About Google Cloud Bigtable
Bigtable is a managed wide-column NoSQL database on Google Cloud. Google describes it as compatible with HBase and Cassandra, with very low latency and the ability to scale to large datasets, which makes it suitable for both operational and analytical workloads.
As a managed service, Google handles the underlying infrastructure, so teams do not run or patch database clusters themselves. Typical uses for a wide-column store like Bigtable include time series data, user activity, recommendation data and other high-throughput applications that read and write large volumes of keyed records.
Bigtable is a proprietary Google Cloud service and cannot be self-hosted. Pricing is part of Google Cloud's pricing model, described on the Google Cloud pricing pages.
Key features
- Wide-column NoSQL storage
- HBase and Cassandra compatibility
- Low-latency reads and writes
- Scales to very large datasets
- Fully managed by Google Cloud
Good fit for
- →Time series and event data at scale
- →Moving HBase workloads to a managed service
- Tags
- nosql
- wide-column
- google-cloud
- hbase
- cassandra
- managed-database
- scalable
Google Cloud Bigtable: questions and answers
- What is Google Cloud Bigtable used for?
- Google Cloud Bigtable is a managed wide-column NoSQL database on Google Cloud, compatible with HBase and Cassandra, for large analytical and operational workloads. It is a good fit for time series and event data at scale, and moving HBase workloads to a managed service.
- How much does Google Cloud Bigtable cost?
- Google Cloud Bigtable is a paid product with no free plan.
- Is Google Cloud Bigtable open source?
- No. Google Cloud Bigtable is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Google Cloud Bigtable include Apache Cassandra, Apache HBase and ScyllaDB.
- What are some alternatives to Google Cloud Bigtable?
- Google Cloud Bigtable competes with Amazon DynamoDB, Azure Cosmos DB and Google Cloud Firestore. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Google Cloud Bigtable alternatives.
Open-source alternatives to Google Cloud Bigtable
See all
Apache Cassandra
Databases
Open source transactional distributed database. Linear scalability and proven fault-tolera
Apache-2.0vs Amazon DynamoDB★ 10k
Apache HBase
Databases
Apache HBase
Apache-2.0vs Google Cloud Bigtable★ 5.6k
ScyllaDB
Databases
NoSQL data store using the Seastar framework, compatible with Apache Cassandra and Amazon
OSSvs Amazon DynamoDB★ 16k
Redis
Databases
For developers, who are building real-time data-driven applications, Redis is the preferre
OSSvs Upstash★ 77k
Dragonfly
Databases
A modern replacement for Redis and Memcached
OSSvs Upstash★ 32k
MongoDB
Databases
The MongoDB Database
OSSvs Amazon DynamoDB★ 29k
SaaS alternatives to Google Cloud Bigtable
See all
Amazon DynamoDB
Databases
Serverless key-value and document database from AWS
SaaS
Azure Cosmos DB
Databases
Microsoft globally distributed multi-model NoSQL database
SaaS
Google Cloud Firestore
Databases
Serverless NoSQL document database with real-time sync for web and mobile apps
SaaS
Aerospike
Databases
Real-time NoSQL database for low-latency, high-throughput applications
SaaS
DataStax Astra DB
Databases
Cassandra-based serverless database with vector search for AI applications
SaaS
Amazon Keyspaces
Databases
Serverless managed database on AWS compatible with Apache Cassandra
SaaS

