Top alternative, especially after CockroachDB license changes. Gain: Apache 2.0 open source, better PostgreSQL compatibility, self-hosted freedom. Trade-off: smaller community, less brand recognition than CockroachDB.

Enterprise teams switch for Google SLA and ecosystem. Gain: battle-tested at Google scale, fully managed. Trade-off: GCP lock-in, higher cost, less SQL compatibility.

AWS teams switch for ecosystem integration. Gain: PostgreSQL/MySQL compatibility, AWS managed, Aurora Serverless. Trade-off: single-region primary, AWS lock-in.

Teams switch for MySQL compatibility. Gain: MySQL protocol, TiKV storage engine, hybrid OLTP/OLAP. Trade-off: different SQL dialect, smaller Western community.

Teams switch for developer experience. Gain: Git-like branching, now supports PostgreSQL (2025). Trade-off: no free tier since 2024, MySQL-focused history.