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Citus Data vs CockroachDB comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Citus Data
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
18th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
CockroachDB
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of Citus Data is 2.7%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CockroachDB is 4.1%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
CockroachDB4.1%
Citus Data2.7%
Other93.2%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Arucy Lionel - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficiently handles high-traffic scenarios and compatible with PostgreSQL extensions, offering flexibility in database management
There are many areas of improvement , especially in terms of DDL query routing. Even though it's masterless, DDL queries need to be sent to the coordinator node. Also, setting up a multi-node environment could be more straightforward. Currently, setting up a multi-node environment is challenging. It's a bit tricky. Installation on each PostgreSQL node can lead to communication issues between nodes. An automatic rebalancing feature would be a significant improvement. Currently, I have to manually command the rebalance. It would be more convenient if it was rebalanced automatically. The dashboard and monitoring capabilities are good, but it would be helpful to have an integrated availability dashboard.
Antonio Tringali - PeerSpot reviewer
Open source with extensive documentation and a University for training
I am a freelancer. A client of mine wanted a solution that would allow them to scale yet not abandon the familiar PostgreSQL front-end (and rewrite a part of their source code). Scalability aside, CockroachDB is a fine way forward from PostgreSQL and is not changing the client source code part of the system. If you are lucky and you do not use newer features from recent versions of PostgreSQL or PostgreSQL extensions, it's fine. There are nice-to-have features for big organizations like regional tables. At the moment, my client simply does not use these. However, the serverless offer from CockroachDB is reacting well as data grows.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Its distributed processing capabilities are a standout feature. It requires minimal changes to get up and running if you already have a system on PostgreSQL. Citus can run in its natural state."
"It's very straightforward to implement the solution. It took us two days to set up everything."
"You can use Citus Data to write complex scripts. I like its version upgrades and disaster recovery as well."
"What I like best is its ability to solve data residency issues. The main advantage is auto geo partitioning, built into the product. This means we don't have to spin up separate servers in each region, which would be much more costly."
"The most valuable feature is that CockroachDB is a distributed database, which can deploy nodes running in different regions."
"The best feature of CockroachDB is the ability to keep the nodes in different locations."
"The tool's most valuable feature is node syncing, which takes only 0.54 milliseconds."
"The most valuable features of the solution are its resiliency features and the geo-partitioning capabilities."
"The initial setup and deployment are simple."
"The product has valuable security features."
"I use CockroachDB to test big data samples and to create the best structure for databases. We have four users and required 10 people for deployment and maintenance."
 

Cons

"There are many areas of improvement , especially in terms of DDL query routing. Even though it's masterless, DDL queries need to be sent to the coordinator node. Also, setting up a multi-node environment could be more straightforward."
"Citus Data needs to improve its stability. Do not consider this product if you have the budget. It is still developing and has a lot of issues."
"More features in monitoring and the reporting could make it better."
"The product must improve its disaster recovery features."
"We are looking for more features to support distributed high availability and geo-partitioning."
"I think the engine itself could be improved. If you miss a partition key, it should be able to be modeled. This is where AI could be really helpful. For example, if a user is from Australia, the system should know to look for their data there first instead of searching in the US or another continent."
"I find the serverless offer a bit confusing."
"The platform could be more extensible."
"I would like CockroachDB to have more compatibility with PostgreSQL, especially with the connection string and technical integrations."
"For multi-region deployment, CockroachDB requires at least three plus replicas across data centers to achieve strong consistency across regions, which increases infrastructure costs including compute, storage, and networking."
"Cockroach does not support all types of protocols. I need to improve it myself to support a CouchDB on my network."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Citus Data is an open-source product."
"The platform is affordable even for the enterprise version. It provides value for investment in terms of performance."
"The solution's pricing is not cheap. However, the good thing is that customers are willing to pay for it if they want it."
"I've used CockroachDB at a small scale on the free accounts because we are only testing."
"The product's price depends on the user's company and the contract model they enter into with CockroachDB. Depending on the contract model one enters into with CockroachDB, the product may or may not be expensive."
"The pricing is good but can be made cheaper. I would rate the pricing a five out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
32%
Computer Software Company
13%
Educational Organization
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citus Data?
You can use Citus Data to write complex scripts. I like its version upgrades and disaster recovery as well.
What needs improvement with Citus Data?
Citus Data needs to improve its stability. Do not consider this product if you have the budget. It is still developing and has a lot of issues.
What do you like most about CockroachDB?
The subset of SQL that my client is using is completely supported.
What needs improvement with CockroachDB?
The platform should provide a UI feature where users have the ability to manage it. The CockroachDB platform should have a chatbot where users can inquire about pricing or seek solutions for querie...
What is your primary use case for CockroachDB?
We have been using CockroachDB for the last two years. From 2023, we started working on a product similar to Google Capture. We decided to work with CockroachDB with Hasura. Hasura is a UI for the ...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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Find out what your peers are saying about Citus Data vs. CockroachDB and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,445 professionals have used our research since 2012.