vs

CockroachDB vs Multigres

CockroachDB: Postgres-wire distributed SQL built to survive node, zone and region failures with serializable transactions. Multigres: Alpha-stage, Vitess-inspired sharding, pooling and HA layer for unmodified PostgreSQL, led by Supabase.

key differences

  • Licensing: CockroachDB is source-available (CockroachDB Software License); Multigres is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0).
  • CockroachDB is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Multigres (≤ 10 TB).
  • Only CockroachDB has change data capture, ttl / expiry, compression, encryption at rest, time travel.
  • CockroachDB has a serverless option; Multigres does not.

choose cockroachdb for

  • +Global payments and ledger systems of record
  • +Identity, account and session metadata across regions
  • +Inventory and order management with strict consistency
  • +Data-residency workloads that must pin rows to a country

best at · OLTP, Geo, Metadata

choose multigres for

  • +Evaluating a future path to shard Postgres without leaving it
  • +Postgres HA and pooling experiments on Kubernetes
  • +Contributing to the next-generation Postgres scaling layer

best at · OLTP

overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
Document, Spatial, Vector
–
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Cockroach Labs
Supabase (Multigres project)
First release
2015
2026
Latest version
26.3 (Aug 19, 2026)
0.1.0 (alpha) (May 30, 2026)
License
Source-availableCockroachDB Software License
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
47.1
12.4
Rank
#33
#268
GitHub stars
32.6K
2.7K
Stack Overflow questions
467
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Active active
None
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Multi primary, Client server, Serverless
Distributed, Primary replica, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
—
Serverless
✓
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
–
capabilities
Transactions
✓
✓
Joins
✓
✓
Secondary indexes
✓
✓
Full-text search
✓
✓
Vector search
✓
✓
Geospatial
✓
✓
JSON
✓
✓
Change data capture
✓
—
Triggers
✓
✓
Stored procedures
✓
✓
Materialized views
✓
✓
TTL / expiry
✓
—
Pub/Sub
—
—
Columnar storage
—
—
In-memory
—
—
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
✓
—
Encryption at rest
✓
—
Role-based access
✓
✓
Time travel
✓
—
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
✓
—
Streaming ingest
—
—
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
SQL, PL/pgSQL
SQL, PL/pgSQL
Client languages
Java, Go, Python, JavaScript, C#, Ruby, Rust, PHP
Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, Rust, Ruby, C#
Best for
OLTP, Geo, Metadata, Ledger
OLTP

CockroachDB vs Multigres: FAQ

What is the difference between CockroachDB and Multigres?

CockroachDB: Postgres-wire distributed SQL built to survive node, zone and region failures with serializable transactions. Multigres: Alpha-stage, Vitess-inspired sharding, pooling and HA layer for unmodified PostgreSQL, led by Supabase. Licensing: CockroachDB is source-available (CockroachDB Software License); Multigres is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0). CockroachDB is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Multigres (≤ 10 TB). Only CockroachDB has change data capture, ttl / expiry, compression, encryption at rest, time travel.

When should I choose CockroachDB over Multigres?

Choose CockroachDB for global payments and ledger systems of record; identity, account and session metadata across regions; and inventory and order management with strict consistency. Choose Multigres for evaluating a future path to shard Postgres without leaving it; postgres HA and pooling experiments on Kubernetes; and contributing to the next-generation Postgres scaling layer.

Is CockroachDB or Multigres more popular?

CockroachDB ranks #33 on the WhichDB Score (47.1/100) and Multigres ranks #268 (12.4/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are CockroachDB and Multigres open source?

Not in the OSI sense. CockroachDB is source-available: you can read the code, but the license restricts some uses, typically offering it as a competing managed service. License: CockroachDB Software License. Yes. Multigres is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.