# Standard (Legacy) Clusters

Standard clusters are a **legacy** ScyllaDB Cloud cluster type. They are
available only for ScyllaDB Cloud accounts created before September 2026.
These accounts can create either *Standard* clusters or *X Cloud* clusters.

If you choose the **Standard** option during cluster creation, data replication
in your cluster can be based on tablets (default) or vnodes, depending on
the configuration of your keyspaces.

When you [CREATE a keyspace](https://docs.scylladb.com/manual/stable/cql/ddl.html#create-keyspace-statement),
it has tablets enabled by default. To use vnodes-based
data replication, you must explicitly disable tablets when you CREATE a keyspace.
See [Enabling Tablets](https://docs.scylladb.com/manual/stable/architecture/tablets#tablets-enable-tablets)
in the ScyllaDB documentation for instructions.

## Standard vs X Cloud Comparison

|                        | Standard      | X Cloud        |
|------------------------|---------------|----------------|
| Tablets                | Yes (default) | Yes (enforced) |
| vNodes                 | Yes           | No             |
| Storage Utilization    | Up to 70%     | Up to 90%      |
| Vector and Text Search | Yes           | Yes            |
| ScyllaDB Features      | Full          | Full           |

## When to Choose X Cloud

X Cloud is built on the Tablets architecture. Storage and compute scale
independently and automatically, so you do not need to pre-size capacity for
peak load.

Choose X Cloud if:

* Your workload is variable, bursty, or hard to predict.
* You want automatic scaling without manual resize operations.
* You are starting a new project and want the simplest operational model.

## When to Choose Standard

Standard clusters use a fixed topology — you choose the number and size of
nodes at creation time. You can resize later, but scaling is a deliberate
operation.

Choose Standard if:

* You require vNodes for specific data distribution needs.
* You are migrating from an existing ScyllaDB or Cassandra cluster and want a
  topology that matches your current setup.