Monitor and Optimize Usage
Monitor your MAR usage
Monitor your usage from your Fivetran dashboard or by using the Fivetran Platform Connector.
We calculate MAR usage in the UTC timezone.
Fivetran dashboard
The Fivetran dashboard allows you to monitor your usage both account-wide and for specific connections.
Account-wide MAR usage
In Fivetran, go to Account Settings > Billing & Usage to see the billing and MAR usage details for your account. These tabs offer visual representations of your usage and are updated daily.
The Billing tab displays your current and past spend details. You can also view and change your plan and payment details. For more information about the Billing tab, see Account Settings: Billing & Usage.
The Usage tab displays your connection and transformations usage. For more information about the Usage tab, see Account Settings: Billing & Usage.
Connection-specific MAR usage
The Usage tab on the Connection Details page displays the MAR usage for a given connection and its tables. For more information about the Usage tab, see Connections: Usage.
For database connections, you can use your database's total row count to roughly estimate your MAR. Learn how in our Identify Total Row Count for Databases documentation.
Fivetran Platform Connector
The Fivetran Platform Connector loads your MAR data into your destination, where you can run analyses on it just like you do with any other data. To understand what is driving the overall MAR within your account, use our sample queries to review MAR at the table level.
The MAR that Fivetran Platform connections generate is free, though you may incur costs in your destination by your IaaS provider.
MAR increases
Sharp increases in MAR can occur for the following reasons:
- It is the beginning of the month
- Changes in the source
- User error
- Connection paused and then resumed
Customers who have signed an annual contract before March 1, 2025, may also see a MAR increase after a new connection's free use period ends. See our MAR increase after connection free trial documentation for more information.
Beginning of the month
At the beginning of each month, you may potentially see an increase in paid MAR due to frequent changes in a large number of rows. Once a row is active, it is only counted once. Any additional changes to counted rows won't count towards MAR. Any remaining data use will mostly come from new records.
We reset the count of your active rows at the end of the month. All rows go back to being inactive, and your active rows count goes back to zero. During the first sync on the first day of the month, Fivetran fetches new rows and existing rows with updated values from the source, and these rows become active. Since we only count these rows once per month, you may observe what seems like an increase in your MAR usage on the first day of each month. You may also observe what seems like an increase in MAR when most rows have frequent value changes.
You will not observe what seems like an increase in your MAR usage if the first sync doesn’t occur on the first of the month.
Changes at the source
Administrators, users, and integration teams should collaborate to understand how the data source interacts with Fivetran.
- Integration teams must know about connector-level differences.
- Administrators must understand how to provide source access.
- Users must outline their expectations from the solution. Often, increases in MAR are due to changes in the source. Adding a new column or table leads to MAR increases. It's important to communicate with your stakeholders on how their sources impact usage and ensure every table you're moving provides value to the team.
User-related errors
Unexpected data use can occur when you unpause a connection or delete a connection, then recreate it with exactly the same name. Both cases lead to an increase in MAR. To avoid unexpected data use, we recommend re-syncing paused connections. Also, every time you create a new connection, ensure you use a unique name. You can do these either through the Connection page or the REST API.
Connection paused and then resumed
MAR usage may suddenly increase if a connection was paused for a period of time and then resumed. The first sync after resuming a connection extracts and loads all the data that was updated in the source during the time the connection was paused.
Optimize MAR usage
The sections below explain how to optimize your connections' usage.
Higher connection usage leads to a better rate
Your usage and costs are determined at the connection level. We apply a usage curve for each connection, meaning the more you use, the less you pay per monthly active row (MAR) per connection. To learn more about connection-level MAR rates, see the Fivetran Service Consumption Table.
If you are on an annual contract signed before March 1, 2025, your usage and costs are determined at the account level. To benefit from enhanced re-sync detection and connection-level tiering, transition to the latest pricing by renewing your contract.
Sync frequency
Your connections’ sync frequency makes no difference to your monthly active rows because MAR is based on how many unique rows are updated, not on how many updates occur. Maintain whatever sync frequency best serves your business needs.
Block schemas or tables
You can reduce your monthly active rows by blocking schemas or tables from syncing. However, not all connectors support blocking schemas or tables. Check for data blocking support in the relevant connector's documentation, under the features section.
Block columns in tables without a primary key
You can reduce your monthly active rows by blocking columns for tables without a primary key. Column blocking can make a difference because we create a synthetic primary key for these tables, you can reduce your MAR if you block a commonly-changing column that is used as part of the synthetic primary key. However, not all connectors support column blocking.
You can't block primary key columns.
Additional MAR management resources
See connector-specific articles linked below for more MAR management best practices: