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CockroachDB vs YugabyteDB

CockroachDB: Postgres-wire distributed SQL built to survive node, zone and region failures with serializable transactions. YugabyteDB: Apache-licensed distributed SQL that reuses the PostgreSQL query layer on a Raft-replicated storage engine.

key differences

  • Licensing: CockroachDB is source-available (CockroachDB Software License); YugabyteDB is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0).
  • Only CockroachDB has geospatial, time travel.
  • CockroachDB has a serverless option; YugabyteDB 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 yugabytedb for

  • +Scaling a Postgres application beyond one primary
  • +Multi-region customer and order data with zone/region resilience
  • +Retail and financial OLTP needing horizontal write capacity
  • +IoT and telemetry metadata with TTL on YCQL tables

best at · OLTP, Metadata, IoT

CockroachDBPostgres-wire distributed SQL built to survive node, zone and region failures with serializable transactions.
YugabyteDBApache-licensed distributed SQL that reuses the PostgreSQL query layer on a Raft-replicated storage engine.
overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
Document, Spatial, Vector
Document, Wide-Column, Vector
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Cockroach Labs
Yugabyte, Inc.
First release
2015
2017
Latest version
26.3 (Aug 19, 2026)
2026.1.2.0 (Sep 22, 2026)
License
Source-availableCockroachDB Software License
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
47.1
32.7
Rank
#33
#69
GitHub stars
32.6K
10.6K
Stack Overflow questions
467
370
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Active active
Active active
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong, Tunable
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Multi primary, Client server, Serverless
Distributed, Multi primary, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
✓
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
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, CQL
Client languages
Java, Go, Python, JavaScript, C#, Ruby, Rust, PHP
Java, Go, Python, JavaScript, C#, Rust, Ruby, C++
Best for
OLTP, Geo, Metadata, Ledger
OLTP, Metadata, IoT, Vector search
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

CockroachDB vs YugabyteDB: FAQ

What is the difference between CockroachDB and YugabyteDB?

CockroachDB: Postgres-wire distributed SQL built to survive node, zone and region failures with serializable transactions. YugabyteDB: Apache-licensed distributed SQL that reuses the PostgreSQL query layer on a Raft-replicated storage engine. Licensing: CockroachDB is source-available (CockroachDB Software License); YugabyteDB is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0). Only CockroachDB has geospatial, time travel. CockroachDB has a serverless option; YugabyteDB does not.

When should I choose CockroachDB over YugabyteDB?

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 YugabyteDB for scaling a Postgres application beyond one primary; multi-region customer and order data with zone/region resilience; and retail and financial OLTP needing horizontal write capacity.

Is CockroachDB or YugabyteDB more popular?

CockroachDB ranks #33 on the WhichDB Score (47.1/100) and YugabyteDB ranks #69 (32.7/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are CockroachDB and YugabyteDB 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. YugabyteDB is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.