Software · head to head
Cockroach Labs vs TiDB
TiDB
Software
Open source distributed HTAP database for elastic scale and real-time analytics
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Cockroach Labs basic and Standard tiers limited to AWS and GCP (select regions only); TiDB not 100% MySQL-compatible, requiring verification before migration
- They diverge on capability: Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL, TiDB covers MySQL Compatible.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Cockroach Labs and TiDB actually diverge.
| Attribute | Cockroach Labs | TiDB |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | AWS, GCP, Azure | Cloud, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Self-managed |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown), founded (2015).
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
- Survivability
- PostgreSQL Compatibility
- Kubernetes
Only in TiDB
- MySQL Compatible
- HTAP Workloads
- Strong Consistency
- High Availability
- Real-time Analytics
- Elastic Scaling
- MySQL
- Spark
Both cover
- Horizontal Scaling
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Cockroach Labs
- Distributed SQL database for scalable applicationsnot TiDB
- Multi-region deployment and failovernot TiDB
TiDB
- Transaction processingnot Cockroach Labs
- Data storagenot Cockroach Labs
- Application backendnot Cockroach Labs
- Reportingnot Cockroach Labs
- Data analyticsnot 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
TiDB
- Not 100% MySQL-compatible, requiring verification before migration
Pricing, plan by plan
Cockroach Labs
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Cockroach Labs review.
TiDB
Free- ServerlessFree
- 5GB storage
- 50M request units
- Free forever tier
- Dedicated$250/month
- Dedicated resources
- SLA guarantees
- Enterprise support
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.
Choose TiDB if
- You need mysql compatible.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Cloud, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Self-managed.
- You also want htap workloads.
Questions people ask
- Is Cockroach Labs or TiDB better?
- Neither clearly leads. Cockroach Labs starts at Free and TiDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Cockroach Labs or TiDB?
- Cockroach Labs starts at Free and TiDB at Free.
- Does Cockroach Labs or TiDB run on more platforms?
- Cockroach Labs runs on AWS, GCP, Azure. TiDB runs on Cloud, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Self-managed.
- 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 TiDB is typically brought in for.
- What can Cockroach Labs do that TiDB cannot?
- Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL, Automatic Sharding, Multi-region Replication, Geo-partitioning. TiDB covers MySQL Compatible, HTAP Workloads, Strong Consistency, High Availability. Both handle Horizontal Scaling.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
TiDB: Is TiDB MySQL-compatible?
Yes, TiDB speaks the MySQL protocol, so existing MySQL clients, ORMs, and drivers work without modification. However, TiDB is not 100% MySQL-compatible.
SourceTiDB: How does TiDB scale?
TiDB provides automatic horizontal scaling with compute and storage scaling independently. It splits compute (TiDB servers) from storage (TiKV) to allow adding nodes without data replication.
SourceTiDB: Does TiDB support analytics workloads?
Yes, TiDB is an HTAP database with TiFlash columnar engine providing analytics capabilities alongside transactional processing on the same data without separate pipelines.
Source