Software · head to head
Cassandra vs Dgraph
Cassandra
Software
Manage massive amounts of data with linear scalability
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Cassandra no support for joins across tables; Dgraph the GitHub repository (dgraph-io/dgraph) is licensed Apache 2.0 with no paid tier, cloud offering, or enterprise edition mentioned anywhere in the README
- They diverge on capability: Cassandra covers Linear Scalability, Dgraph covers Native GraphQL.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Cassandra and Dgraph actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Cassandra
- Linear Scalability
- Fault Tolerance
- Multi-datacenter Replication
- Tunable Consistency
- CQL Query Language
- No Single Point of Failure
- DataStax
- Apache Spark
Only in Dgraph
- Native GraphQL
- ACID Transactions
- GraphQL Subscriptions
- Full-text Search
- Geolocation Queries
- Horizontal Scaling
- GraphQL
- Ratel UI
Both cover
- Distributed Architecture
- Linux support
- Mac support
- Docker support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Cassandra
- Real-time applicationsnot Dgraph
- Content managementnot Dgraph
- User profilesnot Dgraph
- Mobile backendsnot Dgraph
- Cachingnot Dgraph
Dgraph
- Knowledge graphsnot Cassandra
- Fraud detectionnot Cassandra
- Recommendation enginesnot Cassandra
- Network analysisnot Cassandra
- Master data managementnot Cassandra
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Cassandra
- No support for joins across tables
- No ACID transactions across multiple rows
- Data model must be designed around query patterns upfront, making schema evolution difficult
- Partition key misconfigurations can cause uneven data distribution and hotspots that degrade performance
Dgraph
- The GitHub repository (dgraph-io/dgraph) is licensed Apache 2.0 with no paid tier, cloud offering, or enterprise edition mentioned anywhere in the README
Pricing, plan by plan
Cassandra
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Cassandra review.
Dgraph
Free- CommunityFree
- Native GraphQL
- Graph queries
- Full-text search
- Cloud$39/month
- Managed service
- Auto-scaling
- Enterprise support
Which should you pick?
Choose Cassandra if
- You need linear scalability.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes.
- You also want fault tolerance.
Choose Dgraph if
- You need native graphql.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Mac, Docker, Web.
- You also want acid transactions.
Questions people ask
- Is Cassandra or Dgraph better?
- Neither clearly leads. Cassandra starts at Free and Dgraph at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Cassandra or Dgraph?
- Cassandra starts at Free and Dgraph at Free.
- Does Cassandra or Dgraph run on more platforms?
- Cassandra runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes. Dgraph runs on Linux, Mac, Docker, Web.
- Can I use Cassandra for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Cassandra best used for?
- Cassandra is most often used for real-time applications, content management, user profiles, mobile backends. Of those, real-time applications and content management are not what Dgraph is typically brought in for.
- What can Cassandra do that Dgraph cannot?
- Cassandra covers Linear Scalability, Fault Tolerance, Multi-datacenter Replication, Tunable Consistency. Dgraph covers Native GraphQL, ACID Transactions, GraphQL Subscriptions, Full-text Search. Both handle Distributed Architecture, Linux support, Mac support, Docker support.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Cassandra: Does Cassandra support joins between tables?
No. Cassandra does not support joins or foreign keys. The data model requires denormalization, meaning data must be duplicated across tables to support different query patterns.
SourceCassandra: Does Cassandra offer ACID transactions?
No. Cassandra provides only row-level atomicity and isolation, not full ACID transactions across multiple rows or tables. It uses lightweight transactions via Paxos for per-row compare-and-set operations.
SourceCassandra: What programming languages can connect to Cassandra?
Cassandra supports official drivers for multiple languages including Python, Java, Node.js, and Go, allowing applications to communicate via the native Cassandra protocol.
SourceCassandra: Can I deploy Cassandra in the cloud?
Yes. Cassandra can run on any cloud platform (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure) via Docker, virtual machines, or managed services like DataStax Astra DB, which provides a fully managed DBaaS option.
SourceCassandra: Does Cassandra have a free option?
The open source Apache Cassandra is free. DataStax also offers Astra DB with a free tier providing up to 25GB storage and 25 million read/write operations per month.
Source