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Cockroach Labs vs Elastic APM

Cockroach Labs logo

Cockroach Labs

Software

The cloud-native distributed SQL database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Elastic APM logo

Elastic APM

Software

Application Performance Monitoring from Elastic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Cockroach Labs basic and Standard tiers limited to AWS and GCP (select regions only); Elastic APM pricing is not published on the product page; cost follows the underlying Elastic deployment rather than being quoted per host or per service
  • They diverge on capability: Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL, Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cockroach Labs and Elastic APM actually diverge.

Attributes where Cockroach Labs and Elastic APM differ
AttributeCockroach LabsElastic APM
Pricing modelfreemiumopen-source
PlatformsAWS, GCP, AzureWeb, Api
Founded20152011

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

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 Cockroach Labs

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

Only in Elastic APM

  • Performance monitoring
  • Error tracking
  • Transaction tracing
  • Custom metrics
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Cockroach Labs

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

Elastic APM

  • Distributed tracing across microservicesnot Cockroach Labs
  • Auto-instrumenting Java, .NET, Python, Go, Node.js, Ruby, PHP and C++ servicesnot Cockroach Labs
  • OpenTelemetry-native collection through the Elastic distributionsnot Cockroach Labs
  • Correlating latency and errors with machine learningnot Cockroach Labs
  • Monitoring LLM calls alongside application tracesnot Cockroach Labs

Where each one falls short

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

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

Elastic APM

  • Pricing is not published on the product page; cost follows the underlying Elastic deployment rather than being quoted per host or per service
  • Self-managed deployment means running and scaling Elasticsearch yourself
  • Serverless does not carry every capability the hosted option does

Pricing, plan by plan

Cockroach Labs

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cockroach Labs review.

Elastic APM

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Performance monitoring
    • Error tracking
    • Transaction tracing

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Elastic APM if

  • You need performance monitoring.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want error tracking.
Elastic APM review

Questions people ask

Is Cockroach Labs or Elastic APM better?
Neither clearly leads. Cockroach Labs starts at Free and Elastic APM at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cockroach Labs or Elastic APM?
Cockroach Labs starts at Free and Elastic APM at Free.
Does Cockroach Labs or Elastic APM run on more platforms?
Cockroach Labs runs on AWS, GCP, Azure. Elastic APM runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Cockroach Labs for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Cockroach Labs best used for?
Cockroach Labs is most often used for distributed sql database for scalable applications, multi-region deployment and failover. Of those, distributed sql database for scalable applications and multi-region deployment and failover are not what Elastic APM is typically brought in for.
What can Cockroach Labs do that Elastic APM cannot?
Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL, Automatic Sharding, Multi-region Replication, Geo-partitioning. Elastic APM covers Performance monitoring, Error tracking, Transaction tracing, Custom metrics.
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Related pages

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