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CockroachDB vs SQL Server 2014 Express comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Vector Databases (17th), Database Management Systems (DBMS) (11th)
SQL Server 2014 Express
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
24th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of CockroachDB is 4.1%, up from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SQL Server 2014 Express is 0.4%. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
CockroachDB4.1%
SQL Server 2014 Express0.4%
Other95.5%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

SC
Manager, Software Engineering at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Provides developer-friendly environment with robust security and cost-efficiency
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 queries, rather than relying on email support. The current UI only provides SQL playground, which is technical. There should be a UI playground where users with limited technical knowledge can run and update queries, similar to phpMyAdmin or Adminer. Latency optimization could be improved for globally distributed applications, particularly in query routing. 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. The disadvantages include cost-efficiency with multi-region deployment and schema migration speed, which should be faster compared to other drivers. The query optimizer should handle complex queries better through the UI interface.
reviewer2805456 - PeerSpot reviewer
Student at a university with 501-1,000 employees
Practical database projects have strengthened my query skills and improved real data handling
However, I also realized its limitation when I tried working on a large database. It is not perfect because it provides 10 GB per database. If we are storing a large database or large data, 10 GB is not proper for storing. Overall, I would recommend SQL Server 2014 Express for a student and as a free version you can use it, but not for a large database or a company database. There are also performance issues. SQL Server 2014 Express is fast, but it is not perfectly scalable because it provides only 10 GB per database size. However, it has proper error handling. I think SQL Server 2014 Express can be improved by first improving the database size. Making the maximum size a user can have per database is needed. Right now it is 10 GB. Increase it to a maximum so a user can save as much data as they want, approaching unlimited data storage. Additionally, the operating system should be supported on every Windows variation, including Linux and every other operating system. A backup option is also needed because SSMS is not providing built-in backup features.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"CockroachDB is highly reliable."
"The initial setup and deployment are simple."
"I use CockroachDB to test big data samples and to create the best structure for databases."
"CockroachDB is a best practice for my organization."
"The most valuable features of the solution are its resiliency features and the geo-partitioning capabilities."
"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 availability and the easy to use feature is the most valuable. The documentation is also good."
"The most valuable feature is that CockroachDB is a distributed database, which can deploy nodes running in different regions."
"SQL Server 2014 Express has positively impacted my organization by improving my knowledge in SQL coding and making my work faster."
"The best features of SQL Server 2014 Express are that it can be downloaded, it is open source, can be downloaded on any desktop, and it is a free version with no charge for downloads, making it highly useful for students and developers building applications for standalone or enterprise applications."
"SQL Server 2014 Express helped me gain a real-world application and practical database skills."
"SQL Server 2014 Express has provided a return on investment by saving money and time compared to other SQL servers such as MySQL and PostgreSQL, which are similar but more expensive and less user-friendly for non-technical clients."
"SQL Server 2014 Express has impacted my organization positively because it is time-saving."
 

Cons

"I would like CockroachDB to have more compatibility with PostgreSQL, especially with the connection string and technical integrations."
"The initial setup and pricing could be improved."
"Cockroach does not support all types of protocols. I need to improve it myself to support a CouchDB on my network."
"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."
"We are looking for more features to support distributed high availability and geo-partitioning."
"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 find the serverless offer a bit confusing."
"We are looking for more features to support distributed high availability and geo-partitioning."
"SQL Server 2014 Express can be improved as there are some resource limits. There are limitations on database size, memory, and CPU usage which restrict scalability."
"SQL Server 2014 Express could be improved by offering multiple authentication methods."
"Whenever we put more data, the query time is more because it is not an Enterprise version and the data storage is limited to 10 GB, which is the only drawback I can identify."
"However, I also realized its limitation when I tried working on a large database. It is not perfect because it provides 10 GB per database."
"SQL Server 2014 Express can be improved by increasing the maximum 10 gigabytes for a database, as it would be better if this limit were increased."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 pricing is good but can be made cheaper. I would rate the pricing a five out of ten."
"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 platform is affordable even for the enterprise version. It provides value for investment in terms of performance."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Educational Organization
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
University
7%
Construction Company
38%
Healthcare Company
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

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 ...
What advice do you have for others considering CockroachDB?
The tech support deserves a rating of nine out of ten. My overall rating for CockroachDB is 8 out of 10.
What needs improvement with SQL Server 2014 Express?
However, I also realized its limitation when I tried working on a large database. It is not perfect because it provides 10 GB per database. If we are storing a large database or large data, 10 GB i...
What is your primary use case for SQL Server 2014 Express?
My main use case for SQL Server 2014 Express is that I use it for my internship. In the company, I am also working with SQL Server 2014 version, and I also use it for my academic project. As a stud...
What advice do you have for others considering SQL Server 2014 Express?
Overall, I would recommend SQL Server 2014 Express for a student. I advise others looking into using SQL Server 2014 Express that if you are storing a structured database, then you have to use SQL ...
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Baidu, Kindred, Tierion, Heroic Labs, Gorgias
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about CockroachDB vs. SQL Server 2014 Express and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.