Turso vs CockroachDB for Solo Developers

Quick Comparison

Turso Overview

Turso is SQLite at the edge. Built on libSQL (a fork of SQLite), it replicates your database to edge locations around the world. The standout feature is embedded replicas, where a read replica lives inside your application process. Reads become essentially local function calls. No network round trip. No latency.

The simplicity is the selling point. SQLite is the most widely deployed database in the world. You already know it if you've ever built a mobile app or prototype. Turso takes that simplicity and adds the one thing SQLite lacks: replication and global distribution. You write to a primary, reads happen locally.

The free tier is practical. You get databases, storage, and enough compute to build real things. For a solo developer who values simplicity and wants global performance, Turso offers a path that doesn't require a PhD in distributed systems.

CockroachDB Overview

CockroachDB is a distributed SQL database built for applications that cannot tolerate downtime. It's Postgres-compatible, automatically shards your data across nodes, and maintains strong consistency across regions. Banks, financial institutions, and global enterprises use it for mission-critical workloads.

The serverless free tier lets you try it without commitment. You get a Postgres-compatible database that happens to be distributed under the hood. For small projects, it works. SQL queries feel familiar.

But the complexity exists whether you use it or not. CockroachDB is designed for distributed transactions, multi-region replication, and automatic failover. These features add latency to simple queries and cognitive overhead to your architecture decisions. For a solo developer, it's like driving a tank to the grocery store.

Key Differences

Simplicity vs enterprise resilience. Turso extends a simple tool (SQLite) with edge distribution. CockroachDB builds a complex distributed system with Postgres compatibility layered on top. The philosophical approaches are opposite. Turso makes simple things globally fast. CockroachDB makes distributed things relationally correct.

Read performance favors Turso significantly. Turso's embedded replicas mean reads are local. Zero network latency. CockroachDB's reads go through the distributed consensus layer, adding milliseconds even for simple queries. For read-heavy applications (which most web apps are), Turso's architecture is faster.

Write capabilities favor CockroachDB. SQLite's single-writer model means Turso handles one write at a time. CockroachDB distributes writes across nodes and handles concurrent writes natively. If your application has heavy write traffic or needs multi-writer capabilities, CockroachDB handles it better.

SQL feature set is very different. CockroachDB supports most PostgreSQL features: complex joins, stored procedures, advanced indexing, CTEs, window functions. Turso gives you SQLite's SQL, which is capable but more limited. No stored procedures, fewer data types, simpler indexing. For complex queries, CockroachDB offers more.

Scaling costs tell different stories. Turso's Scaler is $29/mo. CockroachDB's Dedicated starts at $295/mo. That's a 10x difference. For a solo developer, Turso's upgrade path is affordable. CockroachDB's jump from free to paid is brutal.

The learning curve gap is massive. You can learn Turso in an afternoon if you know SQLite. CockroachDB requires understanding distributed systems concepts, partition strategies, and how consensus protocols affect your query patterns. As a solo developer, time spent learning infrastructure is time not spent building features.

When to Choose Turso

• You love SQLite's simplicity and want it in production
• Low-latency reads globally matter for your application
• You want embedded replicas for near-zero read latency
• You prefer a gentle learning curve
• Your write traffic is moderate and single-writer is fine

When to Choose CockroachDB

• You need Postgres-compatible distributed SQL
• Your application demands multi-writer concurrency
• Global data consistency (not just availability) is critical
• You need complex SQL features beyond SQLite's capabilities
• Regulatory requirements mandate multi-region data distribution

The Verdict

Turso is the better choice for solo developers. The 8/10 vs 4/10 rating gap is significant, and it reflects practical reality. Turso gives you global read performance with SQLite's simplicity at a price you can afford. CockroachDB gives you enterprise-grade distributed SQL for problems you almost certainly don't have.

If you need more SQL power than SQLite offers, skip CockroachDB and go with Neon for serverless Postgres. If you want global edge performance with a simple data model, Turso delivers that elegantly. CockroachDB is a great database for the right use case, but solo developers are almost never that use case.