Visual Importer ETL Enterprise: Imports That Run Themselves on Your Own Windows Server
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise is a $600-a-year Windows tool from DB Software Laboratory that loads files and tables into databases on a schedule, or the moment a file, email or HTTP call arrives, with no one logged in. It's the top edition of the vendor's import product, aimed at IT and operations teams with routine production loads.
If your mornings start by checking whether last night's supplier file went in, this is the tool that takes over the checking. The monitor notices the file, the agent runs the import package, bad rows go to a rejected-records file, and a log shows what happened.
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), usually on a server
- Price: $600 per year for one computer, $2,500 per year for a site licence. The order renews automatically each year
- Included: one year of updates and technical support, unlimited executions, 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 121 MB VImpES_64.zip downloaded from the vendor on November 10, 2026 contains a setup file reporting version 9.4.2.18; $600.00 for the single-computer licence and $2,500.00 for the site licence on the order page, with auto-renewal switched on, on November 10, 2026. We read the edition comparison and the agent documentation but didn't run the agent or monitors ourselves
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Before you buy
Consider Advanced ETL Processor Enterprise first if you're new. The vendor's documentation says: "For new users, we recommend Advanced ETL Processor." For $240 a year more you get the same automation plus the deeper transformation designer. Visual Importer stays the better buy only when imports and exports really are the whole job.
The services need setting up. The agent is installed but not configured: register it with vimpagent.exe /INSTALL from an elevated prompt. The vendor advises running it under the account you design with and using UNC paths instead of mapped drives.
It's a yearly subscription that renews automatically. Keep the repository on a server database, since the vendor warns that the default MS Access file tends to get corrupted over time.
Overview
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise pairs the import designer with Windows services. You map a source to a target table, wrap the import in a package with file, SQL and notification steps, and hand it to the Execution Agent or a monitor. The vendor says it uses the same automation model as Advanced ETL Processor Enterprise for packages, monitors and agents, and that the difference is transformation design. The product's history page lists 725 releases, the latest on November 4, 2026.
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise with a package open: the repository tree on the left, the package diagram in the middle, the available actions on the right and the debugging log below.
Features
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise runs imports with nobody logged in
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise includes the Execution Agent, a Windows service that runs scheduled packages, imports and SQL scripts. Schedules run once or daily, weekly or monthly, on chosen days, and the 64-bit agent can run both 64-bit and 32-bit actions.
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise starts work when something arrives
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise has Directory, FTP, POP3, IMAP4, HTTP and MS MQ monitors. A partner's upload to an FTP folder, a mailbox attachment or a call to a URL can start a package without any polling on your side.
The Enterprise maintenance screen: the Nodes List shows the execution agent, directory, FTP, HTTP, IMAP4, MS MQ, POP3 and Office 365 monitor services on this computer. The title bar shows the 32-bit build.
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise handles the whole file job
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise packages copy, rename, zip, compare and archive files, run SQL before and after loading, use FTP and SFTP, process mailbox attachments, and send email notifications. Because each step reports success or failure, you can build a separate path for bad files.
A vendor example package that avoids processing the same file twice: it checks the file's CRC against a log table before going on.
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise leaves an audit trail
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise logs every execution with the step that failed and the error it hit, writes rejected records to files for correction and rerun, and keeps its history in the repository, so a failed import can be explained after the fact.
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise maps data in one grid
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise loads delimited, fixed-width, Excel, XML, JSON, DBF, Parquet and QVD sources into SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Interbase/Firebird, Salesforce, ODBC and OLE DB targets, with add, update, delete and upsert methods and conditional loading.
Benefits
- The cheapest way to the vendor's agent and monitors. $240 a year less than Advanced ETL Processor Enterprise.
- Predictable budget. Unlimited executions and no row transfer fees.
- Source files stay local. Nothing has to pass through a third-party cloud service.
- Errors you can act on. Rejected rows land in a file someone can fix and rerun.
Real-World Uses
- An operations team imports supplier CSV and Excel files into SQL Server every night and archives each one after loading.
- A finance team consolidates regular exports from branch systems as soon as they arrive in a shared folder.
- An IT department watches an SFTP location for partner files and processes each one automatically.
- A helpdesk saves attachments from a monitored mailbox and loads them into a tracking database.
Who It's For, and Who Should Skip It
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise suits IT teams with routine file-to-database loads on their own Windows servers, where failures must be visible and nobody wants to press Run.
Skip it if data needs complex reshaping before loading, because the vendor points that work to Advanced ETL Processor Enterprise. Skip it too if you only need to design and test packages (Professional, $360), if someone runs each import by hand (Standard, $120), or if you want a hosted service: this is Windows software you run yourself.
Usage Guide
- Install the 64-bit trial as administrator on the machine that will run the imports.
- Create a repository on a server database and add connections.
- Build the import: choose a source, map fields, set If Error and If Null rules and test it.
- Wrap it in a package with the file, SQL and email steps you need.
- Run
vimpagent.exe /INSTALL from an elevated prompt to register the agent as a Windows service. - Schedule the package, or tie it to a Directory, FTP, IMAP4 or HTTP monitor. Check the execution log after the first runs.
Where it falls short
- Limited transformation depth. Complex logic or multi-step data preparation is the vendor's own reason to choose Advanced ETL Processor instead.
- Windows only. The services and designer have no Linux or Mac build.
- Administration falls to you. Services, accounts, UNC paths and repository backups need someone who knows Windows servers.
- A smaller manual than its sibling. Most detailed guidance and tutorials live under Advanced ETL Processor.
- A dated interface, the same toolbar-heavy style reviewers mention for the vendor's other tools.
What Users Say
Reviews that name Visual Importer are rare, since DB Software Laboratory's products share one review profile and its written reviews discuss Advanced ETL Processor. The vendor's 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. The quotes below, from that GetApp copy, describe the vendor's scheduled workflows and support, which the two Enterprise products share.
On running jobs and support
Pietro V., Security and Investigations, 51-200 employees: "I started with simple projects and now I have hunderd of projects working in a scheduled way."
Harry B., Pharmaceuticals, 11-50 employees: "Imports data very reliably once set up properly."
Andrew R., Marketing and Advertising, 1-10 employees: "Not a lot to mention on cons; when you have a problem the support guys are usually on it straight away. It feels a very personal service."
Criticism
Teun M., Computer Software, 11-50 employees: "Don't be put off by the look & feel of this tool. It feels a little bit Windows XP-esque."
Benjamin P., Logistics and Supply Chain, 11-50 employees: "For small setup it may use an integrated DB more efficient than Access DB. I had to setup an SQL express to get it wotk in a reliable way."
The pattern: scheduling and support earn the praise, and the interface and the Access repository draw the complaints. Treat these as evidence about the vendor; the trial is the evidence about this product.
Comparisons
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise vs Professional vs Standard
Standard ($120) runs imports by hand. Professional ($360) adds the repository, packages, task scheduler screen and logging. Enterprise ($600) adds the Execution Agent and the Directory, FTP, POP3, IMAP4, HTTP and MS MQ monitors, which are what let imports run unattended.
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise vs Advanced ETL Processor Enterprise
The vendor says the automation is the same and the limit is complex transformation. Visual Importer ETL Enterprise ($600 a year) is the smaller and cheaper tool for import, export, validation and unattended processing. Advanced ETL Processor Enterprise ($840) adds complex transformation logic and is the vendor's recommendation for new users.
Editions and Pricing
| Edition and licence | Price at checkout | Computers | Best for |
|---|
| Enterprise, single computer | $600 per year | 1 | One production server |
| Enterprise, site licence | $2,500 per year | Unlimited at one physical site | Teams automating imports at one location |
| Professional, single computer | $360 per year | 1 | Building and testing packages |
| Standard, single computer | $120 per year | 1 | User-run desktop 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.
Buy Single Computer ($600/yr)Buy Site Licence ($2,500/yr)
FAQs
Can Visual Importer ETL Enterprise import email attachments automatically?
Yes. Visual Importer ETL Enterprise has POP3 and IMAP4 monitors and mailbox receiver steps, so packages can process attachments as they arrive.
Can I upgrade from Visual Importer ETL Enterprise to Advanced ETL Processor?
The vendor documents a move from Visual Importer ETL to Advanced ETL Processor: back up the repository, uninstall Visual Importer, install Advanced ETL Processor and connect to the same repository.
Does Visual Importer ETL Enterprise charge by data volume?
No. Visual Importer ETL Enterprise is a flat annual licence with unlimited executions and no row transfer fees.
Does Visual Importer ETL Enterprise have a web dashboard?
The Management Console, a web service for monitoring runs that the vendor offers only with its Enterprise editions, installs for Visual Importer ETL with vmc.exe /INSTALL and opens on port 8080 by default. Change its default login straight away.
Can Visual Importer ETL Enterprise run on Windows Server?
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise is the edition the vendor recommends for running on servers, using Windows services for automated execution, and it comes in 64-bit and 32-bit builds.
Is the Visual Importer ETL Enterprise trial limited?
The Visual Importer ETL Enterprise trial is fully functional for 30 days, with no registration or credit card.
System Requirements
- Windows (64-bit and 32-bit builds)
- A repository database (SQL Server Express recommended by the vendor for production)
- Administrator rights to register the Windows services
- Oracle client, Interbase/Firebird client or FoxPro ODBC driver only for those databases; MySQL and PostgreSQL clients are built in
Conclusion
Visual Importer ETL Enterprise is worth $600 a year if routine imports and exports must run unattended and don't need heavy transformation. It delivers the same agent and monitors as the vendor's flagship for $240 less, on your own hardware, with no volume charges.
The main reason not to buy it: if there's any chance your data will need real reshaping, the vendor itself would steer you to Advanced ETL Processor Enterprise. Run a real overnight import through the 30-day trial before deciding.
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