Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Apache HBase vs Cassandra comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 7, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Apache HBase
Ranking in NoSQL Databases
11th
Average Rating
6.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cassandra
Ranking in NoSQL Databases
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Vector Databases (15th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the NoSQL Databases category, the mindshare of Apache HBase is 5.4%, up from 5.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cassandra is 10.8%, down from 12.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
NoSQL Databases
 

Featured Reviews

Sekhar Reddy B - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers real-time aggregations and easy for a beginner to learn to use this
We use it for real-time data grouping The most valuable part is the column family structure. We mainly use it for real-time aggregations. That's why we prefer it as a NoSQL database. We've seen performance issues when we have more regions. The product needs improvement in that area. So we…
Himanshu Amodwala - PeerSpot reviewer
Well-equipped to handle a massive influx of data and billions of requests
The use of Cassandra in real-time data analytics has been pivotal for our e-commerce platform. As our platform operates 24/7, providing services to sellers and customers alike, the need for real-time updates is paramount. For instance, when a customer leaves comments or feedback on an image, they anticipate an immediate reflection of these changes on the portal. Similarly, sellers altering product attributes or updating images expect instant visibility of these modifications. Handling large data volumes with Cassandra has been an excellent experience. Despite challenges related to the influx, these were not attributed to Cassandra itself but rather to middle-layer issues. Generally, it demonstrated scalability with workloads, thanks to its horizontal scaling capabilities. We could easily add new nodes to the system as needed, ensuring the platform coped well with increasing loads. The tool's most beneficial feature for scalability is its entire architecture. The absence of a single point of failure or a leader within the ecosystem contributes to its robust scalability. This key aspect influenced our decision to opt for the Cassandra ecosystem. In terms of performance, it demonstrated the ability to handle approximately 1.6 billion requests per day. This was achieved on AWS using EC2 instances, and it was during a period about four to five years ago.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Apache HBase is a database used for data storage."
"The most valuable part is the column family structure."
"Our primary use case for the solution is testing."
"I am satisfied with the performance."
"The most valuable feature of Cassandra is its fast retrieval. Additionally, the solution can handle large amounts of data. It is the quickest application we use."
"Cassandra has some features that are more useful for specific use cases where you have time series where you have huge amounts of writes. That should be quick, but not specifically the reads. We needed to have quicker reads and writes and this is why we are using Cassandra right now."
"Its retrieval is similar to an RDBMS, so our team finds it easy to adapt."
"The most valuable features are the counter features and the NoSQL schema. It also has good scalability. You can scale Cassandra to any finite level."
"I am getting much better performance than relational databases."
"The solution's database capabilities are very good."
 

Cons

"I don't like using Apache HBase to store huge amounts of data because of many performance issues."
"We've seen performance issues."
"Maybe they can improve their performance in data fetching from a high volume of data sets."
"Cassandra can improve by adding more built-in tools. For example, if you want to do some maintenance activities in the cluster, we have to depend on third-party tools. Having these tools build-in would be e benefit."
"The secondary index in Cassandra was a bit problematic and could be improved."
"We experience configuration issues when accommodating the volumes we require, which often necessitates consultation with the Cassandra development team."
"Fine-tuning was a bit of a challenge."
"There could be more integration, and it could be more user-friendly."
"Cassandra could be more user-friendly like MongoDB."
"Interface is not user friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I use the tool's open-source version."
"Cassandra is a free open source solution, but there is a commercial version available called DataStax Enterprise."
"There are licensing fees that must be paid, but I'm not sure if they are paid monthly or yearly."
"I don't have the specific numbers on pricing, but it was fairly priced."
"We pay for a license."
"We are using the open-source version of Cassandra, the solution is free."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which NoSQL Databases solutions are best for your needs.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
15%
Healthcare Company
5%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apache HBase?
Apache HBase is a database used for data storage.
What needs improvement with Apache HBase?
We've seen performance issues when we have more regions. The product needs improvement in that area. So we experience performance issues sometimes when the load increases.
What advice do you have for others considering Apache HBase?
It's better to use AWS DynamoDB or Cassandra. I would rate it an eight out of ten. It is easy for a beginner to learn.
What do you like most about Cassandra?
The use of Cassandra in real-time data analytics has been pivotal for our e-commerce platform. As our platform operates 24/7, providing services to sellers and customers alike, the need for real-ti...
What needs improvement with Cassandra?
Cassandra is very complex to manage. Sometimes, I need to involve a senior DevOps engineer if we encounter a problem. About a year ago, we were unable to recover data without help from a senior Dev...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

HBase
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bloomberg, Wells Fargo, Apple, Capital One, NVIDIA
1. Apple 2. Netflix 3. Facebook 4. Instagram 5. Twitter 6. eBay 7. Spotify 8. Uber 9. Airbnb 10. Adobe 11. Cisco 12. IBM 13. Microsoft 14. Yahoo 15. Reddit 16. Pinterest 17. Salesforce 18. LinkedIn 19. Hulu 20. Airbnb 21. Walmart 22. Target 23. Sony 24. Intel 25. Cisco 26. HP 27. Oracle 28. SAP 29. GE 30. Siemens 31. Volkswagen 32. Toyota
Find out what your peers are saying about Apache HBase vs. Cassandra and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.