Software · head to head
RavenDB vs DataStax
The short version
- Each has a real cost: RavenDB the free Developer licence bars commercial use and expires every 6 months, requiring renewal; DataStax dataStax's own Astra DB documentation states the Enterprise plan is an annual, contract-based plan with negotiated pricing, meaning list prices are not published for that tier
- They diverge on capability: RavenDB covers ACID Transactions, DataStax covers Cassandra Compatible.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which RavenDB and DataStax actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown), founded (2010).
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 RavenDB
- ACID Transactions
- Auto-indexing
- Full-text Search
- Graph Queries
- Distributed Counters
- Time Series
- Document Compression
- .NET
Only in DataStax
- Cassandra Compatible
- Vector Search
- Serverless
- Multi-cloud
- Streaming
- CDC
- GraphQL API
- LangChain
Both cover
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
RavenDB
- Running a distributed document database with ACID transactionsnot DataStax
- Self hosting a multi node database cluster on your own hardwarenot DataStax
- Replicating operational data out to analytics systems through ETLnot DataStax
DataStax
- Real-time applicationsnot RavenDB
- Content managementnot RavenDB
- User profilesnot RavenDB
- Mobile backendsnot RavenDB
- Cachingnot RavenDB
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
RavenDB
- The free Developer licence bars commercial use and expires every 6 months, requiring renewal
- The free Community licence caps a customer at 60 cores and forces you to stay on the latest major version
- The Professional licence is limited to a single database, a 5 node cluster, 40 cores and 240 GB RAM
- Sharding across nodes, ETL to OLAP, Elasticsearch and Kafka, and data archival are Enterprise only
- Enterprise and AI licence pricing is contact us only with no published rate
DataStax
- DataStax's own Astra DB documentation states the Enterprise plan is an annual, contract-based plan with negotiated pricing, meaning list prices are not published for that tier
- DataStax's Astra DB documentation directs Standard plan customers to IBM's watsonx.data pricing for exact consumption-based rates following the DataStax/IBM deal, rather than publishing them on DataStax's own site
Pricing, plan by plan
RavenDB
Free- CommunityFree
- 3 cores
- 6GB RAM
- Community support
- Professional$499/year
- Production use
- Professional support
- Advanced features
DataStax
Free- FreeFree
- 5GB storage
- 40M read/write ops
- Vector search
- Pay As You GoFree
- Usage-based pricing
- Multi-region
- Enterprise support
Which should you pick?
Choose RavenDB if
- You need acid transactions.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web.
- You also want auto-indexing.
Choose DataStax if
- You need cassandra compatible.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp.
- You also want vector search.
Questions people ask
- Is RavenDB or DataStax better?
- Neither clearly leads. RavenDB starts at Free and DataStax at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, RavenDB or DataStax?
- RavenDB starts at Free and DataStax at Free.
- Does RavenDB or DataStax run on more platforms?
- RavenDB runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web. DataStax runs on Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp.
- Can I use RavenDB for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is RavenDB best used for?
- RavenDB is most often used for running a distributed document database with acid transactions, self hosting a multi node database cluster on your own hardware, replicating operational data out to analytics systems through etl. Of those, running a distributed document database with acid transactions and self hosting a multi node database cluster on your own hardware are not what DataStax is typically brought in for.
- What can RavenDB do that DataStax cannot?
- RavenDB covers ACID Transactions, Auto-indexing, Full-text Search, Graph Queries. DataStax covers Cassandra Compatible, Vector Search, Serverless, Multi-cloud. Both handle Web support.