Software · head to head
TiDB vs Cockroach Labs
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: TiDB not 100% MySQL-compatible, requiring verification before migration; Cockroach Labs basic and Standard tiers limited to AWS and GCP (select regions only)
- They diverge on capability: TiDB covers MySQL Compatible, Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which TiDB and Cockroach Labs actually diverge.
| Attribute | TiDB | Cockroach Labs |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Cloud, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Self-managed | AWS, GCP, Azure |
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 TiDB
- MySQL Compatible
- HTAP Workloads
- Strong Consistency
- High Availability
- Real-time Analytics
- Elastic Scaling
- MySQL
- Spark
Only in Cockroach Labs
- Distributed SQL
- Automatic Sharding
- Multi-region Replication
- Geo-partitioning
- ACID Transactions
- Survivability
- PostgreSQL Compatibility
- Kubernetes
Both cover
- Horizontal Scaling
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
TiDB
- Transaction processingnot Cockroach Labs
- Data storagenot Cockroach Labs
- Application backendnot Cockroach Labs
- Reportingnot Cockroach Labs
- Data analyticsnot Cockroach Labs
Cockroach Labs
- Distributed SQL database for scalable applicationsnot TiDB
- Multi-region deployment and failovernot TiDB
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
TiDB
- Not 100% MySQL-compatible, requiring verification before migration
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
TiDB
Free- ServerlessFree
- 5GB storage
- 50M request units
- Free forever tier
- Dedicated$250/month
- Dedicated resources
- SLA guarantees
- Enterprise support
Cockroach Labs
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Cockroach Labs review.
Which should you pick?
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.
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.
Questions people ask
- Is TiDB or Cockroach Labs better?
- Neither clearly leads. TiDB starts at Free and Cockroach Labs at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, TiDB or Cockroach Labs?
- TiDB starts at Free and Cockroach Labs at Free.
- Does TiDB or Cockroach Labs run on more platforms?
- TiDB runs on Cloud, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Self-managed. Cockroach Labs runs on AWS, GCP, Azure.
- Can I use TiDB for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is TiDB best used for?
- TiDB is most often used for transaction processing, data storage, application backend, reporting. Of those, transaction processing and data storage are not what Cockroach Labs is typically brought in for.
- What can TiDB do that Cockroach Labs cannot?
- TiDB covers MySQL Compatible, HTAP Workloads, Strong Consistency, High Availability. Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL, Automatic Sharding, Multi-region Replication, Geo-partitioning. 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