YugabyteDB vs CockroachDB
A detailed comparison to help you choose between YugabyteDB and CockroachDB.
Quick Verdict
4.0/5
YugabyteDB
0 reviews
4.2/5
CockroachDB
0 reviews
CockroachDB is rated higher (4.2 vs 4.0). YugabyteDB is a cloud-native distributed PostgreSQL-compatible database designed for global, highly available applications. Active-active geo-distribution, ACID transactions, and auto-sharding. 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.
YugabyteDB Distributed SQL database built for global applications | CockroachDB Distributed SQL database that survives failures | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.0 (0 reviews) | 4.2 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting price | From $125/mo | Free tier available✓ |
| Best for | Teams with concrete multi-zone or multi-region requirements who want Postgres semantics, a published SLA, and an open-source core they can self-host as an 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 | 2 vCPU |
| RAM | 4 GB | — |
| Storage | 10 GB | — |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | 99.99% | 99.99% |
| Data-center count | — | — |
| €/vCPU/mo | €62.50 | €0.00✓ |
| €/GB RAM/mo | €31.25 | — |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ✓ | |
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ||
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | AWS/Azure/GCP regions across US, EU and APAC | AWS, GCP and Azure regions across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific (multi-region clusters) |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tieropen sourcemanaged optioneu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi access | free tiermanaged optionbackups includedeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi access |
| Visit YugabyteDB → | Visit CockroachDB → | |
YugabyteDB
Pros
- + Apache 2.0 open core you can self-host without revenue caps or telemetry — real exit option
- + Postgres-compatible SQL with ACID across zones and regions, automatic sharding and failover
- + Published 99.99% SLA with a concrete service-credit table
- + One price model across AWS, Azure, GCP and BYOC; 24/7 support on every paid tier
- + Migration tooling (Voyager) and Terraform/CLI/API automation included, not upsold
Cons
- - Premium pricing: a 3-node/6-vCPU production cluster runs ~$750/month before storage, and PITR is a $25/vCPU/month add-on on Professional
- - Distributed-systems complexity remains even when managed — consistency modes and region placement need real understanding
- - PostgreSQL-compatible, not PostgreSQL-complete; extension and edge-case behaviour gaps exist
- - Free Sandbox is evaluation-only (1 node, 15 connections, deleted after 15 inactive days)
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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