TiDB versus CockroachDB Comparison | Generated by AI
TiDB vs. CockroachDB: A Quick Comparison
Both TiDB (from PingCAP) and CockroachDB (from Cockroach Labs) are cloud-native, distributed SQL databases designed for horizontal scaling, high availability, and global distribution. They’re often compared as modern alternatives to traditional RDBMS like MySQL or PostgreSQL, drawing inspiration from Google Spanner. TiDB leans MySQL-compatible with strong OLTP/OLAP hybrid support, while CockroachDB is PostgreSQL-native with a focus on resilience. Here’s a side-by-side breakdown:
| Aspect | TiDB (PingCAP) | CockroachDB (Cockroach Labs) |
|---|---|---|
| Core Compatibility | MySQL 5.7/8.0 wire-compatible; supports HTAP (Hybrid Transactional/Analytical Processing) via TiKV + TiFlash. | PostgreSQL wire-compatible; strong ACID compliance with serializable isolation. |
| Architecture | Separated storage (TiKV, Raft-based) and compute (TiDB); supports columnar storage for analytics. | Integrated storage/compute with MVCC; range-partitioned data across nodes. |
| Scalability | Auto-sharding, scales to 1000+ nodes; excels in massive datasets (PB-scale). | Auto-rebalancing, scales to 1000+ nodes; optimized for multi-region latency. |
| Performance | High throughput for writes/reads; TiDB 8.0 (2025) boosts AI/ML workloads by 2x. Benchmarks show 1M+ TPS in TPC-C. | Consistent low-latency queries; recent 2025 updates improve read scalability. Strong in YCSB (500K+ ops/sec). |
| High Availability | 3-replica default, async replication; geo-distributed with TiCDC for change data. | Synchronous multi-region replication; 99.999% uptime SLA in enterprise. |
| Deployment Options | Self-hosted, TiDB Cloud (serverless/managed); Kubernetes-native. | Self-hosted, CockroachDB Cloud (dedicated/serverless); strong Kubernetes support. |
| Pricing | Open-source core free; TiDB Cloud starts at ~$0.10/GB/month + compute. | Open-source core free; Cloud pricing ~$0.20/GB/month + $0.05/vCPU-hour. |
| Use Cases | E-commerce (e.g., Shopee), real-time analytics, IoT; great for MySQL migrations. | Financial services (e.g., banking), SaaS apps; ideal for Postgres ecosystems. |
| Community & Maturity | CNCF graduated project; 20K+ GitHub stars; active in Asia-Pacific. | CNCF incubating; 30K+ GitHub stars; broader enterprise adoption in US/EU. |
| Latest Buzz (Nov 2025) | TiDB 8.0 emphasizes vector search for AI; 40% YoY cloud growth. | v25.1 adds JSONB enhancements; partnerships with AWS for resilient workloads. |
In summary, choose TiDB if you’re in a MySQL-heavy stack or need built-in analytics. Go for CockroachDB for strict Postgres fidelity and multi-region ops. Both are mature, with no major red flags—PingCAP’s stability holds up well against Cockroach Labs’ aggressive growth.
TiDB Documentation
CockroachDB Docs
DB-Engines Ranking