CockroachDB Cloud vs Google Cloud SQL
Google Cloud SQL is cheaper across every workload modelled here.
List prices checked
Rate cards side by side
Only the axes at least one of them bills on. A dash means that provider does not charge for it.
| Billing axis | CockroachDB Cloud | Google Cloud SQL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | $25.00/mo | $9.37/mo | 2.7× Google Cloud SQL |
| Storage | $0.500/GB-mo | $0.170/GB-mo | 2.9× Google Cloud SQL |
| Free tier | Yes | No | — |
Source: Cockroach Labs pricing (May 2026) · Google pricing (May 2026). Published list prices only — committed-use discounts, regional variation, and per-request charges are not included. Not yet independently re-checked against the vendor’s page.
Monthly cost for three real workloads
The rate cards applied to identical usage. This is where the winner changes.
| Workload | CockroachDB Cloud | Google Cloud SQL | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side projectA personal site or small app with modest traffic, a few gigabytes of assets, and one small always-on process. | $35 | $13 | Google Cloud SQLsaves $22/mo (64%) |
| Growing SaaSA funded product serving a few thousand daily users, with an image-heavy frontend and two application servers. | $275 | $94 | Google Cloud SQLsaves $181/mo (66%) |
| Media-heavy siteA publisher or video product where delivery dominates the bill and compute is almost an afterthought. | $1,025 | $349 | Google Cloud SQLsaves $676/mo (66%) |
Workload definitions are identical on every comparison page, so figures here can be read against any other pair in the same category.
What each one is for
CockroachDB Cloud
by Cockroach Labs
Distributed SQL with Postgres wire compatibility and multi-region strong consistency, billed on request units. Priced for workloads that genuinely need survivability across regions.
Free tier: $0 basic tier with monthly request-unit and storage allowances
Google Cloud SQL
by Google
Managed MySQL, Postgres, and SQL Server on Google Cloud, billed per instance-hour with automatic storage growth that is easy to leave running unnoticed.
Common questions
- Is CockroachDB Cloud or Google Cloud SQL cheaper in 2026?
- Google Cloud SQL is cheaper in all 3 modelled workloads.
- Which has the better free tier, CockroachDB Cloud or Google Cloud SQL?
- CockroachDB Cloud does — $0 basic tier with monthly request-unit and storage allowances. Google Cloud SQL bills from the first unit of usage.
- What do these estimates not include?
- Committed-use and reserved discounts, regional price variation, per-request API charges, support plans, and minimum retention periods. All of those move real invoices, sometimes by a lot. These figures compare published list prices for the same workload, which is the comparison the rate cards alone cannot give you.