Fivetran, which also own SQLMesh competitor dbt, says it believes the data transformation layer should evolve as a community effort.

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Fivetran has donated SQLMesh, its open source SQL data transformation framework, to the Linux Foundation under vendor-neutral governance. SQLMesh, acquired via Tobiko Data in September 2025, differentiates itself from dbt through virtual data environments and a compile-time SQLGlot parser. The move comes after Fivetran merged with dbt Labs in October 2025 and amid controversy over dbt Labs adopting the Elastic License for its Fusion engine. Founding members supporting the project include ATOMS, Benzinga, Harness, and others. The donation is widely seen as a strategic response to the open-source licensing debate around dbt, positioning SQLMesh as a fully community-governed alternative.

Fivetran donates its SQLMesh data transformation framework to the Linux Foundation