CockroachDB vs Amazon RDS

The cockroach of databases: hard to kill, spreads everywhere, and surprisingly good at SQL meets managed databases for people who'd rather not manage databases. Here's our take.

CockroachDB

Nice Pick

The cockroach of databases: hard to kill, spreads everywhere, and surprisingly good at SQL.

Pros

• Strong consistency across distributed nodes without manual sharding
• PostgreSQL wire protocol compatibility for easy migration
• Automatic data replication and rebalancing for high availability

Cons

• Higher latency compared to single-node databases due to distributed overhead
• Complex licensing and pricing can be a headache for scaling

Amazon RDS

Managed databases for people who'd rather not manage databases. It's like having a DBA on retainer, but cheaper and less opinionated.

Pros

• Automates backups, patching, and scaling, so you can focus on your app instead of babysitting servers
• Supports multiple engines like PostgreSQL and MySQL, making it easy to switch or standardize
• Built-in high availability with Multi-AZ deployments, because downtime is for amateurs

Cons

• Costs can sneak up on you with instance sizes and storage, especially if you forget to turn things off
• Limited control over the underlying OS and some database settings, which can be frustrating for power users

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. CockroachDB is a databases while Amazon RDS is a hosting & deployment. We picked CockroachDB based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

CockroachDB wins

Based on overall popularity. CockroachDB is more widely used, but Amazon RDS excels in its own space.