Apache HBase vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB comparison

Apache and Microsoft are both solutions in the NoSQL Databases category. Apache is ranked #10 with an average rating of 7.3, while Microsoft is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3. Apache holds a 5.3% mindshare in ND, compared to Microsoft’s 6.1% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of Apache users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Apache HBase

Read 4 Apache HBase reviews

862 Views
828 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Read 102 Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB reviews

7,774 Views
1,555 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Apache HBase

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 2025

Apache HBase and Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB are both powerful database solutions competing in the database category. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB has the upper hand due to its superior scalability and global distribution capabilities, making it a preferred choice for enterprises seeking robust features.

Features: Apache HBase can handle large datasets with low-latency reads and writes. It supports strong consistency and integrates with Hadoop ecosystems. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB provides multi-model data support, global distribution, and automatic scaling, offering strong multi-region consistency and operational ease.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Apache HBase requires significant expertise for on-premise setup, often resulting in complex deployments. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB simplifies deployment with a fully managed cloud service, reducing operational overhead. Its customer service benefits from comprehensive Azure support, making it more accessible for businesses needing extensive assistance.

Pricing and ROI: Apache HBase typically has lower initial setup costs due to its open-source nature, providing cost-saving opportunities for businesses with existing infrastructure. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB generally incurs higher costs due to its cloud-based model but provides significant ROI through elastic scaling and seamless global operations, making it favorable for businesses prioritizing global presence and flexibility.

To learn more, read our detailed Apache HBase vs. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Apache HBase vs. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

September 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Apache HBase

Ranking in NoSQL Databases

10th

Average Rating

7.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Ranking in NoSQL Databases

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

102

Ranking in other categories

Database as a Service (DBaaS) (4th), Managed NoSQL Databases (1st), Vector Databases (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the NoSQL Databases category, the mindshare of Apache HBase is 5.3%, up from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is 6.1%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

NoSQL Databases Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB	6.1%
Apache HBase	5.3%
Other	88.6%

NoSQL Databases

Featured Reviews

Ephrem Sisay

DevOps Engineer (M-PESA) at Safaricom Ethiopia plc

In-memory processing and integration capabilities have optimized query performance

Apache HBase could be improved by optimizing the integration with Apache Phoenix; sometimes the abstraction and lookup jobs lead to issues when there are too many requests. Resource optimization isn't always as successful as it should be, which can cause some query and lookup jobs to fail. For instance, during eligibility checks for credit, if there are many requests on the database, it might fail, and after such a failure, it doesn't allow us to run queries from the moment they stop. If there could be optimization to require less resource usage and allow those jobs and queries to pick up from where they stopped, that would be a great addition to the tool.

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MichaelJohn

Director | Data & AI at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Very efficient for application-facing scenarios

There are several areas for improvement. Firstly, having a local development emulator or simulator for Azure Cosmos DB would be beneficial. It would be very handy to have a Docker container that developers can use locally. Although, I know there is a free tier and so on and so forth, having a local environment would be nice. For example, SQL Server is very portable. You can even install it on your machine. That is the number one thing that is missing in Azure Cosmos DB. The second improvement area is the IDE of choice. That means how you interact with Azure Cosmos DB. For example, with SQL Server, you have SQL Server Management Studio. I know there is a little bit of support for Azure Cosmos DB in Azure Data Studio, but it is not heavily advertised or it does not feel like first-class citizen support. Developer experience or developer tooling is missing in terms of interacting with the database. Better developer tools or an IDE for interacting with Azure Cosmos DB would enhance the developer experience. Lastly, there is some mixed messaging about what Azure Cosmos DB is, given its multiple APIs. There are so many Azure Cosmos DB APIs available. There is NoSQL. There are MongoDB, Gremlin, and others. There is still some mixed messaging for others who are new to Azure Cosmos DB about what Azure Cosmos DB is. Is this like MongoDB, but then there is also MongoDB in Azure Cosmos DB? I know it well, and I know that the default one is just NoSQL, but others I have interacted with over the last ten years or so get confused.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The in-memory processing lets us optimize our queries and helps us run concurrent queries and other jobs such as the lookup jobs we always use Apache HBase for."

"The most valuable part is the column family structure."

"Apache HBase is a database used for data storage."

"The best features of Apache HBase include being embedded, making it very fast; when it's linking, it operates with virtually no delay, and all of the queries are very fast too due to some internal optimization which makes it very sufficient and efficient."

"Cosmos is a PaaS, so you don't need to worry about infrastructure and hosting. It has various APIs that allow it to integrate with other solutions. For example, we are using a MongoDB-compatible API for customers, which makes it easier for developers on the team who previously used MongoDB or are accustomed to the old document storage paradigm."

"Latency and availability are incredible."

"Cosmos is preferred because of its speed, robustness, and utilization. We have all the merchandising information in Cosmos DB, which provides concrete and optimized data when searching for new products on the site. It is faster than other relational databases."

"The ability to scale automatically is very valuable."

"The best feature is the velocity to make a query."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is scalable with multiple master files."

"rate Azure support nine out of 10. They respond quickly and will help you manage costs. However, they mainly give you an overview of the issue, so they'll never have an in-depth idea of what you're doing. They aren't the owners of our product, so they don't know much about it, but they can ask you generally: What are you doing? Are you doing too many updates? How can we reduce the cost?"

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is its ability to handle concurrency and consistency."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB pros

Cons

"Apache HBase could be improved by optimizing the integration with Apache Phoenix; sometimes the abstraction and lookup jobs lead to issues when there are too many requests."

"We've seen performance issues."

"Apache HBase could be improved by optimizing the integration with Apache Phoenix; sometimes the abstraction and lookup jobs lead to issues when there are too many requests."

"The setup of Apache HBase needs a lot of time, and the linkage is not the program itself, but the activation and connecting to the NYPD engine always takes considerable time."

"I don't like using Apache HBase to store huge amounts of data because of many performance issues."

"It would be beneficial if Cosmos supported batch and real-time use cases to make the system more seamless."

"The integration with other solutions needs to improve because Cosmos DB's interoperability is lacking in some scenarios. For example, I'm currently implementing Fabric. That involves migrating from environments without apps, processing data and users, and taking them to Fabric."

"The size of the continuation token in Azure Cosmos DB should be static rather than increasing with more data, as it can lead to application crashes."

"I have been a devoted Microsoft fan, but Redis DB's memory caching capabilities are really making progress. Even if Cosmos DB is continuously improving and is quite advanced in the field of internal memory optimization, I would still recommend Redis DB to a customer."

"We encountered an issue with Cosmos DB's recently introduced hierarchical partition feature."

"The query is a little complex. SQL server should have more options. But the query should be better."

"The built-in integration of the solution is tight."

"There are no specific areas I believe need improvement as I am happy with what I am getting currently. However, I am open to new features in future versions, like possibly integrating AI features natively into Cosmos DB. Any improvement would be beneficial."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"This cost model is beneficial because it allows for cost control by limiting resource units (RUs), which is ideal. However, for our needs, we can't engage with their minimum pricing, which ranges from 100 to 1,000 RUs. At the bare minimum, we need to use 4,000 RUs for a customer. I would like to find a way to gain some advantages from the lowest tier, particularly the ability to scale down if necessary. It would be helpful to have more flexibility in cost management at the lower end."

"From a startup point of view, it appears to be expensive. If I were to create my startup, it would not have the pricing appeal compared to the competition, such as Supabase. All those other databases are well-advertised by communities. I know there is a free tier with Azure Cosmos DB. It is just not well advertised."

"It is cost-efficient as long as you understand the right setup to optimize usage. Knowing the data needs of the organization and adjusting the Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB usage accordingly helps save costs, but if you don't know, you could end up spending more than necessary."

"If you are a small organization or startup building from scratch without the Microsoft Startup Founder Club support, it could be expensive."

"Cosmos DB is a PaaS, so there are no upfront costs for infrastructure. There are only subscriptions you pay for Azure and things like that. But it's a PaaS, so it's a subscription service. The license isn't perpetual, and the cost might seem expensive on its face, but you have to look at the upkeep for infrastructure and what you're saving."

"It is cost-effective. They offer two pricing models. One is the serverless model and the other one is the vCore model that allows provisioning the resources as necessary. For our pilot projects, we can utilize the serverless model, monitor the usage, and adjust resources as needed."

"Its price is very good for the basic stuff. When you go to a more complicated use case, especially when you need replication and availability zones, it gets a little costly."

"Cosmos DB is a highly cost-optimized solution when used correctly."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

University

Legal Firm

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	31
Midsize Enterprise	19
Large Enterprise	55

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apache HBase?

Apache HBase is a database used for data storage.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Apache HBase?

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Apache HBase?

I'm working for a corporate that uses Apache HBase for their Big Data platform and I'm a Big Data engineer there. We're using a version of Apache HBase that is compatible with the other Big Data to...

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

The initial setup is simple and straightforward. You can set up a Cosmos DB in a day, even configuring things like availability zones around the world.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

The pricing for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is good, but there is a developer factor to consider. It could be economical or expensive depending on usage. Guidance about query consumption of Request U...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

In terms of improvement for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, while it eliminates the burden of managing database infrastructure, we realized it might not be possible to use various models simultaneously ...

See all answers

Comparisons

MongoDB Enterprise Advanced vs Apache HBase

Compared 22% of the time

Accumulo vs Apache HBase

Compared 21% of the time

ScyllaDB vs Apache HBase

Compared 16% of the time

Redis vs Apache HBase

Compared 9% of the time

Cassandra vs Apache HBase

Compared 7% of the time

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Chroma vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 10% of the time

Pinecone vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 9% of the time

MongoDB Enterprise Advanced vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 7% of the time

Neo4j Graph Database vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 6% of the time

Amazon DynamoDB vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 6% of the time

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

NoSQL Databases

September 2025

Download Apache HBase product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

September 2025

Download Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB product report

Also Known As

HBase

Microsoft Azure DocumentDB, MS Azure Cosmos DB

Overview

Apache HBase is an open-source, distributed, versioned, non-relational database modeled after Google's BigTable. Just as Bigtable leverages the distributed data storage provided by the Google File System, Apache HBase provides Bigtable-like capabilities on top of Hadoop and HDFS.

Apache

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model database service providing scalability, user-friendliness, and seamless integration, suitable for managing large volumes of structured and unstructured data across diverse applications.

Azure Cosmos DB is renowned for its scalability, stability, and ease of integration, offering robust support for multiple data models and APIs. Its capacity for handling unstructured data efficiently and providing real-time analytics makes it ideal for applications requiring high performance and global distribution. With features like automatic failover and integration with Microsoft products, users benefit from cost optimization and secure data handling. Enhancement opportunities include simplifying queries, improving documentation, and expanding backup and analytics functionalities.

What are the most important features of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

Scalability and Autoscaling: Efficiently handles growing data and user demands.
Multi-Model Support: Adapts to different data models seamlessly.
Global Distribution: Provides low-latency access across multiple regions.
Automatic Failover: Ensures high availability and reliability.
Integration with Microsoft Products: Offers seamless connectivity with Azure services.

What benefits should users look for in Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB reviews?

Performance and Speed: Exceptionally fast processing for real-time data analytics.
Cost Optimization: Tools for managing expenses effectively.
Secure Data Handling: Implements strong data security measures.
Flexible Data Ingestion: Supports diverse data ingestion methods.

Azure Cosmos DB is frequently used in sectors like web, mobile, IoT, and analytics. It supports applications as a key-value store, processes real-time data, and enables global scalability with low-latency access. Its big data management capabilities and integration with Azure services enhance its utility across industries.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Bloomberg, Wells Fargo, Apple, Capital One, NVIDIA

TomTom, KPMG Australia, Bosch, ASOS, Mercedes Benz, NBA, Zero Friction, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, Kinectify

Buyer's Guide

Apache HBase vs. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

September 2025

Free Report: Apache HBase vs. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

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