter out sensitive fields before they reach your warehouse
- Map source fields to match existing schemas
- Define schemas: elements, names, and properties such as schema drift management
This allows you to confidently meet security, governance, and compliance requirements while ensuring your analytics-ready data arrives in the right structure, at the right time.
✅ Meets all enterprise security and governance requirements
✅ Easy schema mapping and sync scheduling
✅ Python-based flexibility with cloud-native execution
From prototype to production in under an hour
The Connector SDK is designed to get you from idea to connector fast. With easy-to-use and understand developer documentation, you can start building your connector in minutes. Fivetran Connector SDK is a simple Python library that includes a CLI for local testing and deployment. It supports Fivetran’s API for easy interaction with CI/CD solutions for automated connector deployment and management.
AI coding assistants and Connector SDK make it possible to build working connectors even faster. In many cases, customers are building their first working connector in less than 60 minutes and quickly centralizing data from all of their source systems and applications.
"You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. You just need to write the part that knows how to talk to your source."
— Alison Kline, Group Product Manager - Connector SDK (From our 1-hour connector build with Claude AI)
Improving day-to-day operations for technical teams
For data practitioners, the Connector SDK means less time maintaining pipelines and more time optimizing for performance, data quality, and insight delivery. It brings together the best of open-source development and fully-managed infrastructure — all within the Fivetran platform.
For data leaders, the Connector SDK offers a strategic advantage: faster delivery of analytics, fewer data silos, and scalable architecture. It enables your team to say “yes” more often to new sources, new use cases, and new lines of business without sacrificing time on value-add activities.
Get started today
The Fivetran Connector SDK is now generally available. With over 180 customers already replicating data from 450+ unique sources, it’s proven, production-ready, and built for scale.
If your data team needs to:
- Integrate an internal API or niche source system
- Customize a pipeline to meet compliance or performance needs
- Replace fragile, hard-to-maintain DIY ETL with a modern, scalable solution
…then the Fivetran Connector SDK is your new secret weapon.
Get started today — and bring every source into your analytics strategy.
👉 Explore the Connector SDK docs
👉 Watch a demo video on the custom connector page
