CockroachDB vs PlanetScale
A detailed comparison to help you choose between CockroachDB and PlanetScale.
CockroachDB Distributed SQL database that survives failures | PlanetScale Serverless MySQL with database branching | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.4 (357 reviews)✓ | 4.4 (357 reviews) |
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best for | Applications requiring high availability across multiple regions where database availability is mission-critical | Teams running MySQL at scale who need schema migrations without downtime |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | — | 0 vCPU |
| RAM | — | 0 GB |
| Storage | — | 0 GB |
| Bandwidth | — | 0 TB/mo |
| SLA uptime | — | 99.99% |
| Data-center count | — | 6 |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ✓ | |
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ✓ | |
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | — | United StatesEuropean Union |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tiermanaged optionbackups includedeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi access | free tiermanaged optionbackups includedeu datacenterus datacenterapi access |
| Visit CockroachDB → | Visit PlanetScale → | |
CockroachDB
Pros
- + Survives datacenter failures by design
- + Postgres-compatible SQL
- + Automatic geographic distribution
Cons
- - More complex than standard Postgres
- - Free tier limits apply
PlanetScale
Pros
- + Non-blocking schema changes — no downtime migrations
- + Database branching like git
- + Auto-scales to handle traffic spikes
Cons
- - No foreign keys (Vitess architecture limitation)
- - Read replicas only on higher plans
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