Census Migration FAQ

Find answers to frequently asked questions about migrating from Census to Fivetran.

Product

What is Fivetran?

Fivetran is an automated data movement platform. Our mission is to make access to data as simple and reliable as electricity.

Our ELT pipelines move data from disparate sources into your destinations reliably, securely, and efficiently. The Fivetran platform unlocks innovation by accelerating insights, optimizing operations, and powering data-driven decisions.

Learn how Fivetran works in our Core Concepts documentation.

Where can I learn more about getting started with Fivetran?

You can learn how to get started with Fivetran’s data movement platform in our Quickstart guide.

What is Fivetran Activations?

Fivetran Activations is our new integration of Census reverse ETL capabilities into Fivetran’s platform. It is where Census customers can find their migrated Census account and create new reverse ETL pipelines, datasets, and audience segments.

What is an activation?

In Fivetran, an activation is a set of activation syncs that define how data from various tables and datasets in a specific source are synced to the objects in a specific destination, such as Salesforce or Braze.

An activation sync is an individual sync that moves data from an activation source to an activation destination (distinct from Fivetran connector destinations). Previously, this was called a "sync" in Census. Multiple activation syncs can write to the same destination.

How do I navigate the new Fivetran UI?

After completing the migration, your Census organization is now a part of a Fivetran account and is available under the Activations tab. Everything you’d previously configured in Census (datasets, segments, syncs, workspaces, etc.) still exist within Fivetran under that tab. You now also have access to the rest of Fivetran alongside Census, including Fivetran’s connectors and transformation capabilities.

Pricing

Where can I find my legacy Census plan information?

If you were on a paid Census plan when you linked your account, you’ll continue to see usage information related to your plan in the Billing section of the Activations’ Settings page under Organization Settings.

Once your plan has ended and migrated to new consumption-based pricing, this report will no longer be accessible. Instead, you’ll use Fivetran’s overall Usage and Billing page located at the bottom of the left-hand navigation.

Where can I estimate my updated pricing?

Activations pricing can be estimated in Fivetran’s Pricing Estimator alongside Connections and Transformations.

Your existing Census usage should appear 24 hours after you’ve migrated your Census organization into Fivetran.

How is Census priced moving forward?

Once you migrate your Census account into the Fivetran platform, you’ll be able to continue using Census within Fivetran until the end of your current Census plan. Month-to-month plans will continue until your March end date, while annual commitments will continue until your renewal date. You can see the end date of your specific plan during migration and in the Activations settings legacy billing page.

Once your legacy Census plan ends, your account will move to Fivetran’s usage-based pricing model, which tracks usage in Monthly Active Rows (MAR). Like Census, you can pay for Fivetran on an annual contract or a monthly pay-as-you-go model.

Here’s what to expect based on your situation:

• I have a Census plan but I’m new to Fivetran: Your Census plan will continue to cover your use of Census features inside Fivetran until your contract ends. During this period, you’ll need to select the Fivetran paid or free plan that you’ll use after your Census plan expires. This plan will include both Fivetran features alongside your migrated Census features. If you do not choose a plan before your Census plan expires, your account may be frozen until you select a plan. You can change your Fivetran plan at any time.
• I have a Census plan and a Fivetran account and plan: You’ll continue to pay for Census and Fivetran separately until your Census contract ends. Once your Census contract ends, your Census usage will simply begin applying to your Fivetran plan. You can change your pricing plan at any time.

What are Fivetran’s different plan options?

Learn more about Fivetran’s pricing plans and what they cost in our service consumption table.

The Fivetran plan depends on your existing Census plan and which features you are using. During the migration, if you’re unsure or require more time to configure payment mechanisms, you can simply select the Fivetran Free plan to start. You can change your pricing plan at any time.

Which Census features are available in which Fivetran plan?

In most cases, each Census plan has an equivalent Fivetran plan which contains the same features.

There are a small set of exceptions:

• PrivateLink will only be available in Fivetran’s Business Critical plan.
• The list of Enterprise connectors have changed to match Fivetran’s.
• Access Controls will be available on all plans. (Custom roles will remain an Enterprise plan-only feature.)
• Census Embedded will be available on all plans.

What is MAR?

Monthly Active Rows (MAR) is the number of unique rows of data synced from your activation source to your activation destination in a month. For Activations, we determine unique rows by using the sync key or matching key specified in each activation sync. Each row is counted only once, even if it’s updated multiple times in the same month. Learn more in our Monthly Active Rows documentation.

Will I save money if I move from a monthly to an annual contract?

Yes, you unlock discounts when you switch to an annual contract. We calculate your discount based on the total annual list price of your contract and the plan you choose. Learn more in our Discounts with annual contracts documentation.

Migration

How do I link my existing Census and Fivetran accounts?

To link your existing Fivetran and Census accounts, visit the new Activations tab in Fivetran after Feb 1, 2026. There, you’ll see the option to connect an existing Census account.

This option is only available if you use the same email address in Census and Fivetran and that user is an account administrator of both services. If you do not see the option, you’ll need to invite your Fivetran user’s email address to Census and make them an admin before continuing.

How do I migrate my Census account to Fivetran if I’m not an existing Fivetran customer?

All Census accounts are being migrated into Fivetran and standalone Census accounts will not be accessible after April 1, 2026. If you do not already have a Fivetran account, you will need to first create a new Fivetran account and then continue with the migration.

It’s important to understand that even though your new Fivetran account will have a 14-day trial, you’ll still need to select a Fivetran plan (such as the free plan, if appropriate) in order to ensure your Fivetran account is not frozen when your Census plan expires.

What are the deadlines I need to know?

Census accounts can start migrating February 1, 2026. Census accounts must be migrated into a Fivetran account by April 1, 2026.

What happens if I don’t migrate in time?

If you do not migrate your Census account by April 1, 2026, all syncs in your Census organization will be paused. You must contact activation-support@fivetran.com to migrate your organization before syncs can be re-enabled.

What’s changing in terms of Census Support?

As part of the transition from Census to Fivetran, we are updating how you access support. These changes streamline and standardize the support experience across all Fivetran products, including Activations, so you can rely on a single, consistent place to get help. The following timeline outlines what’s changing and when:

January 16, 2026:

• In-app chat and ticket submission in Census will be removed.
• All Census support questions can be directed to activation-support@fivetran.com. until account linking is complete.

February 1, 2026:

• Once you have linked your Census account to Fivetran, you can submit support tickets directly through the standard support form in the Fivetran support portal.
• When creating a case, select “Activations” as the product area so your request reaches the correct team.

April 1, 2026 and later: All new Activations (Census) related support inquiries should be submitted via ticket form at support.fivetran.com.

What’s changing with my Census RBAC?

No user access of existing Census or Fivetran resources will change during migration. Users will maintain their current access. Census users being merged into a Fivetran account will not be able to access any Fivetran resources other than activation.

There are two access control changes that happen during migration:

• Account Administrator roles will now be controlled by Fivetran. Census account administrators prior to migration will retain their access to Census workspaces, but they must be given the Fivetran account administrator role in order to continue to access billing and authentication controls.
• Census’s workspace access controls will now be available for all plan tiers (Custom roles remain an enterprise-only feature).

What’s changing with my Census sign-in & authentication?

Sign in will now be controlled by Fivetran. No sign-in or authentication configuration from Census will be transferred to Fivetran during migration.

• Census users that are being added to Fivetran must recreate their account. They will receive an invitation to Fivetran during migration.
• If you had previously configured SSO on Census, you must ensure that Fivetran has SSO configured as well. If your Fivetran SSO uses SCIM for automatic user provisioning, you’ll need to manually ensure that all Census users are added to your Identity Provider so that they can continue to access Activations uninterrupted.

I currently pay for Census via AWS/GCP/other marketplace. How does this work with Fivetran?

The Census legacy plan you purchased via a marketplace will continue to work through the migration and will end on its current end date. A Fivetran plan that includes Activations can be purchased under the Fivetran marketplace listing on the AWS, Azure, Databricks, GCP, and Snowflake marketplaces. ​