Cassandra vs Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop comparison

Apache and Cloudera are both solutions in the NoSQL Databases category. Apache is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.1, while Cloudera is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.4. Apache holds a 8.0% mindshare in ND, compared to Cloudera’s 3.3% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Apache users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Cloudera users who would recommend it.

Cassandra

Read 25 Cassandra reviews

2,135 Views
1,430 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Cloudera Distribution for H...

Read 51 Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop reviews

1,935 Views
581 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Cassandra

Cloudera Distribution for H...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 7, 2025

Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop and Cassandra compete in the data management solutions category. Cloudera seems to have the upper hand in centralized management and comprehensive data governance, compared to Cassandra's strengths in scalability and high availability.

Features: Cloudera offers features like Impala for fast data processing, Sentry for enhanced security, and Cloudera Manager for centralized administration. Cassandra provides a NoSQL schema, linear scalability, and automated replication, making it suitable for large-scale data handling and quick real-time analytics.

Room for Improvement: Cloudera faces challenges with version stability, complex setup processes, and costs due to its licensing model. Integration with Spark and improved API documentation are areas needing enhancement. Cassandra could benefit from better query optimization and user-friendly documentation. It lacks built-in aggregation functions requiring third-party tools for complex queries.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cloudera is primarily deployed on-premises but supports cloud options; customer service feedback is mixed, with some praising the support and others noting inconsistency. Cassandra offers flexible deployment across cloud and on-premises setups and receives positive feedback for its supportive community and effective forums.

Pricing and ROI: Cloudera's licensing model can be cost-prohibitive for smaller companies, though larger enterprises find value in its features despite the high costs. Cassandra, as an open-source solution, offers economical data management with lowered operational costs, making it attractive for cost-conscious enterprises seeking high ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Cassandra vs. Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cassandra vs. Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop

December 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

Cassandra

Ranking in NoSQL Databases

7th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Vector Databases (14th)

Cloudera Distribution for H...

Ranking in NoSQL Databases

9th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Hadoop (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the NoSQL Databases category, the mindshare of Cassandra is 8.0%, down from 12.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop is 3.3%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

NoSQL Databases Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cassandra	8.0%
Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop	3.3%
Other	88.7%

NoSQL Databases

Featured Reviews

Monirul Islam Khan

Head, Data Integration & Management at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees

Has maintained secure document storage and efficient data distribution with peer-to-peer architecture

The functions or features in Cassandra that I have found most valuable are that it is a distributed system similar to Mongo. It's good enough for comparison with another SQL database, so it's smooth and organized for distributed database system. The peer-to-peer architecture in Cassandra is helpful for network decentralization, and I have already introduced that feature. Cassandra features in peer-to-peer as well as another monitoring, so basically, it's good enough for our service. The tunable consistency level in Cassandra is good, and we are using that feature already. In terms of built-in caching and lightweight transactions in Cassandra, the transaction level is good, and it's optimized, so there are no more issues in that database. Based on my experience, Cassandra is good for document management system, as well as distributed database system, and the automatic recovery process is there. Additionally, the database monitoring system or auditing system is well-comparable with other database systems, so we are actually happy to be using this Cassandra database.

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Rok Dolinsek

Manager, Bussines Development & Co Owner at Troia d.o.o.

Enables on-premise implementation with powerful data processing capabilities

This is the only solution that is possible to install on-premise. Cloudera provides a hybrid solution that combines compute on cloud or on-premises. It includes all machine learning algorithms in the Spark machine learning library. All functionalities needed for a big data platform and ETL are on the platform, eliminating the need for other tools. It is scalable, ready for vertical scaling, and very powerful, offering numerous functionalities and configurations for generative AI.

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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 use of Cassandra in real-time data analytics has been pivotal for our e-commerce platform. As our platform operates 24/7, providing services to sellers and customers alike, the need for real-time updates is paramount."

"Some of the valued features of this solution are it has good performance and failover."

"Its retrieval is similar to an RDBMS, so our team finds it easy to adapt."

"I am satisfied with the performance."

"Cassandra is good. It's better than CouchDB, and we are using it in parallel with CouchDB. Cassandra looks better and is more user-friendly."

"The solution's database capabilities are very good."

"Our primary use case for the solution is testing."

"We can add almost one million columns to the solution."

More Cassandra pros

"We're now able to store large volumes of data through Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop. We're able to push large volumes of data to the platform, and that used to be a challenge, especially when storing a terabyte of information. This is the area where Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop improved the organization."

"The search function is the most valuable aspect of the solution."

"I don't see any performance issues."

"This is the only solution that is possible to install on-premise."

"We experienced many issues when we started working with Hadoop 3.0 in the Cloudera 6.0 version, so there are a lot of things that need to improve. I believe they are working on that."

"The product provides better data processing features than other tools."

"The file system is a valuable feature."

"The tool's most interesting features are the distributed file system and unstructured data processing capability. Because we have a lot of unstructured data, like XML and social media logs, these features make it more valuable than the usual data warehousing solutions."

More Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop pros

Cons

"Fine-tuning was a bit of a challenge."

"The solution is not easy to use because it is a big database and you have to learn the interface. This is the case though in most of these solutions."

"Interface is not user friendly."

"It can be difficult to analyze what's going on inside of the database relative to other databases. It can also be difficult to troubleshoot sometimes."

"Cassandra could be more user-friendly like MongoDB."

"Some issues arise from our vendors like Apache slowness and distribution or load balancing from HAProxy, which should better handle consumption for high-level concurrency."

"Depending upon our schema, we can't make ORDER BY or GROUP BY clauses in the product."

"There could be more integration, and it could be more user-friendly."

More Cassandra cons

"The tool doesn't support reporting, and relational databases are still the major source of reporting data. Apache Iceberg will be launched soon within the Cloudera cluster for analytical purposes. The Cloudera Machine Learning aspect could be tuned and enhanced to enable us to host some predictive analytics machine learning and AI use cases."

"If they could support modifying the data more easily than the current implementation, it would be beneficial."

"The solution is not fit for on-premise distributions."

"The one thing that we struggled with predominately was support. Because it was relatively new, support was always a big issue and I think it's still a bit of an ongoing concern with the team currently managing it."

"The security of this solution could be improved. There should also be a way to basically have a blockchain enabled storage with the HDFS."

"The user infrastructure and user interface needs to be improved, as well as the performance. The GUI needs to be better."

"It could be faster and more user-friendly."

"The solution does not support multiple languages very well and this means users need to create work-arounds to implement some solutions."

More Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay for a license."

"There are licensing fees that must be paid, but I'm not sure if they are paid monthly or yearly."

"I don't have the specific numbers on pricing, but it was fairly priced."

"I use the tool's open-source version."

"We are using the open-source version of Cassandra, the solution is free."

"Cassandra is a free open source solution, but there is a commercial version available called DataStax Enterprise."

"I haven't bought a license for this solution. I'm only using the Apache license version."

"The tool is expensive...For the SMB market or customers whose environments are not that complex and do not have multiple systems running, Cloudera might not be a good option."

"The pricing must be improved."

"Cloudera requires a license to use."

"The tool is not expensive."

"I wouldn't recommend CDH to others because of its high cost."

"It is an expensive product."

"Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop is expensive, with support costs involved."

More Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

23%

Computer Software Company

Healthcare Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	14

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	31

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cassandra?

The use of Cassandra in real-time data analytics has been pivotal for our e-commerce platform. As our platform operates 24/7, providing services to sellers and customers alike, the need for real-ti...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cassandra?

The pricing for Cassandra is a little bit high, so it would be better for our community services if they consider community pricing for any non-profit organization like an NGO or other things. It w...

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What needs improvement with Cassandra?

Regarding areas of improvement for Cassandra, currently, we are not facing significant issues. Some issues arise from our vendors like Apache slowness and distribution or load balancing from HAProx...

See all answers

What do you like most about Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop?

The tool can be deployed using different container technologies, which makes it very scalable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop?

The price for Cloudera is average, yet it is very good compared to other solutions. It can be deployed on-premises, unlike competitors' cloud-only solutions.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop?

If they could support modifying the data more easily than the current implementation, it would be beneficial.

See all answers

Comparisons

MongoDB Enterprise Advanced vs Cassandra

Compared 12% of the time

ClickHouse vs Cassandra

Compared 12% of the time

Couchbase Enterprise vs Cassandra

Compared 8% of the time

InfluxDB vs Cassandra

Compared 5% of the time

PostgreSQL vs Cassandra

Compared 2% of the time

More Cassandra Competitors

HPE Data Fabric vs Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop

Compared 15% of the time

MongoDB Enterprise Advanced vs Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop

Compared 11% of the time

Amazon EMR vs Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop

Compared 11% of the time

Couchbase Enterprise vs Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop

Compared 9% of the time

Apache HBase vs Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop

Compared 5% of the time

More Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cassandra

January 2026

Download Cassandra product report

Buyer's Guide

Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop

January 2026

Download Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop product report

Overview

Cassandra is a distributed and scalable database management system used for real-time data processing.

It is highly valued for its ability to handle large amounts of data, scalability, high availability, fault tolerance, and flexible data model.

It is commonly used in finance, e-commerce, and social media industries.

Apache

Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop is the world's most complete, tested, and popular distribution of Apache Hadoop and related projects. CDH is 100% Apache-licensed open source and is the only Hadoop solution to offer unified batch processing, interactive SQL, and interactive search, and role-based access controls. More enterprises have downloaded CDH than all other such distributions combined.

Cloudera

Sample Customers

1. Apple 2. Netflix 3. Facebook 4. Instagram 5. Twitter 6. eBay 7. Spotify 8. Uber 9. Airbnb 10. Adobe 11. Cisco 12. IBM 13. Microsoft 14. Yahoo 15. Reddit 16. Pinterest 17. Salesforce 18. LinkedIn 19. Hulu 20. Airbnb 21. Walmart 22. Target 23. Sony 24. Intel 25. Cisco 26. HP 27. Oracle 28. SAP 29. GE 30. Siemens 31. Volkswagen 32. Toyota

37signals, Adconion,adgooroo, Aggregate Knowledge, AMD, Apollo Group, Blackberry, Box, BT, CSC

Buyer's Guide

Cassandra vs. Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop

December 2025

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