head to head · open source
etcd vs cassandra
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars, 10,552 forks, 351 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cassandra has 10,132 stars, 4,072 forks, 529 open issues and last shipped yesterday. etcd leads on adoption by 418% (52,441 vs 10,132 stars). etcd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; cassandra is written in Java under Apache-2.0. etcd has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, cassandra 40%. cassandra was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (database), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| etcd | cassandra | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 10K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 4.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick etcd if
- You weight community size — 52K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cassandra if
- You want the cassandra feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and cassandra fits your workflow better
About etcd
etcd Note : The main branch may be in an unstable or even broken state during development. For stable versions, see [releases][github release]. etcd is a distributed reliable key value store for the most critical data of a distributed system, with a focus on being: Simple : well defined, user facing API (gRPC) Secure : automatic TLS with optional client cert authentication Fast : benchmarked 10,000 writes/sec Reliable : properly distributed using Raft etcd is written in Go and uses the [Raft][] consensus algorithm to manage a highly available replicated log. etcd is used in production by many companies, and the…
About cassandra
image: link= image: Status, link= image: Downloads, link= image: Pulls, link= image: link= image: link= image: link= image: link= Apache Cassandra Apache Cassandra is a highly scalable partitioned row store. Rows are organized into tables with a required primary key. means that Cassandra can distribute your data across multiple machines in an application transparent matter. Cassandra will automatically repartition as machines are added and removed from the cluster. store] means that like relational databases, Cassandra organizes data by rows and columns. The Cassandra Query Language (CQL) is a close relative of…
read the full cassandra overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is etcd or cassandra more popular?
etcd has 52,441 GitHub stars and cassandra has 10,132. etcd has the larger community by that measure.
Are etcd and cassandra free?
Both are open source. etcd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and cassandra under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between etcd and cassandra?
etcd is written in Go and cassandra in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, etcd or cassandra?
Choose etcd if you want the larger community (52,441 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose cassandra if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.