Supabase vs CockroachDB
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Supabase and CockroachDB.
Quick Verdict
4.0/5
Supabase
0 reviews
4.2/5
CockroachDB
0 reviews
CockroachDB is rated higher (4.2 vs 4.0). Supabase is a backend-as-a-service platform providing PostgreSQL databases, real-time subscriptions, authentication, and storage. Built for developers who want PostgreSQL's power without vendor lock-in. 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.
Supabase Open-source Firebase alternative with PostgreSQL | CockroachDB Distributed SQL database that survives failures | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.0 (0 reviews) | 4.2 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best for | Teams building web and mobile apps who want a relational backend — Postgres with auth, storage, realtime, and APIs — without operating infrastructure, and who value an open-source exit path. | 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 | 1 GB | — |
| Storage | 1 GB | — |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | 99.9% | 99.99%✓ |
| Data-center count | 17 | — |
| €/vCPU/mo | — | €0.00 |
| €/GB RAM/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 | United States, Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil, India, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia | AWS, GCP and Azure regions across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific (multi-region clusters) |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tiermanaged options3 compatibleeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi accessopen source | free tiermanaged optionbackups includedeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi access |
| Visit Supabase → | Visit CockroachDB → | |
Supabase
Pros
- + Real PostgreSQL with SQL, extensions, migrations, and row-level security — no schema lock-in
- + Generous free tier: 50,000 MAU, 500MB database, unlimited API requests
- + Bundled auth, realtime, S3-compatible storage, APIs, and edge functions on one platform
- + Open source with a documented self-host path — a genuine exit if the managed service stops fitting
- + Transparent, detailed pricing page and 17 AWS regions to place data close to users
Cons
- - Bills grow legs: per-project compute, usage overages, and add-ons (PITR $100/mo per 7 days) stack up
- - Uptime SLA (99.9%) is Enterprise-only; support SLAs need the $599/mo Team plan
- - Free projects pause after a week of inactivity and skip automatic backups
- - Auth, realtime, storage, and functions layers are Supabase-specific to migrate away from
- - Scaling to high concurrency means moving to dedicated compute instances with sharp price steps
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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