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 8.1. Cockroach holds a 3.7% 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

2,677 Views
1,856 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

IBM Db2 Database

Read 73 IBM Db2 Database reviews

6,854 Views
4,346 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

CockroachDB

IBM Db2 Database

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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: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

CockroachDB vs. IBM Db2 Database

March 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 April 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of CockroachDB is 3.7%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Db2 Database is 7.1%, up from 6.6% 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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool's most valuable feature is node syncing, which takes only 0.54 milliseconds."

"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 product has valuable security features."

"The best feature of CockroachDB is the ability to keep the nodes in different locations."

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

"The initial setup and deployment are simple."

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

More CockroachDB pros

"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."

"The solution has very good data compression of up to 50%. For example, if you have 50 terabytes of data, it can be reduced to 25 terabytes."

"It's the best solution in terms of security, performance, and availability because the system is available 24/7."

"I have found the most valuable feature to be its availability."

"I can easily export that to further work on it in Snowflake."

"The most valuable feature of IBM Db2 Database is its ability to perform automatic self-management, reducing the need for manual tasks such as managing logs and folders."

"it is very stable and runs smoothly once it is deployed and it is almost maintenance-free."

"It's easy to search and extract data from the warehouse using queries."

More IBM Db2 Database pros

Cons

"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."

"The product must improve its disaster recovery features."

"The initial setup and pricing could be improved."

"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 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."

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

"I find the serverless offer a bit confusing."

More CockroachDB cons

"It would be helpful to have more querying tools and more development tools for us to work easily with Microsoft."

"The price should be lower."

"In terms of improvements, IBM Db2 can improve its interface and its functionality. Also, the embedded functions should be much richer than the current ones - the functions which are embedded in the engine itself."

"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."

"IBM Db2 Database is not ACID compliant, which would improve it. Db2 lacks Isolation, so when two people are trying to update the same field at the same time it can become stuck. Other newer databases do not have this issue, such as Microsoft SQL, Oracle DB, PostgreSQL, and SAP HANA."

"Its process of building up queries could be more accessible."

"We need some time to improve the performance. We have to perform a weekly REORG, or else RUNSTATS for the databases."

"It would be ideal if the solution offered backup functionality. Many similar tools already do, which means Db2 is somewhat behind the curve in terms of what a customer might expect from it."

More IBM Db2 Database cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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 total cost of the solution depends upon the PVU licensing"

"The solution costs less than other products."

"It is expensive. The price depends on the size of the machine on which you are installing the Db2 and the features you are using. It also depends on the country. IBM has different policies and different options for payment for this product."

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

"Among Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and Db2, Microsoft SQL Server is the cheapest one, and Oracle is the most expensive one. Db2 is in the middle. As compared to SQL Server, its price could go down. It will be good for customers."

"We don't see what the specific price of the DB2 license is because we pay for the backup license as a package."

"It is expensive."

"Compared to Oracle, it is so much cheaper."

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

14%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Educational Organization

62%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Government

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

YugabyteDB vs CockroachDB

Compared 10% of the time

MySQL vs CockroachDB

Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 33% of the time

Oracle Database vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 19% of the time

SAP HANA vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 17% of the time

Teradata vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 14% of the time

MySQL vs IBM Db2 Database

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM Db2 Database Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

CockroachDB

March 2025

Download CockroachDB product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Db2 Database

March 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

March 2025

Free Report: CockroachDB vs. IBM Db2 Database

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