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Databases · head to head

Canary Labs vs Cockroach Labs

Canary Labs logo

Canary Labs

Databases

Industrial process historian with published per-tag pricing and no client licence fees

From
$3000/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Cockroach Labs logo

Cockroach Labs

Databases

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: Canary Labs pricing steps by tag band rather than actual tags, so a site sitting just above a threshold pays the next band in full; growth from 3,400 to 3,600 tags is a licence purchase, not a rounding error.; Cockroach Labs basic and Standard tiers limited to AWS and GCP (select regions only)
  • They diverge on capability: Canary Labs covers Loss-less compression, Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Canary Labs and Cockroach Labs differ
AttributeCanary LabsCockroach Labs
Starting price$3000/yearFree
Pricing modelPer tag band per yearfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, WebAWS, GCP, Azure
FoundedUnknown2015

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Databases).

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 Canary Labs

  • Loss-less compression
  • Unlimited clients
  • Store and forward
  • Views service
  • Sparkplug B
  • Calculation engine
  • Axiom
  • ODBC and REST

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.

Canary Labs

  • A manufacturer that needs a compliant historian but cannot justify a PI System enterprise agreementnot Cockroach Labs
  • A water utility replacing SCADA-embedded logging with a historian that survives the next SCADA replacementnot Cockroach Labs
  • An Ignition site that wants long-term storage and trending without paying per-client for dashboardsnot Cockroach Labs
  • A plant with regulatory data-retention obligations where swinging-door compression would not survive an auditnot Cockroach Labs

Cockroach Labs

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

Where each one falls short

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

Canary Labs

  • Pricing steps by tag band rather than actual tags, so a site sitting just above a threshold pays the next band in full; growth from 3,400 to 3,600 tags is a licence purchase, not a rounding error.
  • CustomerCare at 18 percent of licence cost is effectively mandatory on perpetual licences because lapsing it removes upgrades, so the perpetual option is not really a one-time cost.
  • The storage format is proprietary; getting data out at volume means the ODBC connector, an additional 2,500 USD one-time or 1,000 USD a year, or writing against the REST API.
  • Canary is a small vendor with a limited partner network outside North America, so support coverage and integrator availability in Europe and Asia are thinner than for AVEVA or Ignition.
  • It is a Windows-only server product with no Linux or container deployment, which complicates placing collectors in modern edge estates.

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

Canary Labs

$3000/year
  • Subscription, 3,500 tags$3000/year
    • Unlimited Axiom clients
    • Unlimited Excel clients
    • Support and upgrades included
  • Perpetual, 3,500 tags$8730/one-time
    • 7,400 USD licence plus 1,330 USD first-year CustomerCare
    • CustomerCare renews at 18 percent of licence cost per year
    • Unlimited clients
  • Private cloud, 3,500 tags$12320/year
    • Hosted by Canary
    • 1,500 USD one-time setup fee per system
    • Scales to around 58,684 USD per year at 60,000 tags
  • Enterprise unlimited$undefined/year
    • Unlimited tags
    • Negotiated licensing terms
    • Quoted pricing

Cockroach Labs

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cockroach Labs review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Canary Labs if

  • You need loss-less compression.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want unlimited clients.
Canary Labs 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 Canary Labs or Cockroach Labs better?
Neither clearly leads. Canary Labs starts at $3000/year and Cockroach Labs at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Canary Labs or Cockroach Labs?
Cockroach Labs has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $3000/year for Canary Labs and Free for Cockroach Labs.
Does Canary Labs or Cockroach Labs run on more platforms?
Canary Labs runs on Windows, Web. 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. Canary Labs starts at $3000/year.
What is Canary Labs best used for?
Canary Labs is most often used for a manufacturer that needs a compliant historian but cannot justify a pi system enterprise agreement, a water utility replacing scada-embedded logging with a historian that survives the next scada replacement, an ignition site that wants long-term storage and trending without paying per-client for dashboards, a plant with regulatory data-retention obligations where swinging-door compression would not survive an audit. Of those, a manufacturer that needs a compliant historian but cannot justify a pi system enterprise agreement and a water utility replacing scada-embedded logging with a historian that survives the next scada replacement are not what Cockroach Labs is typically brought in for.
What can Canary Labs do that Cockroach Labs cannot?
Canary Labs covers Loss-less compression, Unlimited clients, Store and forward, Views service. Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL, Automatic Sharding, Multi-region Replication, Geo-partitioning.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Canary Labs: What does Canary cost?

8,730 USD for a 3,500 tag perpetual system including first-year CustomerCare, or 3,000 USD a year on subscription.

Cockroach Labs: What does the free Basic tier include?

The Basic tier is free and includes 50 million RUs and 10 GiB storage per month, with a maximum compute of 30K RU/sec. No credit card is required to start.

Source
Canary Labs: Are client licences extra?

No. Unlimited Axiom browser clients and unlimited Excel clients are included on every tier.

Cockroach Labs: How much do the paid tiers cost?

Standard tier starts at $0.18 per hour for 2 vCPUs, and Advanced tier starts at $0.60 per hour for 4 vCPUs. Both tiers support additional resources with higher costs for increased compute and storage.

Source
Canary Labs: Is perpetual cheaper than subscription?

Canary states perpetual pays off after roughly three years, and after that you still pay 18 percent CustomerCare annually.

Cockroach Labs: What are the storage limits for each tier?

Basic plan supports up to 3 TiB storage, Standard tier up to 3 TiB, and Advanced tier up to 10 TiB per node with unlimited total storage.

Source
Canary Labs: Does it use lossy compression?

No. Canary stores every collected value rather than approximating the trend, which matters for regulated data retention.

Cockroach Labs: Can I get trial credits before paying?

Yes, new users can try CockroachDB free with $400 in credits. The Basic and Standard plans do not require a credit card to start.

Source
Cockroach Labs: Do legacy contracts have different pricing?

Customers with annual or multi-year contracts entered before December 1, 2024 can view legacy pricing terms on a separate page, which apply until their contract renewal date.

Source
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