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Apache HBase vs Google Cloud Bigtable

Apache HBase: Hadoop's Bigtable clone: strongly consistent wide-column tables on top of HDFS. Google Cloud Bigtable: Google's managed wide-column store, the original Bigtable, with HBase API and SQL access.

key differences

  • Licensing: Apache HBase is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0); Google Cloud Bigtable is proprietary (Proprietary (Google Cloud service)).
  • Only Apache HBase has triggers, stored procedures, online schema changes.
  • Only Google Cloud Bigtable has change data capture, streaming ingest.

choose apache-hbase for

  • +Large sparse tables within an existing Hadoop cluster
  • +Time-series and metrics backends (OpenTSDB)
  • +Random read/write access to batch-processed data
  • +Message and event history stores

best at · OLTP, Time-series, Metadata

choose google-cloud-bigtable for

  • +Time-series and IoT telemetry
  • +Ad-tech user profiles and bidding data
  • +ML feature serving
  • +Financial market data

best at · OLTP, Time-series, IoT

Apache HBaseHadoop's Bigtable clone: strongly consistent wide-column tables on top of HDFS.
Google Cloud BigtableGoogle's managed wide-column store, the original Bigtable, with HBase API and SQL access.
overview
Primary model
Wide-Column
Wide-Column
Also supports
Key-Value
Key-Value
Type
Database engine
Managed service
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Apache Software Foundation
Google
First release
2008
2015
Latest version
3.0.0 (Aug 6, 2026)
–
License
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
ProprietaryProprietary (Google Cloud service)
Free tier
✓
—
popularity
WhichDB Score
26.6
33.3
Rank
#110
#66
GitHub stars
5.6K
–
Stack Overflow questions
6.9K
648
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Massive (Multi-PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Read replicas
Active active
ACID
Limited
Limited
Consistency
Strong
Strong, Eventual
Schema
Flexible
Flexible
Architecture
Distributed, Shared storage, Client server
Distributed, Shared storage
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
—
Vendor-managed cloud
—
✓
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Azure, Alibaba Cloud
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
HBase API, HBase shell
Bigtable API, GoogleSQL
Client languages
Java, Python, C++, Go
Java, Go, Python, JavaScript, C++, C#, Ruby, PHP
Best for
OLTP, Time-series, Metadata, IoT
OLTP, Time-series, IoT, Feature store
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Apache HBase vs Google Cloud Bigtable: FAQ

What is the difference between Apache HBase and Google Cloud Bigtable?

Apache HBase: Hadoop's Bigtable clone: strongly consistent wide-column tables on top of HDFS. Google Cloud Bigtable: Google's managed wide-column store, the original Bigtable, with HBase API and SQL access. Licensing: Apache HBase is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0); Google Cloud Bigtable is proprietary (Proprietary (Google Cloud service)). Only Apache HBase has triggers, stored procedures, online schema changes. Only Google Cloud Bigtable has change data capture, streaming ingest.

When should I choose Apache HBase over Google Cloud Bigtable?

Choose Apache HBase for large sparse tables within an existing Hadoop cluster; time-series and metrics backends (OpenTSDB); and random read/write access to batch-processed data. Choose Google Cloud Bigtable for time-series and IoT telemetry; ad-tech user profiles and bidding data; and ML feature serving.

Is Apache HBase or Google Cloud Bigtable more popular?

Google Cloud Bigtable ranks #66 on the WhichDB Score (33.3/100) and Apache HBase ranks #110 (26.6/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Apache HBase and Google Cloud Bigtable open source?

Yes. Apache HBase is open source. License: Apache License 2.0. No. Google Cloud Bigtable is proprietary, closed-source software.