What it does
CockroachDB Cloud is Cockroach Labs’ managed SQL service. Its quickstart provisions a cluster, creates a SQL user, and connects a sample application; the cloud service offers Standard and Mission Critical deployment choices. Pricing is metered by provisioned compute and additional storage, transfer, backup, and add-on usage.
For a first application connection, create a Cloud organization and a Standard cluster on one of the documented providers, create a SQL user, and use the generated connection string in the sample application. The example then creates and queries a table, making it a practical way to verify the application-to-database path before adapting it to your schema.
Trial credits are temporary, not a free production tier: new organizations receive $400 for 30 days, and a cluster pauses when the trial ends or its credit is exhausted. The pricing page describes Standard as shared infrastructure and Mission Critical as dedicated, with different cloud availability. It also notes that edition changes are not in-place and that current Cockroach Continuum prices apply to new organizations or deployments created from September 15, 2026; existing customers may remain on earlier plans.
Strengths
- The quickstart provisions a cluster, SQL user, and sample application connection.
- Standard and Mission Critical editions make infrastructure choices explicit.
- New organizations receive trial credits for evaluation.
Watch out for
- Trial clusters pause when the trial expires or credit runs out; this is not a permanent free tier.
- The pricing page says editions cannot be changed in place and distinguishes new from existing customer plans.
Best for
- Evaluating a managed distributed SQL database with an application quickstart
- Teams that want managed cluster operations and explicit availability tiers
Sources
- Quickstart with CockroachDB (Oct 25, 2026)
- Pricing: CockroachDB & Cockroach Continuum (Oct 25, 2026)