Polytomic alternative — Polytomic vs Skippr

Polytomic is a sync platform. Bulk syncs pull SaaS, databases, or CDC into a warehouse, database, or bucket, and they migrate the destination schema. Model syncs push warehouse SQL back to Salesforce or HubSpot, persist derived tables, or copy one app to another. Two-way is two one-way syncs, not a conflict-resolving pair. Pricing starts at 500 USD a month and is sales-quoted. Standard adds multiple destinations and live chat. Enterprise adds Kubernetes self-host (Helm), SSO, and a dedicated engineer. There is a 14-day trial. No public free tier.

Skippr is an open Streamhouse you run as one Rust binary. Write skippr.yml (or the same thing in Python), discover, sync. You query live state over Iceberg ∪ WAL, and the history is ordinary Iceberg in your bucket. No 500 USD floor. ELT into a warehouse is one path, not the product.

Feature	Skippr	Polytomic
Deploy	Single Rust binary, your VPC or on-prem	SaaS. Enterprise is Helm on your Kubernetes plus Postgres, Redis, and a bucket
Schema	In-stream evolution, sibling columns	Automatic destination migrations on bulk syncs. New fields picked up on the source
Storage	Open Iceberg on Parquet you own	Warehouse, database, S3 / GCS / Azure, or the SaaS app you sync into
CDC	Log-based; fails closed if the dest cannot honour	CDC streaming on bulk syncs for supported databases
Query	skipprd query on Iceberg ∪ WAL; history in any Iceberg engine	Destination after the sync. SQL filters inside a model sync
Pricing	Free self-hosted engine	From 500 USD a month, quoted. See their pricing.

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What Polytomic is good at

One UI for ingest and activation. dbt Cloud can trigger a reverse-ETL sync when the model finishes, so Salesforce does not get a half-built table. Incremental syncs keep API quotas down. Reviewers like the Slack support and the five-minute first sync. If you already pay for a warehouse and you want HubSpot writeback without a second Census contract, that is a real product.

Where the job is wider

500 USD is the published floor, then a call. Connector coverage is smaller than Fivetran or Airbyte. G2 notes limited connectors and alerts you cannot tune much. Two-way is two jobs you keep in sync yourself. Self-host is Enterprise, and the Helm chart still phones ping.polytomic.com for the licence.

Polytomic is a sync tool. It is not a Streamhouse. There is no Iceberg ∪ WAL. Query waits for the warehouse or the CRM. You do not run a binary unless you bought Kubernetes.

Skippr will not give you Polytomic's Salesforce writeback, dbt-triggered model syncs, or app-to-app copies. If the job is "Snowflake in and HubSpot out on one bill," Polytomic is the narrower tool. If the job is live SQL on Iceberg you run, Polytomic was never that.

Getting started

Install skipprd from the install guide, or pip install skippr. The three tabs write the same skippr.yml. Then discover, sync, and query.

YAML

skippr:
  workspace: analytics
  skipprd_el_storage_mode: local

pipelines:
  orders:
    data_source: data_sources.app_db
    data_sink: data_sinks.lake

data_sources:
  app_db:
    Postgres:
      host: db.internal
      user: skippr_reader
      password: ${APP_DB_PASSWORD}
      database: app
      tables: [orders, customers]
      cdc_mode: snapshot_then_cdc

data_sinks:
  lake:
    AthenaIceberg:
      warehouse: s3://my-iceberg-warehouse/
      glue_database_name: analytics
      athena_workgroup_name: primary
      athena_results_s3_bucket: my-athena-results
      region: us-east-1
    schema_sink: schema_sinks.lake_schema

schema_sinks:
  lake_schema:
    AthenaIceberg:
      warehouse: s3://my-iceberg-warehouse/
      glue_database_name: analytics
      athena_workgroup_name: primary
      athena_results_s3_bucket: my-athena-results
      region: us-east-1

CLI

skipprd --workspace analytics --storage-mode local connect data-source postgres \
  --pipeline orders \
  --name app_db \
  --host db.internal \
  --user skippr_reader \
  --password '${APP_DB_PASSWORD}' \
  --database app \
  --tables orders \
  --tables customers \
  --cdc-mode snapshot_then_cdc

skipprd connect data-sink athenaiceberg \
  --pipeline orders \
  --name lake \
  --warehouse s3://my-iceberg-warehouse/ \
  --glue-database-name analytics \
  --athena-workgroup-name primary \
  --athena-results-s3-bucket my-athena-results \
  --region us-east-1

skipprd connect schema-sink athenaiceberg \
  --pipeline orders \
  --name lake_schema

Python

from skippr import (
    Config,
    DataSinkAthenaIceberg,
    DataSourcePostgres,
    DataSourcePostgresSourceCdcMode,
    EnvRef,
    LocalStorage,
    Pipeline,
)

cfg = Config().workspace("analytics").storage(LocalStorage())

app_db = cfg.data_source(
    "app_db",
    DataSourcePostgres(
        host="db.internal",
        user="skippr_reader",
        password=EnvRef("APP_DB_PASSWORD"),
        database="app",
        tables=["orders", "customers"],
        cdc_mode=DataSourcePostgresSourceCdcMode.SNAPSHOTTHENCDC,
    ),
)

lake = cfg.data_sink(
    "lake",
    DataSinkAthenaIceberg(
        warehouse="s3://my-iceberg-warehouse/",
        glue_database_name="analytics",
        athena_workgroup_name="primary",
        athena_results_s3_bucket="my-athena-results",
        region="us-east-1",
    ),
    schema_sink="lake_schema",
)

cfg.pipeline("orders", Pipeline(data_source=app_db, data_sink=lake))
cfg.save("skippr.yml")

export APP_DB_PASSWORD='your-postgres-password'
skipprd discover --pipeline orders
skipprd sync --pipeline orders --once
skipprd query "SELECT count(*) FROM analytics.orders"

Which to choose

Choose Polytomic if you want ingest and reverse ETL in one quoted bill, and two one-way syncs are enough for the CRM.

Choose Skippr if you want one binary, no 500 USD floor, live SQL, and Iceberg files that stay yours.

Install from Install. Connector and query reference live in Developer Docs. For optional onboarding in your VPC, Enterprise Jumpstart or Contact.