CockroachDB vs PlanetScale

Side-by-side — pricing, strengths, tradeoffs, and fit.

CockroachDB

The most resilient distributed SQL database

PlanetScale

MySQL-compatible serverless database that scales without limits

At a glance

Open SourceFree Tier
● Established·From Freemium
Open Source
● Established·From $5/mo

Overview

One-liner

The most resilient distributed SQL database

One-liner

MySQL-compatible serverless database that scales without limits

Maturity

Established

Maturity

Established

Open source

✓ Yes

Open source

✓ Yes

Pricing

Free tier

✓ Available

Free tier

✕ None

Starts at

Freemium

Starts at

$5/mo

Model

Hybrid

Model

Usage-based

Enterprise

✕ None

Enterprise

✕ None

Best for

✓ Best for

Applications requiring global distribution, high availability, and strong consistency with PostgreSQL compatibility

✓ Best for

Growth-stage startups and scale-ups who need MySQL compatibility with horizontal scaling and zero-downtime schema changes
Enterprise teams running high-traffic applications that have outgrown single-node MySQL
Agency and consultant teams managing multiple production databases who need reliable branching workflows

Not ideal for

✕ Not for

Simple single-region apps or workloads where a standard Postgres instance is sufficient

✕ Not for

Hobby developers or solo developers on a tight budget since the free tier was removed
Teams requiring Postgres instead of MySQL

Strengths

↑ Strengths

Distributed SQL
PostgreSQL wire protocol
Auto-sharding
Multi-region

↑ Strengths

MySQL-compatible
Vitess-powered sharding
Non-blocking schema migrations
Database branching

Weaknesses

↓ Weaknesses

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↓ Weaknesses

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Full CockroachDB profile →Full PlanetScale profile →