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Amazon DynamoDB vs ScyllaDB

Amazon DynamoDB: AWS's serverless key-value and document store with single-digit-millisecond reads at any scale. ScyllaDB: C++ rewrite of Cassandra with shard-per-core design; also speaks the DynamoDB API.

key differences

  • Amazon DynamoDB is primarily a key-value database; ScyllaDB is wide-column.
  • Licensing: Amazon DynamoDB is proprietary (Proprietary (AWS service)); ScyllaDB is source-available (ScyllaDB Software License Agreement 1.1).
  • Only Amazon DynamoDB has transactions, triggers, time travel.
  • Only ScyllaDB has materialized views, compression, online schema changes.
  • Amazon DynamoDB has a serverless option; ScyllaDB does not.

choose amazon-dynamodb for

  • +Serverless application backends on Lambda
  • +User profiles, sessions and shopping carts
  • +High-traffic e-commerce and gaming state
  • +IoT device state and metadata

best at · OLTP, Sessions, Cache

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

Amazon DynamoDBAWS's serverless key-value and document store with single-digit-millisecond reads at any 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
Key-Value
Type
Managed service
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Amazon Web Services
ScyllaDB Inc.
First release
2012
2015
Latest version
–
2026.3.4 (Oct 2026)
License
ProprietaryProprietary (AWS service)
Source-availableScyllaDB Software License Agreement 1.1
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
63.3
45.9
Rank
#14
#36
GitHub stars
–
15.8K
Stack Overflow questions
14.3K
381
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Massive (Multi-PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Active active
Active active
ACID
Limited
Limited
Consistency
Strong, Eventual
Tunable, Eventual
Schema
Schemaless
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Serverless
Distributed, Multi primary, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
—
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
✓
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS
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
DynamoDB API, PartiQL
CQL, DynamoDB API
Client languages
Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, C#, .NET, Rust, Ruby
Java, Python, Go, Rust, C++, C#, JavaScript, Scala
Best for
OLTP, Sessions, Cache, Metadata
OLTP, Time-series, IoT, Feature store
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Amazon DynamoDB vs ScyllaDB: FAQ

What is the difference between Amazon DynamoDB and ScyllaDB?

Amazon DynamoDB: AWS's serverless key-value and document store with single-digit-millisecond reads at any scale. ScyllaDB: C++ rewrite of Cassandra with shard-per-core design; also speaks the DynamoDB API. Amazon DynamoDB is primarily a key-value database; ScyllaDB is wide-column. Licensing: Amazon DynamoDB is proprietary (Proprietary (AWS service)); ScyllaDB is source-available (ScyllaDB Software License Agreement 1.1). Only Amazon DynamoDB has transactions, triggers, time travel.

When should I choose Amazon DynamoDB over ScyllaDB?

Choose Amazon DynamoDB for serverless application backends on Lambda; user profiles, sessions and shopping carts; and high-traffic e-commerce and gaming state. Choose ScyllaDB for chat and messaging history at very high volume; low-latency feature stores for ML; and cassandra or DynamoDB migration targets.

Is Amazon DynamoDB or ScyllaDB more popular?

Amazon DynamoDB ranks #14 on the WhichDB Score (63.3/100) and ScyllaDB ranks #36 (45.9/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Amazon DynamoDB and ScyllaDB open source?

No. Amazon DynamoDB is proprietary, closed-source software. 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.