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Database & Data Management · head to head

BigQuery vs Cockroach Labs

BigQuery logo

BigQuery

Database & Data Management

Serverless, highly scalable enterprise data warehouse

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Cockroach Labs logo

Cockroach Labs

Database & Data Management

The cloud-native distributed SQL database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: BigQuery query costs can become substantial for organizations with high query volumes; Cockroach Labs basic and Standard tiers limited to AWS and GCP (select regions only)
  • They diverge on capability: BigQuery covers Serverless Architecture, Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigQuery and Cockroach Labs actually diverge.

Attributes where BigQuery and Cockroach Labs differ
AttributeBigQueryCockroach Labs
Pricing modelusage-basedfreemium
PlatformsWeb, Cloud APIAWS, GCP, Azure
Founded20082015

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Database & Data Management).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in BigQuery

  • Serverless Architecture
  • Petabyte Scale
  • Real-time Analytics
  • Machine Learning
  • Geospatial Analysis
  • Streaming Ingestion
  • Standard SQL
  • Looker

Only in Cockroach Labs

  • Distributed SQL
  • Automatic Sharding
  • Multi-region Replication
  • Geo-partitioning
  • ACID Transactions
  • Horizontal Scaling
  • Survivability
  • PostgreSQL Compatibility

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

BigQuery

  • Business intelligencenot Cockroach Labs
  • Data warehousingnot Cockroach Labs
  • Real-time analyticsnot Cockroach Labs
  • Reportingnot Cockroach Labs
  • Machine learningnot Cockroach Labs

Cockroach Labs

  • Distributed SQL database for scalable applicationsnot BigQuery
  • Multi-region deployment and failovernot BigQuery

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

BigQuery

  • Query costs can become substantial for organizations with high query volumes
  • Data egress from Google Cloud incurs additional charges

Cockroach Labs

  • Basic and Standard tiers limited to AWS and GCP (select regions only)
  • Azure support restricted to Advanced tier only
  • Basic tier limited to 50 million RUs and 10 GiB storage per month
  • Advanced tier starts at $0.60/hour for 4 vCPUs minimum
  • 3 TiB maximum storage on Basic and Standard tiers, 10 TiB per node on Advanced

Pricing, plan by plan

BigQuery

Free
  • Free TierFree
    • 1TB queries/month
    • 10GB storage/month
    • Standard support
  • On-demand$6.25/TB
    • Pay per query
    • Pay per storage
    • All features

Cockroach Labs

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cockroach Labs review.

Which should you pick?

Choose BigQuery if

  • You need serverless architecture.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cloud API.
  • You also want petabyte scale.
BigQuery review

Choose Cockroach Labs if

  • You need distributed sql.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on AWS, GCP, Azure.
  • You also want automatic sharding.
Cockroach Labs review

Questions people ask

Is BigQuery or Cockroach Labs better?
Neither clearly leads. BigQuery starts at Free and Cockroach Labs at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BigQuery or Cockroach Labs?
BigQuery starts at Free and Cockroach Labs at Free.
Does BigQuery or Cockroach Labs run on more platforms?
BigQuery runs on Web, Cloud API. Cockroach Labs runs on AWS, GCP, Azure.
Can I use BigQuery for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is BigQuery best used for?
BigQuery is most often used for business intelligence, data warehousing, real-time analytics, reporting. Of those, business intelligence and data warehousing are not what Cockroach Labs is typically brought in for.
What can BigQuery do that Cockroach Labs cannot?
BigQuery covers Serverless Architecture, Petabyte Scale, Real-time Analytics, Machine Learning. Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL, Automatic Sharding, Multi-region Replication, Geo-partitioning.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

BigQuery: How is BigQuery priced?

BigQuery charges $5 per terabyte of data processed in on-demand queries. Storage is billed separately: active storage is charged per GB, and data inactive for 90+ days moves to long-term storage at reduced rates.

Source
BigQuery: What is BigQuery's architecture?

BigQuery separates compute and storage, using Google's Colossus for distributed storage and Borg for computation, allowing independent scaling of each.

Source
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