MongoDB Atlas vs CockroachDB
A detailed comparison to help you choose between MongoDB Atlas and CockroachDB.
Quick Verdict
4.1/5
MongoDB Atlas
0 reviews
4.2/5
CockroachDB
0 reviews
CockroachDB is rated higher (4.2 vs 4.1). MongoDB Atlas is the managed cloud version of MongoDB. Available on AWS, GCP, and Azure. Full-text search, vector search, time-series collections, and usage-priced Flex tiers. Free M0 cluster forever. 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.
MongoDB Atlas The cloud database for modern apps | CockroachDB Distributed SQL database that survives failures | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.1 (0 reviews) | 4.2 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best for | Application-first teams that want production MongoDB with multi-AZ resilience and no DBA, plus developers who want a free tier that can grow into paid tiers. | 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 |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | — | 2 vCPU |
| RAM | — | — |
| Storage | — | — |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | 99.995%✓ | 99.99% |
| Data-center count | 125 | — |
| €/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", "Google Cloud", "Microsoft Azure"] | 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 tiermanaged optionbackups includedeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi access |
| Visit MongoDB Atlas → | Visit CockroachDB → | |
MongoDB Atlas
Pros
- + Genuinely useful free M0 tier (512MB forever) with the same drivers and code path as production
- + Multi-cloud: 125+ regions across AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure, with cross-region and cross-provider node placement
- + Automated operations: three-node cross-AZ replica sets, failover, patching, point-in-time recovery, storage auto-scaling
- + 99.995% uptime SLA on Dedicated tiers with clearly documented exclusions and service-credit ladder
- + Integrated full-text and vector search, time-series collections, and Terraform/API automation
Cons
- - Per-node billing: a production replica set triples the advertised node price; sharded clusters multiply again
- - Backups on Dedicated, egress, search add-ons, and support are billed separately — invoice drift is common
- - No SLA and no continuous backups on Free or Flex; M0 cannot be resized into a paid cluster
- - Proprietary add-ons (Atlas Search, Vector Search, Data Federation) create soft lock-in
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
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