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Accounting & Finance · head to head

Brex vs Cockroach Labs

Brex logo

Brex

Accounting & Finance

The financial stack for growing businesses

From
$29/month
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

  • Only Cockroach Labs has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Brex the free Essentials tier is limited to two legal entities; Cockroach Labs basic and Standard tiers limited to AWS and GCP (select regions only)
  • They diverge on capability: Brex covers Corporate cards, Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Brex and Cockroach Labs differ
AttributeBrexCockroach Labs
Starting price$29/monthFree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidAWS, GCP, Azure
CategoryAccounting & FinanceDatabase & Data Management
Founded20172015

Identical on both: pricing model (freemium), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Brex

  • Corporate cards
  • Business accounts
  • Expense management
  • Bill pay
  • Travel
  • QuickBooks
  • NetSuite
  • Xero

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.

Brex

  • Corporate cards with spend controls for startupsnot Cockroach Labs
  • Expense management and reimbursementsnot Cockroach Labs
  • Travel booking inside the spend platformnot Cockroach Labs
  • Bill pay and accounting system syncnot Cockroach Labs
  • Multi-entity spend management on the paid tiersnot Cockroach Labs

Cockroach Labs

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

Where each one falls short

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

Brex

  • The free Essentials tier is limited to two legal entities
  • Premium is $12 per user per month, so cost scales with headcount using the card
  • Enterprise and Smart Card pricing is not published
  • Eligibility criteria are not stated anywhere on the pricing page, which matters for a product that extends credit

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

Brex

$29/month
  • EssentialsFree
    • Corporate cards
    • Expense management
    • Bill pay
  • Premium$12/month
    • Advanced controls
    • Custom approvals
    • Travel booking

Cockroach Labs

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cockroach Labs review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Brex if

  • You need corporate cards.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want business accounts.
Brex 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 Brex or Cockroach Labs better?
Neither clearly leads. Brex starts at $29/month and Cockroach Labs at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Brex or Cockroach Labs?
Cockroach Labs has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Brex and Free for Cockroach Labs.
Does Brex or Cockroach Labs run on more platforms?
Brex runs on Web, Ios, Android. Cockroach Labs runs on AWS, GCP, Azure.
Can I use Cockroach Labs for free?
Yes. Cockroach Labs has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Brex starts at $29/month.
What is Brex best used for?
Brex is most often used for corporate cards with spend controls for startups, expense management and reimbursements, travel booking inside the spend platform, bill pay and accounting system sync. Of those, corporate cards with spend controls for startups and expense management and reimbursements are not what Cockroach Labs is typically brought in for.
What can Brex do that Cockroach Labs cannot?
Brex covers Corporate cards, Business accounts, Expense management, Bill pay. Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL, Automatic Sharding, Multi-region Replication, Geo-partitioning.
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