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CockroachDB vs MySQL 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

CockroachDB
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MySQL
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
149
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of CockroachDB is 3.9%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MySQL is 8.1%, down from 8.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Dang Quy Tai - PeerSpot reviewer
Geo-replication benefits with distributed setup and a helpful AI support chatbot
I am studying how to deploy CockroachDB and YugaByteDB, and learning some basic information about them. I am testing these databases as part of my school application to find a suitable database for our applications. Currently, I am using PostgreSQL, however, I want to try some distributed databases…
Muzzamil  Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
Native encryption ensures secure data management with a simple deployment
The most valuable feature is the on-premises data encryption facilities. By default, we can provide encryption, and this feature in MySQL is why we prefer it over other databases. The native encryption in MySQL encourages us to use this database model more frequently compared to Oracle and other databases. With Oracle, we have to buy another solution for encryption and masking, but MySQL supports native encryption, which enhances our return on investment. It perfectly supports our ROI, and we have no issues with its functionality.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup and deployment are simple."
"The tool's most valuable feature is node syncing, which takes only 0.54 milliseconds."
"The best feature of CockroachDB is the ability to keep the nodes in different locations."
"The availability and the easy to use feature is the most valuable. The documentation is also good."
"The subset of SQL that my client is using is completely supported."
"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."
"The product has valuable security features."
"CockroachDB is highly reliable."
"The initial setup is easy."
"MySQL has cross-platform support for multiple operating systems. The backups on a Linux machine can be restored on a Windows machine, and vice versa."
"MySQL is a scalable tool. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...The solution's technical support is good. I rate the technical support a nine out of ten."
"For starters, it's free, which is always nice, and it's also pretty straightforward to use. It's a nice conventional database."
"The deployment process is pretty fast."
"MySQL is easy to integrate. It works with just about every language."
"MySQL is open-source. There are a lot of open-source communities trying to come up with their own patches, and to come up with their own features, which help MySQL develop faster than traditional databases like Oracle, which is closed source."
"I like MySQL's feature that helps to automate things."
 

Cons

"I would like CockroachDB to have more compatibility with PostgreSQL, especially with the connection string and technical integrations."
"The platform could be more extensible."
"The product must improve its disaster recovery features."
"I find the serverless offer a bit confusing."
"We are looking for more features to support distributed high availability and geo-partitioning."
"Cockroach does not support all types of protocols. I need to improve it myself to support a CouchDB on my network."
"The closer they can make CockroachDB to being completely compatible with Postgres, the better. It's almost compatible, but not completely. If it was, it would be nice to just be able to use Postgres libraries without any fiddling."
"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."
"The GUI could improve in MySQL."
"When I run into issues, I really have to research how to fix them."
"It could be more secure."
"MySQL lacks a feature akin to Oracle's Real Application Clusters, which ensures continuous database availability within the same data center or nearby data centers."
"In an upcoming release, there should be something added similar to EPL. For example, when using the flow diagram, we can create a schema. We have two useful features to add or create the table, but there should be some UI features to allow us to drag and drop to create other schemas. This would be very helpful."
"The product is a little bit complex and it is difficult to find sufficient documentation."
"We require more ease of use, scalability, and high availability. These are some of the critical features that we use and look for in a product. It should be easier to manage clusters. Scalability is very important for us because our projects and concurrency requirements are quite big. We also require high availability of the server, application, and other things. It should also have more performance-based features or enhancements from the performance point of view. When we divide a database, it should be able to handle the queries very fast."
"The solution could be more secure."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is good but can be made cheaper. I would rate the pricing a five out of ten."
"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."
"I've used CockroachDB at a small scale on the free accounts because we are only testing."
"The solution's pricing is not cheap. However, the good thing is that customers are willing to pay for it if they want it."
"The platform is affordable even for the enterprise version. It provides value for investment in terms of performance."
"I rate the solution's pricing as four out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. For our basic needs, it's quite affordable. However, the cost increases when we need to scale up or require high availability. Our developer team of about 600 people uses MySQL without much issue. The pricing becomes more of a concern on the business side, as we have more end users and need constant database availability and scaling. In those cases, the solution gets a bit more expensive, even though it provides good value for the business."
"There is no licensing fee."
"I would rate the solution’s pricing a six out of ten. The solution is not cheap but it’s a fair value. The pricing depends on the use cases of our customers. Some of our customers use the community edition which is license free and a good fit for their use cases. However, we encourage our bigger customers to sign up because of the scalability issues. The paid versions get direct technical support from Oracle."
"I use the open-source free community version."
"My company uses MySQL's corporate licenses."
"We are using the free community version of the solution."
"This is an open-source product that can be used free of charge."
"When you know the setup will continue to grow, make sure you have the paid support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
38%
Computer Software Company
13%
Educational Organization
6%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about CockroachDB?
The subset of SQL that my client is using is completely supported.
What needs improvement with CockroachDB?
I would like CockroachDB to have more compatibility with PostgreSQL, especially with the connection string and technical integrations.
What is your primary use case for CockroachDB?
I am studying how to deploy CockroachDB and YugaByteDB, and learning some basic information about them. I am testing these databases as part of my school application to find a suitable database for...
Why are MySQL connections encrypted and what is the biggest benefit of this?
MySQL encrypts connections to protect your data and the biggest benefit from this is that nobody can corrupt it. If you move information over a network without encryption, you are endangering it, m...
Considering that there is a free version of MySQL, would you invest in one of the paid editions?
I may be considered a MySQL veteran since I have been using it since before Oracle bought it and created paid versions. So back in my day, it was all free, it was open-source and the best among sim...
What is one thing you would improve with MySQL?
One thing I would improve related to MySQL is not within the product itself, but with the guides to it. Before, when it was free, everyone was on their own, seeking tutorials and how-to videos onli...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Baidu, Kindred, Tierion, Heroic Labs, Gorgias
Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.
Find out what your peers are saying about CockroachDB vs. MySQL and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.