CockroachDB vs PocketBase
A detailed comparison to help you choose between CockroachDB and PocketBase.
Quick Verdict
4.2/5
CockroachDB
0 reviews
4.0/5
PocketBase
0 reviews
CockroachDB is rated higher (4.2 vs 4.0). CockroachDB is a distributed SQL database built to survive datacenter failures. Postgres-compatible, strong consistency, and automatic scaling across regions. Managed plans: Basic (usage-based, free tier), Standard and Advanced (provisioned), plus BYOC and the new Cockroach Continuum editions. PocketBase is an open source backend consisting of a single executable file with embedded SQLite database, realtime subscriptions, auth, file storage, and an admin dashboard.
CockroachDB Distributed SQL database that survives failures | PocketBase Open-source backend with built-in database and real-time APIs | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.2 (0 reviews)✓ | 4.0 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | freemium | free and open source (MIT); self-hosted, infrastructure costs only |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best for | Applications where the database must survive region loss without losing transactions — payments, ledgers, identity, multi-region SaaS, global gaming backends — and teams ready for distributed-SQL trade-offs | Solo developers and small teams who want a self-hosted backend with auth, database, files and realtime — without running multiple services or paying a platform fee |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | 2 vCPU | — |
| RAM | — | — |
| Storage | — | — |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | 99.99% | — |
| Data-center count | — | — |
| €/vCPU/mo | €0.00 | — |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ✓ | |
| Free tier | ||
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | AWS, GCP and Azure regions across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific (multi-region clusters) | — |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tiermanaged optionbackups includedeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi access | free tieropen sourceself hostable |
| Visit CockroachDB → | Visit PocketBase → | |
CockroachDB
Pros
- + True multi-region survivability with serializable transactions and Postgres wire compatibility
- + Generous free tier: Basic at $0/month with 50M RUs and 10 GiB free monthly, $400 trial credits, no card required
- + Contractual SLAs: 99.99% availability, up to 99.999% multi-region on Advanced; P1 response targets published
- + Transparent per-component cost documentation and a public pricing calculator
- + Enterprise compliance path (CMEK, PCI DSS, HIPAA) and AWS/GCP/Azure coverage
Cons
- - Production costs climb fast: storage billed at 4.5x durability multiplier, plus backups, CDC and egress
- - September 2026 plan restructure (Cockroach Continuum) splits new and existing customers onto different rate cards
- - Distributed-SQL learning curve: RU model, planner differences from vanilla Postgres, cross-region latency
- - Overkill for single-region applications — managed Postgres is far cheaper for the same job
- - Proprietary managed plane; open-core self-hosting shifts the operational burden back to you
PocketBase
Pros
- + Complete backend (SQLite, REST API, auth, files, SSE realtime, admin UI) in one MIT-licensed binary
- + Zero software cost and no vendor lock-in: MIT licence explicitly permits commercial reuse and self-hosting
- + Fast local storage and simple deployment — Docker, any VPS, or embedded as a Go framework in your own binary
- + Extensible without Go via JS hooks and migrations; S3-compatible file storage and built-in backup tooling
- + Excellent documentation and a 61.5k-star community; auth covers password, OAuth2, OTP and MFA out of the box
Cons
- - Pre-1.0 with no backward-compatibility guarantee — v0.23 broke the core Go API and hooks
- - Single-node SQLite: no clustering, replication or managed failover; HA and backups are your job
- - Predominantly one maintainer, community support only — no SLA or support contract
- - No official managed hosting (third parties fill that gap), no job queue or cron built in
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