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Open-source alternatives to CockroachDB

Compare community-driven replacements for CockroachDB in distributed sql databases workflows. We curate active, self-hostable options with transparent licensing so you can evaluate the right fit quickly.

CockroachDB logo

CockroachDB

CockroachDB is a distributed SQL database built to scale horizontally and survive datacenter outages while maintaining ACID transactions. It automatically replicates and distributes data across nodes (and even regions) to achieve high availability and data locality. CockroachDB is wire-compatible with PostgreSQL, allowing developers to use standard SQL and drivers. By providing automatic sharding, rebalancing, and fault tolerance, CockroachDB empowers applications to achieve global scale and strong consistency without complex manual partitioning.Read more
Distributed SQL Databases
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Key stats

  • 5Alternatives
  • 5Active development

    Recent commits in the last 6 months

  • 3Permissive licenses

    MIT, Apache, and similar licenses

Counts reflect projects currently indexed as alternatives to CockroachDB.

Start with these picks

These projects match the most common migration paths for teams replacing CockroachDB.

YDB logo
YDB
AI-powered workflows

Why teams pick it

Fault‑tolerant architecture surviving node, rack, or datacenter failures

PostgreSQL logo
PostgreSQL
Integration-friendly choice

Why teams pick it

Highly extensible via extensions, procedural languages, and C APIs

All open-source alternatives

YDB logo

YDB

Scalable, fault-tolerant Distributed SQL with strict ACID guarantees

Active developmentPermissive licenseIntegration-friendlyC++

Why teams choose it

  • Horizontal scaling of storage and compute layers
  • Fault‑tolerant architecture surviving node, rack, or datacenter failures
  • ACID‑compliant transactions across multiple nodes with strict consistency

Watch for

Requires minimum 8 GB RAM and x86_64 hardware

Migration highlight

Real‑time bidding platform

Handles millions of distributed transactions per second with strict consistency, ensuring accurate auction results.

TiDB logo

TiDB

Scalable, cloud-native SQL database with strong consistency.

Active developmentPermissive licenseAI-powered workflowsGo

Why teams choose it

  • Distributed ACID transactions via two‑phase commit
  • Horizontal & vertical scaling without downtime
  • Built‑in high availability with Raft consensus

Watch for

Operational complexity can increase with large clusters

Migration highlight

E‑commerce platform handling flash sales

Maintains ACID transactions across thousands of nodes while providing real‑time inventory analytics.

PostgreSQL logo

PostgreSQL

Robust, extensible relational database engine for modern applications

Active developmentIntegration-friendlyAI-powered workflowsC

Why teams choose it

  • Full SQL compliance with advanced features (CTEs, window functions, JSONB)
  • ACID‑compliant transactions and robust concurrency control (MVCC)
  • Extensible architecture: custom data types, procedural languages, and C extensions

Watch for

Complex configuration can be daunting for beginners

Migration highlight

Transactional e‑commerce platform

Ensures order consistency, supports complex queries, and scales with read replicas for high traffic.

YugabyteDB logo

YugabyteDB

Scalable PostgreSQL-compatible distributed SQL for cloud-native workloads

Active developmentAI-powered workflowsC

Why teams choose it

  • PostgreSQL 15 compatibility with full YSQL feature set
  • Distributed ACID transactions using Raft and hybrid logical clocks
  • Native multi-region, multi-cloud deployment with automatic failover (RPO 0, RTO ≈ 3 s)

Watch for

Operational complexity of managing distributed clusters

Migration highlight

Globally distributed e‑commerce checkout

Maintain ACID transactions across continents while serving fast read replicas, ensuring zero data loss during regional outages.

CrateDB logo

CrateDB

Distributed SQL database for real-time analytics at scale

Active developmentPermissive licenseIntegration-friendlyJava

Why teams choose it

  • Standard SQL with PostgreSQL wire protocol and HTTP API support
  • Horizontal scalability with auto-sharding, auto-replication, and self-healing
  • Native time-series, full-text search, and geospatial capabilities

Watch for

Requires understanding of distributed database concepts for optimal deployment

Migration highlight

IoT Sensor Data Analytics

Ingest thousands of sensor readings per second and run real-time SQL queries for anomaly detection and trend analysis across distributed clusters.

Choosing a distributed sql databases alternative

Teams replacing CockroachDB in distributed sql databases workflows typically weigh self-hosting needs, integration coverage, and licensing obligations.

  • 5 options are actively maintained with recent commits.

Tip: shortlist one hosted and one self-hosted option so stakeholders can compare trade-offs before migrating away from CockroachDB.