SPSync compared with the other ways to get SharePoint lists into a database

Most teams have tried another route before they look at SPSync, and plenty of them keep it for some jobs. Some are general data tools with a SharePoint connector, such as Azure Data Factory, Fivetran, Airbyte, CData Sync and Skyvia. Others are Microsoft features that read SharePoint where it sits, like Power Query, Dataverse virtual tables and the search API. The rest are routes you build yourself, usually a Power Automate flow for each list or a PnP PowerShell script on a timer.

Each page below takes one of them and is fair about where it fits. It then covers the point where a SharePoint list starts to hurt, and how to move the job to SPSync if you decide to. We read each vendor's own documentation and pricing pages, and each figure about another product is traced to the vendor's page and the day we read it. Where another tool does something SPSync does not, such as writing changes back to SharePoint, the page says so plainly.

A small number of questions separate these routes. The table puts the same ones to each: whether it reads lists or files, which way the data moves, whether lookups arrive as keys you can join on, how often it runs, where the copy lives and how it is priced. Each row links to the full comparison. For the routes that are not products, such as Excel links, SSIS packages and Python scripts, see SharePoint list to a database. If the destination is SQL Server or Azure SQL, SharePoint to SQL Server tools compared narrows the table to the tools that write there.

How to choose a route

Route Lists or files Direction Lookups How often Where the copy lives Pricing model
SPSync Lists, and document library metadata One way, SharePoint to your destination Key columns, with multi-value columns as child tables Every few minutes by default A database, warehouse or index you run Licence per installation and destination family, quoted after a call
Airbyte Lists Out of SharePoint into a destination Display text, per its Lists Enterprise connector Full refresh on the Marketplace Microsoft Lists connector Your destination, from Airbyte Cloud or self-hosted Airbyte's plans; the open-source core is free to self-host
Azure Data Factory Lists Out of SharePoint into a sink Integer ids; your pipeline resolves them A pipeline trigger you configure The sink your pipeline writes to, run in Azure Azure billing by activity and runtime
CData Sync Lists, through a generic driver Replication to a destination Generic column mapping Scheduled Your destination, run on-premises, in the cloud or both Annual licence by connections and row band
Coupler.io Lists, list content types and list items Out of SharePoint into a sheet, BI tool, warehouse or AI tool Not described on its connector page A full reload or append on each run, on a schedule set by the plan Your destination, loaded from Coupler.io's cloud Plans sized by accounts, destinations and refresh frequency
Dataverse virtual tables Lists Reads pass through to SharePoint Inside Dataverse's own relationship model None; each read goes to SharePoint No copy; the rows stay in SharePoint Dataverse licensing through Power Apps or Dynamics 365
Fabric mirroring, Dataflow Gen2 and Copy jobs Lists Out of SharePoint into Fabric Not documented as keys Mirroring is continuous (preview); Copy job is full load only; dataflows run on your schedule Fabric, on your capacity Fabric capacity units
Fivetran Lists, with files on a separate connector Out of SharePoint into a destination An id column you can join; multi-value columns not documented as split A managed schedule on an interval you choose Your destination, loaded from Fivetran's cloud or a Hybrid Deployment Usage-based, on Monthly Active Rows
Layer2 Cloud Connector Lists One-way or two-way, documented mainly into SharePoint Generic field mapping Scheduled The connected system, synced by a Windows Service you host Licence per connector or data provider
Microsoft Graph Data Connect Site, permission, group and file datasets; no list items Bulk export to Azure Not applicable Batch extraction Azure storage Azure billing
Peliqan One list per connection, plus lists and files from Python scripts Into its warehouse; Python scripts can also write to lists Not described on its SharePoint pages Incremental where the connector supports it, on a schedule set by the plan Peliqan's hosted warehouse, or a warehouse you connect Per data source on its entry plan, flat on Pro, custom on Enterprise
PnP PowerShell and custom scripts Whatever the script reads Whatever the script does You build it A scheduler you build Wherever the script writes Free; the cost is engineering time
Power Automate and Logic Apps Items, one action at a time Whichever way each flow is built Fields mapped by hand in each flow Per item event, or a scheduled flow Wherever the flow writes Per-user or per-flow licences, plus premium connectors
Power Query in Excel or Power BI Lists Read into the report Resolved at query time A full read on every refresh The report's own model Included with Excel or Power BI licences
SharePoint search and the Graph search API Ranked search results Queries only Not applicable SharePoint's own crawl schedule No copy; the index stays in Microsoft 365 Included with Microsoft 365
Skyvia Lists One-way or two-way Relation mapping you configure Depends on the plan Your database, synced by Skyvia's cloud service Plans with a monthly record allowance
SSIS packages List items, through the OData source or a third-party component Into whatever the package writes; some components also write back Depends on the component; joins are built in the package A SQL Server Agent job SQL Server or any SSIS destination, run on your server or Azure-SSIS Comes with SQL Server; components licensed by their vendors
Stacksync SharePoint support not established on its own pages Two-way for its documented connectors Not mentioned on its SharePoint pages Described by Stacksync as real time Stacksync's cloud, or on-premise on its Enterprise plan Plans metered by records in sync

Every comparison