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Published on September 29, 2025

History of data loaders for Salesforce

History of data loaders for Salesforce

When Salesforce admins or analysts need to import or export data, the first question is usually: Which Salesforce data loader should I use?

For years, the ecosystem has been dominated by Salesforce Data Loader and MuleSoft dataloader.io, with tools like Jitterbit Salesforce Data Loader and Informatica Data Loader also available. These tools are familiar and have served the community well, but they haven’t kept pace with the needs of modern Salesforce users—they rely heavily on spreadsheets, can’t automatically fix bad data, and haven’t seen major updates in years.

The good news: the market for Salesforce data loaders is huge. There’s room for multiple tools to succeed, each serving different types of users. Data I Am is a modern alternative designed specifically for admins and analysts who want speed, accuracy, and automation in one AI-powered tool.

Salesforce Data Loader: An Engineer’s Side Project

Salesforce Data Loader was originally built by an engineer as a side project. It’s a Java-based desktop app, now at v64, but visually and functionally it looks much like its earliest versions.

Why admins still use it: it’s free and “good enough” for very basic Salesforce imports and exports.

The problems:

  • No meaningful enhancements in years.
  • Bugs often unresolved.
  • Runs locally on users machine as a Java app.

MuleSoft dataloader.io: A Marketing Project

MuleSoft dataloader.io grew into the most popular alternative to Salesforce Data Loader, but it wasn’t engineering-led—it was launched by MuleSoft’s marketing team to funnel users into their expensive Anypoint platform.

Signs of stagnation:

  • Last announced support for Salesforce API was v37 (Feb 2018). Current Salesforce API is v64.
  • A release announcement titled, “dataloader.io 1.0 has been released!”, is (likely incorrectly) dated Feb 14, 2024.
  • Last release notes were posted in January 2022 – over 2.5 years ago.
  • The product demo video were posted 10 years. 
  • IdeaExchange requests with hundreds of votes—like “Restrict picklist values for a standard field” (submitted in 2017, with 549 votes)—remains unresolved.
  • In 2022 MuleSoft lowered the cap on Free plan from 50,000 to 10,000 rows per month.

And if that weren’t enough, dataloader.io Enterprise plan now runs $299 per user per month—with no team discounts.

Jitterbit Salesforce Data Loader: Free but Forgotten

Jitterbit Data Loader is only partially cloud-based as it still requires a local engine. That means admins must keep their machines running for scheduled jobs. Support is minimal (community-only), and macOS version is no longer updated.

Informatica Data Loader: Moved On

Informatica has pivoted to data warehouses and lakehouses like Snowflake and Databricks. A Salesforce-specific loader is no longer their priority.

Why Data I Am Is Different: Fix & Load with AI

Data I Am was built exclusively for Salesforce users who want more than just a data loader. It fixes errors automatically before loading, saving admins time and reducing mistakes

Key Differentiators

  • Fix & Load: Automatically repair CSV structure issues, invalid picklist values, missing Record IDs, inconsistent date formats, abbreviated currency values, and more.
  • Actively Listening: We monitor IdeaExchange, Reddit, and LinkedIn. Features Salesforce admins begged MuleSoft for are already in Data I Am v1—for example, catching invalid picklist values.
  • Urgency & Focus: 100% dedicated to Salesforce data management. No side projects, no marketing funnels. Requests don’t sit ignored. Direct line: support@dataiam.com.

Feature Comparison: Data I Am vs dataloader.io

Data I Am’s full Salesforce data loader feature comparison is available here: Compare Capabilities.

Highlights of AI-powered features you won’t find in dataloader.io:

  • Fix file structure: Split single columns e.g., Address → Street, City, State, Zip.
  • Map fields by values: Automatically fix missing or incorrect headers by analyzing the values in the column before mapping.
  • Validate picklists: Flag and fix invalid picklist values before upload.
  • Remove inconsistencies: Standardize addresses, phone numbers, dates, and currency formats.
  • Fetch missing IDs: Auto-fill missing Salesforce Record IDs (for Update and Upsert jobs).
  • Smart Lookup: VLOOKUP-style matching between Salesforce objects and your file from within the app.
  • Preview data: See fixed data before upload.
  • Restore/Undelete: Recover deleted Salesforce records.
  • High capacity, low cost:
    • Freemium 100k rows ← 10x more capacity than dataloder.io
    • Enterprise $39/month for unlimited records ← 7x cheaper than dataloader.io

The Bottom Line

The first generation of Salesforce data loaders were side projects, marketing tools, or afterthoughts. They’ve been stagnant for years, frustrating Salesforce admins and analysts.

Data I Am is different. Built for 2025 and beyond, it:

  • Uses AI to fix and load data
  • Eliminates manual data cleansing in spreadsheets
  • Saves admins and analysts hours every week

If you want faster, smarter, and more reliable Salesforce data loading tool, start with the Data I Am Freemium plan for $0 and experience AI-powered loading firsthand.

To learn more about Data I Am visit: https://dataiam.com

Zeb Mahmood

Zeb Mahmood Co-Founder & CEO Data I Am, Inc.