Why 14 Teams Moved on from Apache Cassandra

Apache Cassandra, once a popular choice for handling massive amounts of data due to its horizontal scalability, high availability, and seamless replication, has been phased out by several companies due to various operational challenges. Despite its initial appeal, companies like Comcast, Fanatics, Expedia, Rakuten, and others faced issues such as node sprawl, garbage collection pauses, high latency, and infrastructure costs, prompting them to switch to alternatives like ScyllaDB. These organizations reported significant improvements in performance, cost efficiency, and system reliability after migration. For instance, Comcast experienced a tenfold improvement in latency and a drastic reduction in nodes, while Fanatics and Expedia saw major cost savings and smoother performance. The switch allowed these companies to address the limitations of Cassandra, such as JVM-related issues and unpredictable latencies, providing a more stable and efficient database environment tailored to their specific needs.