Softwr

Databases · head to head

Cockroach Labs vs Immuta

Cockroach Labs logo

Cockroach Labs

Databases

The cloud-native distributed SQL database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Immuta logo

Immuta

Databases

Attribute-based access control and masking applied inside Snowflake, Databricks and BigQuery

From
On request
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: Cockroach Labs basic and Standard tiers limited to AWS and GCP (select regions only); Immuta contracts commonly start around one hundred to two hundred thousand US dollars a year for mid-market deployments and exceed five hundred thousand at enterprise scale, which excludes most data teams without a regulatory mandate.
  • They diverge on capability: Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL, Immuta covers Attribute-based policy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Cockroach Labs and Immuta differ
AttributeCockroach LabsImmuta
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsAWS, GCP, AzureWeb, API, Cloud
Founded2015Unknown

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 Cockroach Labs

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

Only in Immuta

  • Attribute-based policy
  • Native enforcement
  • Dynamic masking
  • Row-level filtering
  • Purpose-based access
  • Sensitive data tagging
  • Audit logging
  • Multi-platform

What people use each for

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

Cockroach Labs

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

Immuta

  • A bank whose Snowflake estate has grown to tens of thousands of roles that no one can review before an auditnot Cockroach Labs
  • A healthcare analytics team that must let researchers query patient data with identifiers masked unless a specific purpose is recordednot Cockroach Labs
  • A multinational applying different residency and access rules per jurisdiction to the same tables without duplicating datasetsnot Cockroach Labs
  • An organisation running both Snowflake and Databricks that wants one policy set rather than two divergent implementationsnot 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

Immuta

  • Contracts commonly start around one hundred to two hundred thousand US dollars a year for mid-market deployments and exceed five hundred thousand at enterprise scale, which excludes most data teams without a regulatory mandate.
  • Policy is only as good as the data classification underneath it, so an organisation with poorly tagged columns will spend months on classification before Immuta enforces anything useful.
  • Native enforcement means capability varies by platform, and a feature available on Snowflake may be absent or behave differently on BigQuery, which undermines the promise of one policy set everywhere.
  • Adding an access governance layer creates a new dependency in the path to data: a misconfigured policy silently returns fewer rows rather than erroring, and analysts can act on incomplete results without noticing.
  • It governs cloud data platforms, so personal data in operational databases, files and SaaS applications sits outside its scope and needs separate controls, meaning Immuta is rarely the whole answer.

Pricing, plan by plan

Cockroach Labs

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cockroach Labs review.

Immuta

On request
  • Immuta Platform$undefined/year
    • Attribute-based policy authoring
    • Native enforcement in supported data platforms
    • Dynamic masking and row-level security

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 Immuta if

  • You need attribute-based policy.
  • You work on Web, API, Cloud.
  • You also want native enforcement.
Immuta review

Questions people ask

Is Cockroach Labs or Immuta better?
Neither clearly leads. Cockroach Labs starts at Free and Immuta at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cockroach Labs or Immuta?
Cockroach Labs has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Cockroach Labs and On request for Immuta.
Does Cockroach Labs or Immuta run on more platforms?
Cockroach Labs runs on AWS, GCP, Azure. Immuta runs on Web, API, Cloud.
Can I use Cockroach Labs for free?
Yes. Cockroach Labs has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Immuta starts at On request.
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 Immuta is typically brought in for.
What can Cockroach Labs do that Immuta cannot?
Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL, Automatic Sharding, Multi-region Replication, Geo-partitioning. Immuta covers Attribute-based policy, Native enforcement, Dynamic masking, Row-level filtering.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Immuta: Does Immuta sit in the query path?

No. It compiles policies into the data platform's own native controls, so queries run at normal speed through your existing tools.

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
Immuta: What does it cost?

Not published. Market data suggests roughly 100,000 to 200,000 US dollars a year for mid-market deployments and considerably more at enterprise scale.

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
Immuta: Is Immuta still independent?

Yes. It remains independently owned, unlike several competitors in data access governance that have been acquired.

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
Immuta: Does it work across more than one warehouse?

Yes, one policy set can target Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery and Starburst, though enforcement capability varies by platform.

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
Share

Related pages

More on Cockroach Labs

More on Immuta

Keep looking

Other head to heads