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Aerospike vs ScyllaDB

Aerospike: Flash-optimized distributed key-value and document database for predictable sub-millisecond latency at scale. ScyllaDB: C++ rewrite of Cassandra with shard-per-core design; also speaks the DynamoDB API.

key differences

  • Aerospike is primarily a key-value database; ScyllaDB is wide-column.
  • Licensing: Aerospike is open source (copyleft) (AGPL-3.0 (Community Edition); commercial Enterprise Edition); ScyllaDB is source-available (ScyllaDB Software License Agreement 1.1).
  • Transactions: Aerospike offers full ACID; ScyllaDB offers limited.
  • Only Aerospike has transactions, geospatial, stored procedures, in-memory.
  • Only ScyllaDB has materialized views, streaming ingest.

choose aerospike for

  • +Real-time bidding and ad-tech user profiles
  • +Fraud detection and payment authorization
  • +Online ML feature stores
  • +Telecom subscriber and session data

best at · OLTP, Cache, Sessions

choose scylladb for

  • +Chat and messaging history at very high volume
  • +Low-latency feature stores for ML
  • +Cassandra or DynamoDB migration targets
  • +IoT and telemetry ingestion

best at · OLTP, Time-series, IoT

AerospikeFlash-optimized distributed key-value and document database for predictable sub-millisecond latency at scale.
ScyllaDBC++ rewrite of Cassandra with shard-per-core design; also speaks the DynamoDB API.
overview
Primary model
Key-Value
Wide-Column
Also supports
Document, Spatial
Key-Value
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Aerospike, Inc.
ScyllaDB Inc.
First release
2010
2015
Latest version
8.2.0 (Sep 29, 2026)
2026.3.4 (Oct 2026)
License
Open source (copyleft)AGPL-3.0 (Community Edition); commercial Enterprise Edition
Source-availableScyllaDB Software License Agreement 1.1
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
40.4
45.9
Rank
#42
#36
GitHub stars
1.4K
15.8K
Stack Overflow questions
842
381
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Massive (Multi-PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Active active
Active active
ACID
Full
Limited
Consistency
Tunable, Strong, Eventual
Tunable, Eventual
Schema
Schemaless
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, In memory, Client server
Distributed, Multi primary, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
AWS, Google Cloud
capabilities
Transactions
✓
—
Joins
—
—
Secondary indexes
✓
✓
Full-text search
—
—
Vector search
—
—
Geospatial
✓
—
JSON
✓
✓
Change data capture
✓
✓
Triggers
—
—
Stored procedures
✓
—
Materialized views
—
✓
TTL / expiry
✓
✓
Pub/Sub
—
—
Columnar storage
—
—
In-memory
✓
—
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
✓
✓
Encryption at rest
✓
✓
Role-based access
✓
✓
Time travel
—
—
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
✓
✓
Streaming ingest
—
✓
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
Aerospike Expressions, AQL (CLI)
CQL, DynamoDB API
Client languages
C, C#, Go, Java, JavaScript, Python, Rust
Java, Python, Go, Rust, C++, C#, JavaScript, Scala
Best for
OLTP, Cache, Sessions, Feature store
OLTP, Time-series, IoT, Feature store
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Aerospike vs ScyllaDB: FAQ

What is the difference between Aerospike and ScyllaDB?

Aerospike: Flash-optimized distributed key-value and document database for predictable sub-millisecond latency at scale. ScyllaDB: C++ rewrite of Cassandra with shard-per-core design; also speaks the DynamoDB API. Aerospike is primarily a key-value database; ScyllaDB is wide-column. Licensing: Aerospike is open source (copyleft) (AGPL-3.0 (Community Edition); commercial Enterprise Edition); ScyllaDB is source-available (ScyllaDB Software License Agreement 1.1). Transactions: Aerospike offers full ACID; ScyllaDB offers limited.

When should I choose Aerospike over ScyllaDB?

Choose Aerospike for real-time bidding and ad-tech user profiles; fraud detection and payment authorization; and online ML feature stores. Choose ScyllaDB for chat and messaging history at very high volume; low-latency feature stores for ML; and cassandra or DynamoDB migration targets.

Is Aerospike or ScyllaDB more popular?

ScyllaDB ranks #36 on the WhichDB Score (45.9/100) and Aerospike ranks #42 (40.4/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Aerospike and ScyllaDB open source?

Yes. Aerospike is open source. License: AGPL-3.0 (Community Edition); commercial Enterprise Edition. Not in the OSI sense. ScyllaDB is source-available: you can read the code, but the license restricts some uses, typically offering it as a competing managed service. License: ScyllaDB Software License Agreement 1.1.