PostgreSQL vs CockroachDB for Solo Developers

Quick Comparison

PostgreSQL Overview

PostgreSQL is the industry standard open-source relational database. It runs on a single server, handles complex queries with ease, supports JSONB, full-text search, and hundreds of extensions. For the vast majority of applications, a single Postgres instance handles millions of rows and thousands of concurrent users without breaking a sweat.

The managed hosting ecosystem is massive. Supabase, Neon, Railway, Render, DigitalOcean, and AWS RDS all offer managed Postgres. You can start with a free tier and scale to dedicated servers as your application grows. The tooling, documentation, and community support are unmatched.

CockroachDB Overview

CockroachDB is a distributed SQL database that speaks the PostgreSQL wire protocol. Its core promise is that you can run a globally distributed database that survives node failures, replicates across regions, and shards automatically, all while using standard SQL. It was built to solve the problems that companies like Google face at planetary scale.

The Serverless free tier gives you 10 GiB of storage and 50 million Request Units per month. That is enough to experiment with, but the real product starts at $295/mo for Dedicated, which gives you a multi-node cluster. CockroachDB targets teams and enterprises, not solo developers.

Key Differences

You almost certainly do not need distributed SQL. This is the honest truth that CockroachDB's marketing does not emphasize. A single PostgreSQL instance on a $20/mo server handles workloads that would cost hundreds per month on CockroachDB. Distributed databases solve the problem of "what happens when one data center goes down" and "how do I serve users on three continents with low latency." If you are a solo developer, these are not your problems yet.

PostgreSQL compatibility is good but not complete. CockroachDB supports most PostgreSQL syntax and many extensions, but there are gaps. Some Postgres-specific features, data types, and functions are missing or behave differently. ORMs like Django's or SQLAlchemy work, but you will occasionally hit edge cases that require workarounds.

Latency is higher by design. CockroachDB achieves strong consistency across distributed nodes by running consensus protocols on every write. This adds latency compared to a single Postgres server. For a solo developer whose database and application live in the same data center, a direct Postgres connection will always be faster.

Auto-sharding sounds great until you pay for it. CockroachDB automatically distributes data across nodes. This is valuable at massive scale. But for a solo developer with a few thousand users, auto-sharding means paying for multiple nodes to store data that fits comfortably on a single Postgres server.

Operational simplicity vs. distributed complexity. Running Postgres is simple: one server, one database, straightforward backups. CockroachDB, even in managed form, introduces concepts like ranges, leaseholders, and replication zones. Understanding these is necessary to debug performance issues.

When to Choose PostgreSQL

• You are building any application as a solo developer (this covers 99% of cases)
• You want the simplest, cheapest, and most proven database
• You need the full PostgreSQL feature set without compatibility gaps
• Your users are in one or two regions
• You want maximum choice in hosting providers and tooling

When to Choose CockroachDB

• You need multi-region deployments with strong consistency
• Your application must survive data center failures without downtime
• You are building for enterprise customers who require geographic data residency
• You have the budget for $295+/mo dedicated infrastructure
• You have outgrown single-node PostgreSQL (this is rare for solo developers)

The Verdict

PostgreSQL is the clear winner for solo developers, and the 9/10 vs 4/10 ratings reflect how large the gap is for this audience. CockroachDB solves real, important problems, but they are problems that solo developers do not have.

If you are building a project solo, a single Postgres instance handles more traffic than you will see for years. The money you save ($295/mo vs. free) can go toward actually growing your business. CockroachDB is for companies that have already proven product-market fit and need to scale globally with zero-downtime guarantees. That is an admirable goal, but getting there starts with Postgres, not with distributed SQL on day one.