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Cassandra vs TiDB

Cassandra logo

Cassandra

Software

Manage massive amounts of data with linear scalability

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
TiDB logo

TiDB

Software

Open source distributed HTAP database for elastic scale and real-time analytics

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Cassandra no support for joins across tables; TiDB not 100% MySQL-compatible, requiring verification before migration
  • They diverge on capability: Cassandra covers Linear Scalability, TiDB covers MySQL Compatible.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cassandra and TiDB actually diverge.

Attributes where Cassandra and TiDB differ
AttributeCassandraTiDB
Pricing modelUnknownfreemium
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, Docker, KubernetesCloud, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Self-managed
Founded20082015

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
  • Distributed Architecture
  • No Single Point of Failure
  • DataStax

Only in TiDB

  • MySQL Compatible
  • HTAP Workloads
  • Horizontal Scaling
  • Strong Consistency
  • High Availability
  • Real-time Analytics
  • Elastic Scaling
  • MySQL

Both cover

  • Linux support
  • Docker support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Cassandra

  • Real-time applicationsnot TiDB
  • Content managementnot TiDB
  • User profilesnot TiDB
  • Mobile backendsnot TiDB
  • Cachingnot TiDB

TiDB

  • Transaction processingnot Cassandra
  • Data storagenot Cassandra
  • Application backendnot Cassandra
  • Reportingnot Cassandra
  • Data analyticsnot 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

TiDB

  • Not 100% MySQL-compatible, requiring verification before migration

Pricing, plan by plan

Cassandra

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cassandra review.

TiDB

Free
  • ServerlessFree
    • 5GB storage
    • 50M request units
    • Free forever tier
  • Dedicated$250/month
    • Dedicated resources
    • SLA guarantees
    • 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.
Cassandra review

Choose TiDB if

  • You need mysql compatible.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Self-managed.
  • You also want htap workloads.
TiDB review

Questions people ask

Is Cassandra or TiDB better?
Neither clearly leads. Cassandra starts at Free and TiDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cassandra or TiDB?
Cassandra starts at Free and TiDB at Free.
Does Cassandra or TiDB run on more platforms?
Cassandra runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes. TiDB runs on Cloud, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Self-managed.
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 TiDB is typically brought in for.
What can Cassandra do that TiDB cannot?
Cassandra covers Linear Scalability, Fault Tolerance, Multi-datacenter Replication, Tunable Consistency. TiDB covers MySQL Compatible, HTAP Workloads, Horizontal Scaling, Strong Consistency. Both handle Linux 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.

Source
TiDB: Is TiDB MySQL-compatible?

Yes, TiDB speaks the MySQL protocol, so existing MySQL clients, ORMs, and drivers work without modification. However, TiDB is not 100% MySQL-compatible.

Source
Cassandra: 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.

Source
TiDB: How does TiDB scale?

TiDB provides automatic horizontal scaling with compute and storage scaling independently. It splits compute (TiDB servers) from storage (TiKV) to allow adding nodes without data replication.

Source
Cassandra: 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.

Source
TiDB: Does TiDB support analytics workloads?

Yes, TiDB is an HTAP database with TiFlash columnar engine providing analytics capabilities alongside transactional processing on the same data without separate pipelines.

Source
Cassandra: 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.

Source
Cassandra: 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
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