Cockroach Labs vs PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL: PostgreSQL is an open source relational database for SQL workloads, the core job a distributed SQL database like Cockroach also serves.
Cockroach Labs
The cloud-native distributed SQL database
As of 13 November 2026, Cockroach Labs is free to use. CockroachDB is a cloud-native distributed SQL database designed for global applications. Softwr lists it under Databases. Cockroach Labs is launched in 2015.
Overview
What Cockroach Labs does
CockroachDB is a cloud-native distributed SQL database designed for global applications. It provides automatic scaling, survivability, and strong consistency.
What people use it for
- Distributed SQL database for scalable applications
- Multi-region deployment and failover
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about 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
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Cockroach Labs
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
Cockroach Labs vs Amazon Aurora
Amazon Aurora: Amazon Aurora is a managed MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible database, covering the same scalable SQL workloads for cloud applications.
Capabilities
Features
Distributed SQL
Automatic Sharding
Multi-region Replication
Geo-partitioning
ACID Transactions
Horizontal Scaling
Survivability
PostgreSQL Compatibility
Kubernetes
Integration with Kubernetes
Terraform
Integration with Terraform
Datadog
Integration with Datadog
PagerDuty
Integration with PagerDuty
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
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.
SourceHow 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.
SourceWhat 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.
SourceCan 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.
SourceDo 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.
SourceBehind it
Who makes Cockroach Labs
- Company
- Cockroach Labs
- Based in
- New York, NY
Keep looking
Where to go from Cockroach Labs
- Cockroach Labs alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Cockroach Labs pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Cockroach Labs badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Databases softwareThe full category
- Best Databases softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Databases software for
Compare Cockroach Labs with
- YugabyteDB
- PostgreSQL
- Google Cloud SQL
- Amazon Aurora
- Oracle Database
- TiDB
- CosmosDB
- Nile
- Vitess
- Aiven
- PlanetScale
- Redis
- Supabase
- Apache Druid
- Meilisearch
- NATS
- Azure SQL
- Apache Flink
Other Databases software
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Apache 2.0 distributed SQL database with MySQL wire compatibility and a separate columnar replica for analytical queries.
Free plan12 researched notesPostgreSQL database platform built for multi-tenant SaaS applications
Free, then $15/mo11 researched notesScalable database clustering system for horizontal scaling of MySQL
Free plan12 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Cockroach Labs, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Cockroach Labs
Cockroach Labs alternatives
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Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
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