CockroachDB Pricing (2026)

You're billed per vCPU-hour, so the meter's running on compute consumption rather than seats or storage. That's a fundamentally different mental model than most databases — you're paying for the horsepower running your cluster, not per-user access, and rates flex by region since AWS us-east-1 pricing isn't what you'll see in ap-southeast or elsewhere.

From $0/mo 2 plans usage-based Free trial Best CockroachDB alternatives → CockroachDB's competitors →
Standard
$0/mo
Mission Critical
$0/mo
Verified Sep 19, 2026 Official pricing page
Screenshot of CockroachDB's pricing page showing its plans and prices
Their pricing page, captured Sep 19, 2026

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Standard

$0/mo
  • Shared infrastructure
  • 99.99% availability SLA
  • Single- or multi-region, on AWS and GCP
  • Usage-based storage
  • Row-level security, column-level encryption, private connectivity
  • CDC add-on available
  • 1-hour P1 support response

Mission Critical

$0/mo
  • Dedicated infrastructure
  • 99.999% availability SLA with multi-region
  • AWS, GCP and Azure
  • Provisioned storage, or usage-based storage (preview)
  • Egress controls, CMEK, PCI DSS & HIPAA compliance
  • All add-ons available
  • 30-minute P1 support response

Does CockroachDB have a free plan?

No. There's no free-forever plan. There is a free trial that lasts 30 days, with no credit card required, and paid plans start at $0/mo.

Want free? Airtable, Aiven, and Appwrite have free plans: see all CockroachDB alternatives →

AI Pricing Analysis

Pricing Model

You're billed per vCPU-hour, so the meter's running on compute consumption rather than seats or storage. That's a fundamentally different mental model than most databases — you're paying for the horsepower running your cluster, not per-user access, and rates flex by region since AWS us-east-1 pricing isn't what you'll see in ap-southeast or elsewhere.

Tier Strategy

Standard is the on-ramp — no credit card needed, self-serve, built for teams kicking the tires or running smaller production workloads. Mission Critical is where you land once uptime SLAs, multi-region resilience, or compliance requirements actually matter to the business, and the 75%+ price jump per vCPU-hour reflects that it's aimed at teams who can't afford downtime, not ones optimizing for cost.

Competitive Positioning

This isn't a budget play — usage-based vCPU pricing plus a premium Mission Critical tier signals they're chasing teams who need serious distributed-SQL muscle (multi-region, strong consistency) and are willing to pay for it, going head-to-head with Google Spanner and Yugabyte more than commodity Postgres hosting. The lack of a free plan reinforces that they're not fishing for hobbyists.

Growth Lever

Expansion here is pure consumption growth — spin up more clusters, run hotter workloads, or add regions, and your vCPU-hour bill climbs automatically without any negotiation. The real upgrade trigger is moving from Standard to Mission Critical once you need enterprise SLAs or advanced resilience features, and annual/committed-use contracts are the release valve CockroachDB dangles to lock in that bigger spend early.

Want the strategist's read on the live page? Read the AI teardown of CockroachDB's pricing page →

CockroachDB Pricing FAQ

How much does CockroachDB cost?
Paid plans start at $0/mo, going up to $0/mo for larger teams.
Is there a free plan?
No free plan. But there is a free trial, so you can test it out before paying.
Can I try it before paying?
Yes — there's a free trial that lasts 30 days. You don't need a credit card to start.
How does the pricing work?
You're billed per vCPU-hour, so the meter's running on compute consumption rather than seats or storage. That's a fundamentally different mental model than most databases — you're paying for the horsepower running your cluster, not per-user access, and rates flex by region since AWS us-east-1 pricing isn't what you'll see in ap-southeast or elsewhere.
Is there a discount for annual billing?
Annual and committed-use contracts qualify for volume discounts.
Which plan makes sense for me?
Standard is the on-ramp — no credit card needed, self-serve, built for teams kicking the tires or running smaller production workloads. Mission Critical is where you land once uptime SLAs, multi-region resilience, or compliance requirements actually matter to the business, and the 75%+ price jump per vCPU-hour reflects that it's aimed at teams who can't afford downtime, not ones optimizing for cost.

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Comparing CockroachDB to something specific? Try CockroachDB vs Airtable, CockroachDB vs Aiven, or CockroachDB vs Appwrite. Or see the best CockroachDB alternatives, ranked.

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