Visual Importer ETL Professional: Reusable Import Packages Without the Full ETL Price
Visual Importer ETL Professional is a $360-a-year Windows tool from DB Software Laboratory for developers, DBAs and consultants who build repeatable data imports into databases and wrap them in multi-step packages. It adds a shared repository and package design to the simple import mapping in the Standard edition.
Think of the import that's never just an import: check the file arrived, unzip it, truncate a staging table, load, run a stored procedure, email the result. Visual Importer lets you draw those steps once, keep them in a shared repository, and rerun the whole thing instead of nursing a batch file.
Quick facts
- Version: 9.4.2.18, released November 4, 2026
- Developer: DB Software Laboratory (etl-tools.com), United Kingdom
- Platform: Windows only (64-bit and 32-bit builds)
- Price: $360 per year for one computer, $2,000 per year for a site licence. The order renews automatically each year
- Included: one year of updates and technical support, no row transfer fees
- Trial: 30 days, fully functional, no registration or credit card
- Refunds: the vendor's pricing page states a 30-day refund policy
- What we checked: the 83 MB VImpPS_64.zip downloaded from the vendor on November 10, 2026 contains a setup file reporting version 9.4.2.18; $360.00 for the single-computer licence and $2,000.00 for the site licence on the order page, with auto-renewal switched on, on November 10, 2026. We read the edition comparison and the compatibility notes but didn't run an import ourselves
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Before you buy
The vendor steers new users to its newer product. Visual Importer ETL was DB Software Laboratory's first ETL program, and its own documentation says: "For new users, we recommend Advanced ETL Processor." Visual Importer is still updated alongside it (732 releases on its history page, the latest on November 4, 2026), and it remains the cheaper option when you don't need complex transformations.
Design here, run unattended on Enterprise. Professional has a task scheduler screen for controlled runs, but the Execution Agent that runs jobs as a Windows service, and all the monitors, belong to Enterprise.
It's a yearly subscription that the order page sets to renew automatically. Don't keep the repository in the default MS Access file for production: the vendor warns it tends to get corrupted over time.
Overview
Visual Importer ETL Professional has two working parts. The import maps target fields to source columns in one grid, with functions, If Error and If Null rules, and a data preview. The package puts imports, exports, SQL scripts and file operations on a diagram, where the success or failure of each step decides the next one. The vendor describes its packages as the same workflow model as Advanced ETL Processor Enterprise; what's missing is the deeper transformation designer.
The designer with the repository tree of imports, lookups, SQL scripts and reports on the left and an import's processing log on top: 8 records read and inserted, 0 rejected. The vendor filed this image under Professional, though the title bar reads Enterprise; the design screens are shared.
Features
Visual Importer ETL Professional chains imports into packages
Visual Importer ETL Professional packages combine imports, exports, SQL scripts, file checks and comparisons (date, size or MD5), copy, rename and delete operations, external applications, email notifications, FTP uploads and downloads, password-protected zip, POP3 and IMAP4 receivers, HTTP downloads, SOAP and XSLT. Loops work through lists of values, and package variables pass results between steps.
A vendor example package: HTTP and JSON steps that send a PDF file to Google Gemini and show the answer, drawn in the same diagram style as a file-loading package.
Visual Importer ETL Professional loads the common databases
Visual Importer ETL Professional writes to SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL and PostgreSQL (both with SSL), SQLite, Interbase/Firebird, Salesforce, ODBC and OLE DB targets, and stored procedures. Each load can add, update, delete, add new and update existing rows, or load conditionally, with SQL scripts before and after.
Visual Importer ETL Professional reads files and tables
Visual Importer ETL Professional reads multiple delimited, fixed-width and Excel files at once, Access and DBF tables, XML, JSON, Parquet, QlikView QVD and QVX, Clarion files, Google Spreadsheets, MongoDB, Salesforce, syslog and the Windows Event Log, along with SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL and other databases.
Visual Importer ETL Professional shares work through a repository
Visual Importer ETL Professional stores imports, connections, lookups, SQL scripts, reports, email templates and packages in a repository on SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Interbase or Access. Several people can connect to the same one, and a synchronization wizard moves objects between development and live repositories.
Visual Importer ETL Professional logs each run
Visual Importer ETL Professional logs every package execution, records which step failed and why, and keeps rejected records in a separate file for correction and rerun. Python support and Amazon S3, Azure Blob, Telegram and RabbitMQ steps are included from this edition upward.
Benefits
- The smaller, cheaper way to get packages. $300 a year less than Advanced ETL Processor Professional when imports are the main job.
- Repeatable handover. A consultant's package lives in a repository instead of on a laptop.
- No row charges. Large imports cost the same as small ones.
- A way forward. If you outgrow it, the vendor documents a move to Advanced ETL Processor using the same repository.
Real-World Uses
- A DBA builds a migration package that loads CSV extracts into SQL Server staging tables and runs cleanup scripts afterward.
- A consultant standardizes client imports in one repository and clones a package for each client.
- A software vendor imports each new customer's Excel data with a saved mapping and a rejected-records file to send back.
- An IT team tests a nightly import package in development before moving it to an Enterprise machine.
Who It's For, and Who Should Skip It
Visual Importer ETL Professional suits Windows developers and DBAs whose work is mostly getting data into databases and who want it packaged and reusable.
Skip it if you're starting from nothing and expect heavy reshaping: the vendor recommends Advanced ETL Processor for new users. Skip it if each import is a one-off by hand (Visual Importer ETL Standard is $120) or if jobs must run unattended on a server (Enterprise, $600). There's no Mac or Linux version.
Usage Guide
- Download the 64-bit trial, unzip it and run the setup as administrator.
- Create a repository, preferably on SQL Server Express, and add saved connections.
- Create an import, pick the source, check the data preview, and map target fields to source columns, using Auto-Map on wide files.
- Set the If Error and If Null rules and the loading method, then run it and read the log.
- Create a package, drag in your import, add file, SQL and email steps, link them by success and failure, and mark the starting point.
- Run the package and check the execution log. Add it to the task scheduler for controlled runs.
Where it falls short
- Limited transformation depth. No diagram of validators and transformers: complex reshaping is the vendor's stated reason to choose Advanced ETL Processor.
- An older product line. Video tutorials are mostly shared with Advanced ETL Processor; the manual for this product is short.
- No unattended execution without Enterprise.
- A dated look. The screens use the same toolbar-heavy style reviewers criticize in the vendor's other tools.
What Users Say
Independent reviews that name Visual Importer are hard to find: DB Software Laboratory's products share one review profile, where the written reviews discuss Advanced ETL Processor. The vendor's Visual Importer pages show 4.9 out of 5 from 16 reviews on Capterra for that profile, and a July 2024 archived copy of GetApp showed 4.9 out of 5 from 13 reviews. These quotes from that GetApp copy cover the vendor's shared packages, interface and support rather than Visual Importer itself.
On packages and support
Alan J., Logistics and Supply Chain, 51-200 employees: "If you have a problem or scenario you cannot solve, go to their support forum and you normally get a reply back in a few hours."
Bruce G., Investment Management, 1-10 employees: "The ability to design and build reusable ETL elements through a graphical user interface at an affordable price was what drew us to the product in the first instance."
Harry B., Pharmaceuticals, 11-50 employees: "Imports data very reliably once set up properly."
Criticism
Patrick M., Banking, 51-200 employees: "User interface is a little dated, but works well."
Bruce G.: "Whilst the online documentation could do with some updates and extra detail it is easily accessible and very readable."
The pattern: customers of this vendor credit the price and quick support, and grumble about the interface. With so little feedback on Visual Importer itself, a 30-day test on your own files tells you more.
Comparisons
Visual Importer ETL Professional vs Standard vs Enterprise
All three share the sources, targets, loading methods, data preview, rejected-records file and command line. Standard ($120) stores imports as files and runs them by hand. Professional ($360) adds the repository, connections, lookups, reports, task scheduler screen, execution logging and packages. Enterprise ($600) adds the Execution Agent and Directory, FTP, POP3, IMAP4, HTTP and MS MQ monitors.
Visual Importer ETL Professional vs Advanced ETL Processor Professional
The vendor says package workflows are not the difference; transformation depth is. If the job is reusable import and export projects, Visual Importer ETL Professional ($360 a year) is the smaller, cheaper tool. If data needs complex logic or heavy preparation before loading, Advanced ETL Processor Professional ($660) is the one to buy.
Editions and Pricing
| Edition and licence | Price at checkout | Computers | Best for |
|---|
| Professional, single computer | $360 per year | 1 | One developer building packages |
| Professional, site licence | $2,000 per year | Unlimited at one physical site | A team building import packages |
| Standard, single computer | $120 per year | 1 | User-run desktop imports |
| Enterprise, single computer | $600 per year | 1 | Unattended, monitored imports |
Every licence includes a year of updates and technical support. A site licence covers the buyer's employees and accredited agents on any number of computers at one location, normally one building. The vendor's pricing page says you can move to a site licence later by paying the difference.
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FAQs
Can I move from Visual Importer ETL Professional to Advanced ETL Processor later?
Yes. Visual Importer ETL Professional is compatible with Advanced ETL Processor Professional. The vendor's steps are to back up the repository, uninstall Visual Importer, install Advanced ETL Processor and connect to the same repository.
Does Visual Importer ETL Professional export data as well as import it?
Yes. Visual Importer ETL Professional packages include export steps that write database data to files for reporting, handoff or archive, though its import targets themselves are databases.
Can Visual Importer ETL Professional run imports while I am logged off?
Not on its own. Visual Importer ETL Professional has a task scheduler screen, but the Execution Agent that runs scheduled actions as a Windows service is available only in Enterprise.
Does Visual Importer ETL Professional need database client software?
Visual Importer ETL has built-in clients for MySQL and PostgreSQL. Oracle needs an Oracle client, Interbase and Firebird need their client library, and DBF files need the FoxPro ODBC driver.
Does Visual Importer ETL Professional run on a Mac?
No. Visual Importer ETL Professional is Windows only, in 64-bit and 32-bit builds.
Is the Visual Importer ETL Professional trial limited?
The Visual Importer ETL Professional trial is fully functional for 30 days, with no registration and no credit card.
System Requirements
- Windows (64-bit and 32-bit builds)
- A repository database (SQL Server Express recommended by the vendor for production)
- Oracle client, Interbase/Firebird client or FoxPro ODBC driver only for those databases; MySQL and PostgreSQL clients are built in
Conclusion
Visual Importer ETL Professional is worth $360 a year if your work is reusable imports and you don't need complex transformations. It gives you the vendor's package workflows and repository at a little over half the price of Advanced ETL Processor Professional.
The main reason not to buy it is the vendor's own recommendation: new users who expect to clean or reshape data should start with Advanced ETL Processor. If your work really is loading files into tables, build one package during the 30-day trial and decide from that.
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