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Databases · head to head

ScyllaDB vs Teradata

ScyllaDB logo

ScyllaDB

Databases

The real-time big data database compatible with Cassandra

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Teradata logo

Teradata

Databases

Long-established enterprise MPP data warehouse, rebranded in 2026 as the Autonomous Knowledge Platform, sold for cloud, on-premises and hybrid.

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only ScyllaDB has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: ScyllaDB enterprise tier requires custom quote from sales; Teradata licensing is negotiated rather than published, so there is no way to compare total cost against a consumption-priced warehouse without entering a sales cycle, and the comparison is only ever as good as the workload profile you gave them.
  • They diverge on capability: ScyllaDB covers Cassandra Compatible, Teradata covers Massively parallel architecture.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ScyllaDB and Teradata actually diverge.

Attributes where ScyllaDB and Teradata differ
AttributeScyllaDBTeradata
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelusage-basedquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, WebWeb
Founded2015Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Databases).

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 ScyllaDB

  • Cassandra Compatible
  • DynamoDB Compatible
  • 10x Throughput
  • Low Latency
  • Auto-tuning
  • Lightweight Transactions
  • Change Data Capture
  • Cassandra Drivers

Only in Teradata

  • Massively parallel architecture
  • Workload management
  • Mature cost-based optimiser
  • Cloud, on-premises and hybrid
  • Bulk load utilities
  • BTEQ scripting
  • In-database analytics
  • Enterprise Vector Store

What people use each for

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

ScyllaDB

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

Teradata

  • A large existing Teradata estate where the practical question is which workloads to migrate first rather than whether to adoptnot ScyllaDB
  • High-concurrency mixed workloads where hundreds of analysts and scheduled jobs contend and predictable prioritisation matters more than peak single-query speednot ScyllaDB
  • Regulated reporting where the same query must produce the same answer for years and the audit trail of the existing implementation has valuenot ScyllaDB
  • Hybrid deployments where regulatory or data-residency rules keep a portion of the warehouse on-premises while the rest moves to cloudnot ScyllaDB

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

ScyllaDB

  • Enterprise tier requires custom quote from sales
  • Pricing varies by cloud provider, storage, and instance configuration
  • Contracts available but commitment required for subscription discounts

Teradata

  • Licensing is negotiated rather than published, so there is no way to compare total cost against a consumption-priced warehouse without entering a sales cycle, and the comparison is only ever as good as the workload profile you gave them.
  • The SQL dialect and the loading utilities are Teradata-specific, so every stored procedure, macro and BTEQ script written against the platform is migration debt that grows with each release you ship.
  • Primary index choice determines data distribution, and a poorly chosen index concentrates rows on a few processing units, which surfaces as one slow query rather than an error and needs a specialist to diagnose.
  • The skills market is contracting, so DBA and workload-management expertise is expensive to hire, hard to replace when someone retires, and increasingly hard to buy from consultancies whose own bench has moved to cloud warehouses.
  • The 2026 renaming of Vantage, VantageCloud, ClearScape and QueryGrid split documentation, runbooks and vendor material across two naming systems, so searching for an error or a configuration now returns results for a product that is described under a different name.

Pricing, plan by plan

ScyllaDB

Free
  • ScyllaDB Cloud Standard$null/variable
    • Usage-based billing: vCPU, RAM, NVMe SSD storage
    • 2-hour P1 support response time
    • 99.9% uptime SLA
  • ScyllaDB Cloud Professional$null/variable
    • Enterprise-grade scalability
    • 1-hour P1 support response
    • Enhanced features included
  • ScyllaDB Cloud Premium$null/variable
    • Custom security and networking
    • 15-minute P1 support response
    • 99.99% uptime SLA
  • ScyllaDB Enterprise$null/quote
    • Self-managed deployment
    • On-premise or private cloud
    • Custom quote required

Teradata

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Teradata review.

Which should you pick?

Choose ScyllaDB if

  • You need cassandra compatible.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web.
  • You also want dynamodb compatible.
ScyllaDB review

Choose Teradata if

  • You need massively parallel architecture.
  • You also want workload management.
Teradata review

Questions people ask

Is ScyllaDB or Teradata better?
Neither clearly leads. ScyllaDB starts at Free and Teradata at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ScyllaDB or Teradata?
ScyllaDB has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for ScyllaDB and On request for Teradata.
Does ScyllaDB or Teradata run on more platforms?
ScyllaDB runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web. Teradata runs on Web.
Can I use ScyllaDB for free?
Yes. ScyllaDB has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Teradata starts at On request.
What is ScyllaDB best used for?
ScyllaDB 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 Teradata is typically brought in for.
What can ScyllaDB do that Teradata cannot?
ScyllaDB covers Cassandra Compatible, DynamoDB Compatible, 10x Throughput, Low Latency. Teradata covers Massively parallel architecture, Workload management, Mature cost-based optimiser, Cloud, on-premises and hybrid.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ScyllaDB: How is ScyllaDB Cloud pricing calculated?

ScyllaDB Cloud uses transparent, resource-based billing based on instance type (vCPU and RAM), NVMe SSD storage, service plan tier, deployment model, and cloud provider costs.

Source
Teradata: Is Teradata only on-premises?

No. It is sold for cloud, on-premises and hybrid deployment, and the cloud offering is now branded Teradata Cloud. A large part of the installed base is still on-premises or hybrid.

ScyllaDB: Does ScyllaDB offer a free trial?

ScyllaDB offers a 30-day developer trial on smaller instances and a 48-hour production evaluation trial with full-grade instances.

Source
Teradata: How does it compare to Snowflake or BigQuery?

On raw elasticity and cost transparency the cloud warehouses win. On mixed-workload concurrency management against a large existing query estate Teradata is still hard to replace, which is why migrations off it take years rather than quarters.

ScyllaDB: What cost savings are available for long-term ScyllaDB commitments?

ScyllaDB subscription contracts provide up to 70% or more in savings compared to on-demand hourly billing. 1-year and 3-year contract options are available.

Source
Teradata: Why do organisations stay on it?

Because the cost of leaving is the estate, not the data. Thousands of procedures, scripts and extracts written in a proprietary dialect have to be rewritten and revalidated, and in regulated reporting that revalidation is the expensive part.

ScyllaDB: How much cheaper is ScyllaDB than DynamoDB?

Unlike DynamoDB which charges per read/write unit, ScyllaDB charges based on resource usage only, potentially delivering 50% or greater cost reduction for high-throughput workloads.

Source
Teradata: What changed in the 2026 rebrand?

Vantage became the Autonomous Knowledge Platform, VantageCloud became Teradata Cloud, ClearScape Analytics became AI Studio and QueryGrid became Fabric. The underlying products are continuous with what came before.

Teradata: Can it handle AI and vector workloads?

It has added an Enterprise Vector Store and in-database analytics branded AI Studio. Whether that is preferable to moving the data into a purpose-built vector store depends on how much of your data already lives in the warehouse.

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