At a glance
| Data model | Relational (SQL tables), with JSONB columns |
| Query language | SQL, PostgreSQL dialect over the PostgreSQL wire protocol |
| Consistency model | Strongly consistent; SERIALIZABLE isolation by default |
| Replication | Raft consensus per range, 3 replicas by default, across zones or regions |
| Partitioning or sharding | Automatic range-based sharding; row-level regional placement |
| Transactions | Distributed ACID transactions; clients should retry on serialization errors |
| Deployment and cloud availability | Self-hosted (Linux, Kubernetes) or CockroachDB Cloud on AWS, Google Cloud and Azure |
| Licensing | CockroachDB Software License: Enterprise (paid), Enterprise Free (under USD 10M revenue), Enterprise Trial (30 days) |
| Cloud pricing units | Per vCPU-hour plus storage and data transfer (Continuum, new organisations) |
CockroachDB suits transactional applications that must keep writing through node, zone or region failures, or must pin rows to regions, and that can live with a PostgreSQL dialect rather than PostgreSQL itself. Read the licence first: since November 2024 there is no open source edition, the free licence stops at USD 10M annual revenue, and new Cloud organisations pay per vCPU-hour after a trial.
Overview
CockroachDB stores data in ranges that are replicated with the Raft consensus protocol and spread automatically across nodes, so the cluster survives node or zone loss and rebalances when you add capacity. It speaks the PostgreSQL wire protocol and much of its SQL dialect, runs transactions at SERIALIZABLE isolation by default (applications should retry on serialization errors), and offers multi-region features to place data near users or keep it in a jurisdiction. Changefeeds stream row changes to Kafka and other sinks.
Cockroach Labs ships Regular releases (supported longer) and Innovation releases; v26.4 (Regular) became GA on 26 October 2026. All releases from v24.3.0 are under the CockroachDB Software License: clusters without a valid key, or Free and Trial clusters that stop sending telemetry, are throttled to 5 concurrent open SQL transactions after a grace period. The managed CockroachDB Cloud service runs on AWS, Google Cloud and Azure, including a bring-your-own-cloud option.
Key features
- Automatic sharding into ranges with Raft replication and rebalancing as nodes are added or lost
- PostgreSQL wire protocol and SQL dialect, usable from standard PostgreSQL drivers and many ORMs
- SERIALIZABLE isolation by default for distributed ACID transactions, with READ COMMITTED also documented
- Multi-region databases with regional and global tables and survival goals for zone or region failure
- Changefeeds (CDC) to Kafka, cloud storage and webhooks
- Backups to S3, Google Cloud Storage or Azure Blob Storage, with point-in-time restore
- CockroachDB Cloud: Standard and Mission Critical plans (Continuum) and bring-your-own-cloud
Integrations and ecosystem
Pros and cons
Pros
- Survives node, zone or region failures without manual failover
- Familiar PostgreSQL wire protocol and SQL for developers
- Built-in multi-region data placement for latency and data residency
- Same software self-hosted or as a managed cloud service on three major clouds
Cons
- Not open source since v24.3; free use is limited to businesses under USD 10M revenue and needs telemetry
- Not a drop-in PostgreSQL replacement: some features and extensions are missing
- Applications must handle transaction retries under contention
- No free Cloud tier for new organisations, and the pricing page shows conflicting Standard rates
Pricing
Self-hosted: the Enterprise Free licence costs nothing for businesses with less than USD 10M annual revenue (parent and affiliate revenue counts; government bodies do not qualify), requires telemetry and gets community support only; larger businesses need a paid Enterprise licence priced by Cockroach Labs' sales team, and a 30-day Enterprise Trial is available. Single-node development clusters need no licence key. CockroachDB Cloud: organisations created on or after 15 September 2026 use the Cockroach Continuum model. Standard (shared infrastructure, AWS and Google Cloud, 99.99% SLA) is listed at USD 0.092 per vCPU-hour and Mission Critical (dedicated, AWS, Google Cloud and Azure, 99.999% SLA with multi-region) at USD 0.162 per vCPU-hour, both for AWS us-east-1, with storage (USD 0.155 per GiB-month in the calculator example) and data transfer extra. The same page also says Standard starts "from USD 0.057 / vCPU-hr", which conflicts with the headline rate. There is no free Cloud tier for new organisations: a 30-day trial includes USD 400 of credit. Existing Cloud customers keep the Basic, Standard and Advanced plans unless they opt in.
Pricing checked on the vendor's official page on 7 November 2026. Prices change; confirm before buying.
Who it is best for
Teams building transactional applications that need horizontal scale or multi-region survival with SQL and a PostgreSQL-style interface, and that accept a proprietary licence.
Typical use cases
- Payment, ledger and order systems that must stay writable during regional outages
- Multi-region SaaS back ends that keep each customer's data in its region
- Consolidating sharded PostgreSQL or MySQL estates into one logical database
- Identity, inventory and metadata stores that need strong consistency at scale
Who should look elsewhere
- Existing PostgreSQL applications that rely on extensions or full compatibility: see CockroachDB vs PostgreSQL.
- Organisations that require an OSI-approved open source licence, which may prefer YugabyteDB or TiDB (both Apache 2.0).
Verdict
CockroachDB is one of the most complete distributed SQL databases for multi-region transactional work, with a PostgreSQL-style interface and a managed service on three clouds. The 2024 licence change means it is now commercial software with a revenue-capped free licence, so compare total cost and licence terms with Apache 2.0 alternatives and with Google Spanner before committing.
Frequently asked questions
Is CockroachDB still open source?
No. From v24.3.0 (released November 2024), and for later patch releases of 23.1 to 24.2, CockroachDB is distributed under the CockroachDB Software License. The former free Core licence was removed. Enterprise Free is free for businesses under USD 10M annual revenue and requires telemetry.
What happens without a licence key?
A new multi-node cluster has a 7-day grace period; after that it is throttled to 5 concurrent open SQL transactions. Free and Trial clusters are also throttled after 7 days without telemetry. Single-node development clusters started with start-single-node or cockroach demo need no key.
How much does CockroachDB Cloud cost?
For organisations created on or after 15 September 2026, Standard is listed at USD 0.092 per vCPU-hour and Mission Critical at USD 0.162 per vCPU-hour (AWS us-east-1), plus storage and data transfer, after a 30-day trial with USD 400 of credit. Existing customers keep Basic, Standard or Advanced unless they opt in.
How does CockroachDB differ from YugabyteDB?
Both are PostgreSQL-compatible distributed SQL databases using Raft. CockroachDB has its own SQL layer and a proprietary licence; YugabyteDB reuses the PostgreSQL query layer for YSQL, adds a Cassandra-style YCQL API and keeps its core database under Apache 2.0.
Sources
- CockroachDB licensing FAQs
- CockroachDB releases
- CockroachDB Cloud documentation
- Cockroach Labs pricing
- cockroachdb/cockroach repository (licence notice)
Checked November 2026.
Listed in: NoSQL & Distributed Databases.
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