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Apache HBase vs ScyllaDB

Apache HBase: Hadoop's Bigtable clone: strongly consistent wide-column tables on top of HDFS. ScyllaDB: C++ rewrite of Cassandra with shard-per-core design; also speaks the DynamoDB API.

key differences

  • Licensing: Apache HBase is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0); ScyllaDB is source-available (ScyllaDB Software License Agreement 1.1).
  • Only Apache HBase has triggers, stored procedures, time travel.
  • Only ScyllaDB has secondary indexes, json, change data capture, materialized views, 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 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

Apache HBaseHadoop's Bigtable clone: strongly consistent wide-column tables on top of HDFS.
ScyllaDBC++ rewrite of Cassandra with shard-per-core design; also speaks the DynamoDB API.
overview
Primary model
Wide-Column
Wide-Column
Also supports
Key-Value
Key-Value
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Apache Software Foundation
ScyllaDB Inc.
First release
2008
2015
Latest version
3.0.0 (Aug 6, 2026)
2026.3.4 (Oct 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Source-availableScyllaDB Software License Agreement 1.1
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
26.6
45.9
Rank
#110
#36
GitHub stars
5.6K
15.8K
Stack Overflow questions
6.9K
381
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
Tunable, Eventual
Schema
Flexible
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Shared storage, Client server
Distributed, Multi primary, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
—
✓
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Azure, Alibaba Cloud
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
HBase API, HBase shell
CQL, DynamoDB API
Client languages
Java, Python, C++, Go
Java, Python, Go, Rust, C++, C#, JavaScript, Scala
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 ScyllaDB: FAQ

What is the difference between Apache HBase and ScyllaDB?

Apache HBase: Hadoop's Bigtable clone: strongly consistent wide-column tables on top of HDFS. ScyllaDB: C++ rewrite of Cassandra with shard-per-core design; also speaks the DynamoDB API. Licensing: Apache HBase is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0); ScyllaDB is source-available (ScyllaDB Software License Agreement 1.1). Only Apache HBase has triggers, stored procedures, time travel. Only ScyllaDB has secondary indexes, json, change data capture, materialized views, streaming ingest.

When should I choose Apache HBase over ScyllaDB?

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 ScyllaDB for chat and messaging history at very high volume; low-latency feature stores for ML; and cassandra or DynamoDB migration targets.

Is Apache HBase or ScyllaDB more popular?

ScyllaDB ranks #36 on the WhichDB Score (45.9/100) and Apache HBase ranks #110 (26.6/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Apache HBase and ScyllaDB open source?

Yes. Apache HBase is open source. License: Apache License 2.0. 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.