CockroachDB vs Turso
A detailed comparison to help you choose between CockroachDB and Turso.
Quick Verdict
4.2/5
CockroachDB
0 reviews
4.1/5
Turso
0 reviews
CockroachDB is rated higher (4.2 vs 4.1). 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. Turso offers SQLite-based databases at the edge for multi-tenant SaaS. Create thousands of database instances, each at a different edge location. Per-tenant isolation at SQLite pricing.
CockroachDB Distributed SQL database that survives failures | Turso Edge SQLite — create thousands of DB instances | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.2 (0 reviews)✓ | 4.1 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| 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 | Multi-tenant SaaS and AI agent workloads needing per-tenant SQLite databases replicated close to users |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | 2 vCPU | — |
| RAM | — | — |
| Storage | — | 5 GB |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | 99.99% | — |
| Data-center count | — | 30 |
| €/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 tierapi accessopen source |
| Visit CockroachDB → | Visit Turso → | |
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
Turso
Pros
- + True per-tenant database isolation at SQLite pricing — 100 databases free, unlimited from $5.99/mo
- + Published pricing, overage rates, and even per-tier commit latency — rare transparency
- + Edge replication across 30+ locations with placement you control per database
- + Eleven-nines durability via S3-backed commits; MIT-licensed engine you can self-host
- + SQLite file-format and SQL compatibility keeps local dev and production aligned
Cons
- - No public uptime SLA on self-serve plans — the guarantee is durability, not availability
- - Rows-read metering punishes unindexed queries; costs can surprise the careless
- - EU databases still back up to S3 us-east-2 unless you bring your own buckets (Pro+)
- - SQLite dialect limits rule out query-heavy relational workloads
- - Big price jump from Scaler ($29/mo) to Pro ($499/mo) for priority support and compliance
Stay in the loop
Get weekly updates on the best new hosting and infrastructure providers, deals, and comparisons.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.