Medusa

Free plan LinuxSelf-hosted

What Medusa is

Medusa is a command-line backup system for Apache Cassandra, intended for Linux servers in a self-hosted environment. It can create full or differential backups, back up and restore an individual node, and restore a cluster either in place or to another location. Backup destinations include local storage, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob Storage, AWS S3, and S3-compatible services. Medusa supports clusters configured with single tokens or vnodes, and includes a command to verify backups by checking completion, manifests, file presence, and hashes. File size is checked by default, and MD5 calculations can be enabled. Configuration also covers client SSL settings and S3 server-side encryption with KMS or customer-provided keys. Retention settings can purge backups by age or count. Installation instructions describe deploying Medusa on each Cassandra node through pip or Debian packages, with offline installation steps also covered; a Cassandra Medusa Docker image is linked. It requires Python 3.9 or newer and is released under Apache-2.0. One deployment constraint is that Cassandra installations with multiple data-folder directories are unsupported.

Who it suits

Medusa suits teams running Apache Cassandra on Linux who want command-line backup and restore operations under their own hosting. Its range of storage destinations and cluster restore modes may fit deployments that need to choose where backups reside or recover nodes and clusters in different ways.

What it does well

Supports both full and differential backups.
Offers single-node and cluster-wide restore options.
Stores backups locally or in several cloud and S3-compatible destinations.
Verifies backup completion, manifests, files, and hashes.
Retention can be set by backup age or count.

What to know first

Does not support deployments with multiple Cassandra data-folder directories.
Requires Python 3.9 or newer.
Runs as a self-hosted Linux tool rather than a hosted service.

Limits

The project does not support Cassandra deployments with multiple data-folder directories. Python 3.9 or newer is required.

Plans

Plan	Billed and limits	Price
Medusa for Apache Cassandra	Apache-2.0 licensed · no price listed	Free

As github.com lists them, read 11 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.

Getting started

Install Medusa on each Cassandra node using pip or a Debian package.
Use the documented offline installation steps if needed.
Configure the storage destination and backup settings.
Run Medusa on Linux with Python 3.9 or newer.
Use the linked Cassandra Medusa Docker image as another deployment route.

Verdict

Choose Medusa if you operate Apache Cassandra and need self-managed backups, verification, and cluster restore options across multiple storage destinations. Look elsewhere if your Cassandra deployment uses multiple data-folder directories, which Medusa does not support.

Questions

How much does Medusa cost?

The listed plan is free, and the project is open source under Apache-2.0.

Which database does it support?

Medusa is a backup system for Apache Cassandra.

Where can it store backups?

Supported destinations include local storage, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob Storage, AWS S3, and S3-compatible services.

What kinds of restores does it support?

It supports single-node restores and cluster-wide restores in place or to a remote location.

What are the runtime and deployment requirements?

It is for self-hosted Linux deployments and requires Python 3.9 or newer. Installation instructions cover pip and Debian packages.

Can it verify backups?

Yes. Its verify command checks completion, manifests, file presence, and hashes; MD5 calculations can be enabled.

Facts from Medusa's own pages

Backup and restore: It supports single-node backup and restore, cluster-wide in-place restore, and cluster-wide remote restore. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Backup integrity: The verify command checks backup completion, manifest and file presence, and file hashes; MD5 checks can be enabled. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Backups and restores: It supports single node backups and restores, cluster wide in place and remote restores, and full or differential backups. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Backup storage: Supported storage includes local storage, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob Storage, AWS S3, and compatible S3 services. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Backup types: It supports full and differential backups, and backup purging. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Cluster support: It supports Cassandra clusters using single tokens or vnodes. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Cluster topology: It supports Cassandra clusters using either single tokens or vnodes. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Container image: The project links to a Cassandra Medusa Docker image published as k8ssandra/medusa. · hub.docker.com, 11 Oct 2026
Deployment: Installation documentation describes installing Medusa on each Cassandra node with pip or Debian packages. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Installation: The project documents pip and Debian package installation, including offline installation steps. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Integrity checks: Configuration can enable MD5 calculations during backups and verification; file size is used by default. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
License: The GitHub repository identifies the project license as Apache-2.0. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Notable limit: The project says deployments with multiple Cassandra data-folder directories are not supported. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Notable limitation: The project says it does not support Cassandra deployments with multiple data folder directories. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Purpose: Medusa is a command-line backup and restore system for Apache Cassandra. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Retention controls: Configuration supports purging by backup age or backup count, with zero meaning no purge by that threshold. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Runtime requirement: Medusa requires Python 3.9 or newer. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Security configuration: Configuration options include client SSL certificate and key paths, storage connection SSL, and S3 server-side encryption settings. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Storage integrations: Supported backup storage includes local storage, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob Storage, AWS S3, and S3-compatible services. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Support: The README directs user questions and general or development discussions to the #cassandra-medusa channel on ASF Slack. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Support channel: The repository directs user questions and general or development discussions to the #cassandra-medusa channel on ASF Slack. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026

Where Medusa stands on Freedom251

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