Apache HBase vs Couchbase comparison

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Apache HBase

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 7, 2025

Apache HBase and Couchbase are competing in the NoSQL database market, offering different solutions for handling Big Data. Couchbase generally holds the upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set and scalability, despite being more expensive than HBase, which benefits from its cost-effectiveness and integration abilities.

Features: Apache HBase offers linear scalability and strong consistency, making it suitable for large-scale data processing. Its integration with the Hadoop ecosystem enhances distributed storage of sparse data. Couchbase provides multi-dimensional scaling, JSON document support, and advanced querying capabilities, essential for modern application development.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Couchbase is designed for rapid deployment with thorough documentation, facilitating an easier onboarding experience. It tends to offer more streamlined support, making it accessible for quick starts. HBase requires more initial configuration due to its complexity but benefits from educated personnel knowledgeable about its setup.

Pricing and ROI: Apache HBase typically has lower initial setup costs due to its open-source nature and use within existing Hadoop frameworks, providing strong ROI when utilized with existing clusters. Couchbase, though more expensive with higher setup costs, offers a faster ROI due to its performance and adaptability in diverse environments.

To learn more, read our detailed Apache HBase vs. Couchbase Report (Updated: April 2025).

Apache HBase vs. Couchbase

April 2025

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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

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Couchbase

Ranking in NoSQL Databases

6th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the NoSQL Databases category, the mindshare of Apache HBase is 5.8%, up from 5.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Couchbase is 10.1%, down from 11.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

NoSQL Databases

Featured Reviews

Atif Tariq

Cloud and Big Data Engineer | Developer at Huawei Cloud Middle East

The solution has many performance issues, though it helps manage consumer data sets

Apache HBase is a database used for data storage. It's managing our data set as a consumer data set I don't like using Apache HBase to store huge amounts of data because of many performance issues. I have been using Apache HBase for seven years. You cannot deploy Apache HBase without Apache…

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Asad Rizvi

Senior Software Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

No SQL cloud based solution used to manage unstructured data and push out large volumes of metrics at a low latency

The main advantages were associated with it being a no SQL database. It helped us send out metrics or rewards to multiple players in our game at a very low latency. I pushed a lot of updates onto the Couchbase cluster and it performed very well. I was able to cater to 50,000 people within minutes and update our Couchbase DB very easily.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable part is the column family structure."

"Apache HBase is a database used for data storage."

"I can input any kind of document into the solution and it is integrated using a dynamic API. This has been the most valuable aspect of using this solution."

"Sync Gateway is a great feature that supports the mobile application."

"The principal advantage of Couchbase is that we can have multiple database paradigms in the same product, without deploying multiple databases. We also like that it has lower latency, when compared to its competitor: Cassandra."

"It is highly available for support and does not impact our operations significantly during failures."

"The most valuable features are the ease of application and the merging of data."

"Couchbase has not given any performance problems as of now."

"The main advantages were associated with it being a no SQL database. It helped us send out metrics or rewards to multiple players in our game at a very low latency."

"The whole stack is valuable, but the portion of the stack that we're finding really handy is the analytics engine because that allows us to take and pre-build views."

More Couchbase pros

Cons

"We've seen performance issues."

"I don't like using Apache HBase to store huge amounts of data because of many performance issues."

"The failover and failback could be a bit easier. When I looked at it last time, it had to be manually done. It also took over an hour for us to rebalance all the nodes."

"The main problem has been with integration with the services."

"There are some limitations to the database. The SQL database cannot handle real-time processing for critical IoT scenarios. What we have to do is store our data into the database then code it out, this wastes a lot of time."

"Although it worked pretty well, in some scenarios, we noticed issues where the replications and the sharding were not happening correctly."

"The performance could be quicker and better, especially in the querying process."

"Overall as a tool, I see room for improvement in Couchbase in certain aspects."

"I have tried multiple libraries in a demo they provide and it works fine, but when it merges with libraries, it creates a problem."

"Needs some capacity planning to deal with too much memory, CPUs and displays."

More Couchbase cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"I would rate this solution a nine out of ten for pricing as it is affordable."

"It can range between 25,000 to 40,000 Euros per year depending on company requirements."

"The licensing cost of Couchbase is quite expensive compared to other databases."

"The price of this solution is better than some of the other competitors."

"We estimate that it's not very expensive, however, the pricing that you can get from the account managers, e.g. the public pricing, could be a bit expensive."

"It seems very reasonable. It's a lot cheaper than Redis, but we've got an enterprise license. So, it's about normal. It's not outrageous in price as far as we've seen. From Couchbase, there's no additional fee as far as I'm aware, but when you're integrating, there's an additional fee because a lot of times, they don't have an integration stack."

"I wouldn't say Couchbase offers good value for money."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

26%

Computer Software Company

13%

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

20%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

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 needs improvement with Couchbase?

I would like Couchbase to provide more functionality via the UI, as some operations, such as time-based scaling, currently require using the API. While I find Couchbase's feature set to be generall...

What is your primary use case for Couchbase?

Our primary use case for Couchbase is related to the iGaming industry, particularly for high-performance reads and writes to meet our SLA for high volumes. We have a particular use case where there...

What advice do you have for others considering Couchbase?

Couchbase, especially under high load conditions, is imperative for providing a great user experience due to its stability and scalability, which reduces costs and scales efficiently. I rate Couchb...

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Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop vs Apache HBase

Compared 5% of the time

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MongoDB vs Couchbase

Compared 33% of the time

Cassandra vs Couchbase

Compared 28% of the time

ScyllaDB vs Couchbase

Compared 20% of the time

Redis vs Couchbase

Compared 10% of the time

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs Couchbase

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Download Apache HBase product report

NoSQL Databases

May 2025

Download Couchbase product report

May 2025

Also Known As

HBase

No data available

Overview

Apache HBase is an open-source, distributed, versioned, non-relational database modeled after Google's BigTable. Just as Bigtable leverages the distributed data storage provided by the Google File System, Apache HBase provides Bigtable-like capabilities on top of Hadoop and HDFS.

Apache

Couchbase is a versatile database solution for healthcare, automation, e-commerce, gaming, caching, and analytics. It supports 920 nodes and 420 clusters, making it scalable and extensible. Its valuable features include multiple database paradigms, low latency, dynamic API integration, Sync Gateway for mobile apps, and a user-friendly interface.

Couchbase has helped organizations with low latency metrics, large user updates, and cost-effective caching. Its built-in data replication and disaster recovery features make it a complete solution for various needs.

Sample Customers

Bloomberg, Wells Fargo, Apple, Capital One, NVIDIA

Amadeus, Cisco, Comcast, LinkedIn, GE