CockroachDB vs IBM Db2 Database comparison

Cockroach and IBM are both solutions in the Relational Databases Tools category. Cockroach is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.4, while IBM is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.2. Cockroach holds a 3.8% mindshare in SQL, compared to IBM’s 7.1% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of Cockroach users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of IBM users who would recommend it.

CockroachDB

Read 12 CockroachDB reviews

2,475 Views
1,777 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

IBM Db2 Database

Read 73 IBM Db2 Database reviews

6,202 Views
4,021 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

CockroachDB

IBM Db2 Database

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

IBM Db2 Database and CockroachDB compete in the database industry, serving enterprise-level customers. While both have their strengths, CockroachDB's cloud capabilities and user-friendly deployment give it an edge in cloud environments.

Features: IBM Db2 Database offers robust SQL dialect capabilities, platform versatility, and self-tuning memory management that optimize performance. It ensures reliability and integration with other IBM products. Db2 is known for its stability, scalability, and security, appealing to industries like banking. CockroachDB is recognized for its distributed nature, geo-replication, and fault tolerance, making it suitable for global applications. It supports SQL and is compatible with PostgreSQL, enabling scalability and availability in cloud deployments.

Room for Improvement: IBM Db2 faces challenges with a steep learning curve, complex licensing, and limited training and support resources. Cloud integration and administration complexity can be improved. CockroachDB could enhance PostgreSQL compatibility, disaster recovery features, and serverless pricing models. Better documentation and language support are needed to cater to a broader audience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Db2 is mainly deployed on-premises, with hybrid and private cloud options less advanced than CockroachDB's cloud capabilities. IBM's technical support is generally helpful but can be delayed or complex. CockroachDB benefits from simpler architecture and flexible deployment options. IBM’s customer service is robust but can be complex, while CockroachDB offers straightforward engagement.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Db2's pricing is often viewed as high due to complex licensing and mainframe costs, yet it provides significant ROI through performance. CockroachDB offers flexible pricing suitable for small to large enterprise solutions, with transparent and flexible pricing leading to positive ROI for performance.

To learn more, read our detailed CockroachDB vs. IBM Db2 Database Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

CockroachDB vs. IBM Db2 Database

April 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

CockroachDB

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

12th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM Db2 Database

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

6th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of CockroachDB is 3.8%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Db2 Database is 7.1%, up from 6.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Relational Databases Tools

Featured Reviews

Antonio Tringali

Software Engineer at a consultancy with self employed

Open source with extensive documentation and a University for training

I am a freelancer. A client of mine wanted a solution that would allow them to scale yet not abandon the familiar PostgreSQL front-end (and rewrite a part of their source code). Scalability aside, CockroachDB is a fine way forward from PostgreSQL and is not changing the client source code part of the system. If you are lucky and you do not use newer features from recent versions of PostgreSQL or PostgreSQL extensions, it's fine. There are nice-to-have features for big organizations like regional tables. At the moment, my client simply does not use these. However, the serverless offer from CockroachDB is reacting well as data grows.

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SimonHiggins

Mainframe Technical Manager/Service Integration Lead at Saudi Business Machines

Very scalable with high availability and excellent technical support

The good thing is that there are improvements coming with later function levels for the z/OS Db2. I'd like it if, with the operating system that we've got, z/OS, on the mainframe, it would allow us to refresh the hardware to run Linux dockers on the mainframe. This means this might give us opportunities for different ways of coming into the Db2 environment in the future. We just want a bit more integration with Linux. That said, we are already seeing Linux more readily available on the mainframe environment. Not only have we got the premium operating systems on OS. We can run LPARs on the same mainframe footprint that is also supporting Linux. This is what has improved and made the mainframe environment more competitive. We're also looking at AI for Db2 as well, and machine learning for the future. We know that AI has come out, that we're going to get that, and we're going to evaluate that product next year for Db2. That said, I haven't got any real complaints about Db2 on the mainframe. For the most part, a lot of the problems we have nowadays are to do with communication between the various teams that you would class as stakeholders.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The availability and the easy to use feature is the most valuable. The documentation is also good."

"The subset of SQL that my client is using is completely supported."

"The most valuable features of the solution are its resiliency features and the geo-partitioning capabilities."

"The product has valuable security features."

"CockroachDB is highly reliable."

"What I like best is its ability to solve data residency issues. The main advantage is auto geo partitioning, built into the product. This means we don't have to spin up separate servers in each region, which would be much more costly."

"The initial setup and deployment are simple."

"The most valuable feature is that CockroachDB is a distributed database, which can deploy nodes running in different regions."

More CockroachDB pros

"Your iOS, your throughputs, your performance cycles, you cannot touch it with Microsoft or with Oracle scalability-wise. That is far and away the most scalable systems and the highest performing systems of the set of them."

"The structure is straightforward, consisting of the test file and the logical and physical files. You have one physical file and many logical files related to it."

"Reliable, robust with great features."

"When you submit a ticket the response time is quick."

"Db2 database scalability and performance capabilities match our database needs. It covers pretty much everything a database administrator or engineer might need."

"Some of the most valuable features are the scaling from a small very cheap installation to a very large enterprise installation. In addition, the backups and assistance are good."

"IBM Db2 was much cheaper as a package than using other products. This is because IBM supplied a package with its product. It's an application. So it was much more efficient and a stronger competitor in that regard."

"It has a good, stable performance."

More IBM Db2 Database pros

Cons

"CockroachDB needs to improve store processes."

"I find the serverless offer a bit confusing."

"Cockroach does not support all types of protocols. I need to improve it myself to support a CouchDB on my network."

"We are looking for more features to support distributed high availability and geo-partitioning."

"The platform could be more extensible."

"I think the engine itself could be improved. If you miss a partition key, it should be able to be modeled. This is where AI could be really helpful. For example, if a user is from Australia, the system should know to look for their data there first instead of searching in the US or another continent."

"I would like CockroachDB to have more compatibility with PostgreSQL, especially with the connection string and technical integrations."

"The closer they can make CockroachDB to being completely compatible with Postgres, the better. It's almost compatible, but not completely. If it was, it would be nice to just be able to use Postgres libraries without any fiddling."

More CockroachDB cons

"They should simplify the management of Db2 as a relational database system. There should be the simplification of management. This is probably one of the most important asks for being successful in the future."

"I would like to see some artificial intelligence brought into the solution."

"The GUI interface is not particularly friendly for those who do not have experience with the product."

"I would like to see better support for advanced analytics."

"The management of Db2 should be simplified because there are not too many specialists in this area, and the learning curve of Db2 specialists is very long. After the courses, probably it takes one and a half or two years to get to the point when you are using the product properly in the production systems. So, the complexity is very high, and the most important thing is to simplify the management of the product, including self-maintenance. They should simplify the installation, management, and monitoring to simplify the product. It takes too long for a person to be a specialist in this product."

"I would say that the tool has to be made more cloud-friendly and should have agreements with AWS, Microsoft, or Google to run things on hyperscalers."

"The data table names are very short which is not user-friendly compared to the Oracle SQL server. It should have longer column and table names."

"The usage of Db2 could be simplified, as it is quite complex and requires substantial knowledge of Db2 and zOS."

More IBM Db2 Database cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I've used CockroachDB at a small scale on the free accounts because we are only testing."

"The pricing is good but can be made cheaper. I would rate the pricing a five out of ten."

"The solution's pricing is not cheap. However, the good thing is that customers are willing to pay for it if they want it."

"The platform is affordable even for the enterprise version. It provides value for investment in terms of performance."

"The product's price depends on the user's company and the contract model they enter into with CockroachDB. Depending on the contract model one enters into with CockroachDB, the product may or may not be expensive."

"The solution costs less than other products."

"Db2 is less expensive than Oracle."

"If I consider the price of IBM Db2 Database, I would say there are cheaper products in the market."

"It's very expensive."

"I rate the product pricing a nine out of ten."

"They are competitive and honest (compared to how peer firms approach licensing conversations). "

"Compared to other databases, Db2 is relatively cheaper."

"The solution's hardware and subscription model for support are very expensive."

More IBM Db2 Database pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

37%

Computer Software Company

13%

Educational Organization

Retailer

Educational Organization

55%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about CockroachDB?

The subset of SQL that my client is using is completely supported.

See all answers

What needs improvement with CockroachDB?

I would like CockroachDB to have more compatibility with PostgreSQL, especially with the connection string and technical integrations.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for CockroachDB?

I am studying how to deploy CockroachDB and YugaByteDB, and learning some basic information about them. I am testing these databases as part of my school application to find a suitable database for...

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Db2 Database?

Db2 database scalability and performance capabilities match our database needs. It covers pretty much everything a database administrator or engineer might need.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Db2 Database?

IBM Db2 is an expensive solution. While I am not heavily involved with pricing, additional companies provide capabilities or products like those from BMC, which many installations might also purchase.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Db2 Database?

The user interface is old and needs to be improved. It doesn't match the responsive and suggestion-rich UI of cloud solutions. New functions don't come to mind.

See all answers

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Compared 11% of the time

Oracle Database vs CockroachDB

Compared 10% of the time

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Compared 32% of the time

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Compared 18% of the time

SAP HANA vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 16% of the time

Teradata vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 13% of the time

MySQL vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM Db2 Database Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

CockroachDB

May 2025

Download CockroachDB product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Db2 Database

May 2025

Download IBM Db2 Database product report

Also Known As

No data available

DB2

Overview

CockroachDB is a distributed SQL database built on a transactional and strongly-consistent key-value store. It scales horizontally; survives disk, machine, rack, and even datacenter failures with minimal latency disruption and no manual intervention; supports strongly-consistent ACID transactions; and provides a familiar SQL API for structuring, manipulating, and querying data.

CockroachDB is inspired by Google’s Spanner and F1 technologies, and it’s completely open source.

Cockroach

DB2 Enterprise for Linux, UNIX, and Windows is the ideal data server for the most demanding workloads. New XML support is designed to help firms minimize the time and effort it takes to persist and use their XML data reducing development costs and improving business agility.

IBM

Sample Customers

Baidu, Kindred, Tierion, Heroic Labs, Gorgias

Knorr-Bremse, Mizuho Bank Ltd., Australian Government Department of Defence, SCHWENK Zement, Friedhelm Loh Group, YAZAKI Europe Limited, Ekornes ASA, Baldor Electric, VSN Systemen BV, Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC, PLANSEE Group, TE Connectivity, Hansgrohe SE, Openmatics, University of Toronto

Buyer's Guide

CockroachDB vs. IBM Db2 Database

April 2025

Free Report: CockroachDB vs. IBM Db2 Database

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