Price
EMS sells each tool per engine as a perpetual license with maintenance included. For PostgreSQL, Data Pump and Data Comparer each start at US$ 110 per user (business, one year of maintenance), with longer maintenance terms and lower prices for individuals and non-profits (from US$ 60). Data Pump is also sold separately for SQL Server, MySQL, InterBase/Firebird, Oracle and DB2. (sqlmanager.net, 23/10/2026)
dbSlice Desktop is US$ 89.99 (launch price; regular US$ 149.99) and the Windows Server edition US$ 199 (launch price; regular US$ 299): perpetual use of the last eligible version, 12 months of updates and support, optional maintenance after year one, 14-day money-back guarantee. One license covers every supported database, in both directions, and every feature.
Example: importing into PostgreSQL and keeping PostgreSQL tables in sync is two EMS products for that engine (from US$ 110 + US$ 110). A second target engine means buying its tools too. With dbSlice both jobs, for any pair, are one Desktop license.
Side by side
| dbSlice | EMS Data Pump / Data Comparer (as of 23/10/2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| License scope | Every supported database, both directions, all features | One product per task and per target engine |
| Entry price | US$ 89.99 (Desktop, launch price) | From US$ 110 per product (business); from US$ 60 for individuals/non-profits |
| Source connection | Native drivers for each engine, nothing to install | Any ADO-compatible source (MS Access, SQL Server, others with an ADO driver) |
| Cross-engine sync after the first load | Upsert, insert-new, update-only, incremental by a growing column | Data Comparer compares and synchronizes tables of its engine |
| Mask data while copying | Yes | Check with the vendor |
| Send rows to Kafka / REST | Yes | Check with the vendor |
| InterSystems Caché/IRIS, SQLite | Yes | Not in the Data Pump family list |
| Command line | CLI + saved jobs | Console utility for automation |
| Platform | Windows app + CLI | Windows applications |
When EMS is the better choice
- You only ever work with one target engine and need a one-way import: a single Data Pump license is a low-cost, focused tool.
- You are an individual or a non-profit and EMS's special pricing fits.
- You want EMS's wider family on the same engine (database manager, query builder, backup).
When dbSlice fits better
- You work with several engines, or both directions, and don't want a product per engine.
- You need cross-engine sync (for example SQL Server → PostgreSQL every night), not only comparison inside one engine.
- You need InterSystems Caché/IRIS or SQLite.
- You need masked copies for test environments, or to send rows to Kafka or REST APIs.
- Running in production for more than six years in mission-critical environments, across multiple data centers and on-premises, with SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Aurora and InterSystems Caché/IRIS.
Try both on your own data
Run the same tables through each tool on your own servers and compare counts, time and how each one handles your data types.
Also comparing Full Convert? →
EMS, SQL Manager, Data Pump and Data Comparer are trademarks of their owner. dbSlice is not affiliated with EMS. Competitor information comes from its public website on the date shown and may have changed.