CockroachDB
CockroachDB is a cloud-native SQL database designed to handle mission-critical workloads by providing automatic scaling, survival against hardware failures, and consistent data distribution across global regions.
Nhost
Nhost is an open-source Firebase alternative that provides a complete backend-as-a-service platform with GraphQL, authentication, storage, and serverless functions to help you build and scale web and mobile applications.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | CockroachDB | Nhost |
|---|---|---|
| Website | cockroachlabs.com | nhost.io |
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting Price | Free | Free |
| FREE Trial | ✓ 30 days free trial | ✘ No free trial |
| Free Plan | ✓ Has free plan | ✓ Has free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 2015 | 2019 |
| Headquarters | New York, USA | Stockholm, Sweden |
Overview
CockroachDB
CockroachDB gives you a distributed SQL database that combines the familiarity of relational systems with the elastic scalability of NoSQL. You can build applications that stay online even during data center outages because the system automatically replicates and distributes your data across multiple nodes. It eliminates the manual pain of sharding, allowing your database to grow horizontally as your traffic increases without complex architectural changes.
You can deploy it anywhere—on-premises, in your own cloud, or as a fully managed service. It is specifically designed for developers who need high availability and strict data consistency for transactional workloads like payment processing or inventory management. Whether you are a startup building your first app or a global enterprise managing massive datasets, you get a database that scales with your needs while maintaining Postgres compatibility.
Nhost
Nhost provides you with a complete, open-source backend so you can focus on building your frontend without worrying about infrastructure. It combines a PostgreSQL database, Hasura for instant GraphQL APIs, and built-in authentication and storage into a single unified platform. You can manage your entire data layer through a visual dashboard or via the command line, making it easy to transition from a local development environment to a production-ready cloud setup.
Whether you are building a simple MVP or a complex enterprise application, you can use Nhost to handle user management, file uploads, and real-time data syncing. The platform also supports serverless functions, allowing you to write custom logic in Node.js or Python that scales automatically. By integrating these core backend components, you save weeks of configuration time and can deploy your applications globally with just a few clicks.
Overview
CockroachDB Features
- Horizontal Scaling Add more nodes to your cluster to increase capacity instantly without taking your application offline or manual sharding.
- Automated Replication Protect your data by automatically distributing copies across different disks, machines, or geographic regions for continuous availability.
- PostgreSQL Compatibility Use your existing PostgreSQL drivers and ORMs to connect to the database, making migration and development familiar and fast.
- Multi-Region Survival Configure your database to survive the failure of an entire cloud region while keeping your application running smoothly.
- Distributed Transactions Maintain ACID compliance across your entire cluster so your data stays consistent even during complex, multi-node updates.
- Online Schema Changes Update your database tables and indexes in real-time without locking your data or causing application downtime.
Nhost Features
- Instant GraphQL API. Generate a production-ready GraphQL API automatically from your PostgreSQL schema so you can query data instantly.
- Managed PostgreSQL. Store your data in a dedicated PostgreSQL database that you can manage visually through a built-in dashboard.
- Built-in Authentication. Secure your apps with ready-to-use authentication including email/password, social logins, and magic links for your users.
- Serverless Functions. Deploy custom backend logic using Node.js or Python without managing any server infrastructure or scaling issues.
- Cloud Storage. Upload and serve files securely with integrated storage that includes image transformation and granular access controls.
- Real-time Subscriptions. Build reactive applications by subscribing to data changes in real-time through the GraphQL API without extra setup.
Pricing Comparison
CockroachDB Pricing
- Up to 10GB free storage
- 50M Request Units per month
- Multi-region availability
- Automatic scaling to zero
- Shared infrastructure
- Community support
- Everything in Standard, plus:
- Dedicated compute resources
- 99.99% uptime SLA
- Private networking (VPC Peering)
- Advanced security and SSO
- 24/7 priority support
Nhost Pricing
- Shared infrastructure
- 500MB PostgreSQL database
- 1GB File storage
- 5GB Bandwidth
- 10,000 Monthly Active Users
- Community support
- Everything in Starter, plus:
- Dedicated infrastructure
- 8GB PostgreSQL database
- 10GB File storage
- 50GB Bandwidth
- 50,000 Monthly Active Users
- Email support
Pros & Cons
CockroachDB
Pros
- Exceptional resilience during hardware or regional failures
- Eliminates the complexity of manual database sharding
- Strong consistency for critical financial transactions
- Easy migration thanks to PostgreSQL wire compatibility
Cons
- Higher resource overhead compared to standard PostgreSQL
- Learning curve for optimizing multi-region performance
- Can become expensive for high-volume write workloads
Nhost
Pros
- Fast setup for GraphQL-based applications
- Open-source core prevents vendor lock-in
- Seamless integration between database and auth
- Generous free tier for initial development
- Excellent documentation for modern frontend frameworks
Cons
- Smaller ecosystem compared to Google Firebase
- Limited serverless function language support
- Learning curve for Hasura permissions logic