DBMS > CockroachDB vs. FoundationDB vs. Lovefield

System Properties Comparison CockroachDB vs. FoundationDB vs. Lovefield

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Editorial information provided by DB-Engines

Name

Created as commercial project in 2013, FoundationDB has been acquired by Apple in March 2015 and was withdrawn from the market. As a consequence, the product was removed from the DB-Engines ranking. In April 2018, Apple open-sourced FoundationDB and it therefore reappears in the ranking.

Description

CockroachDB is a distributed database architected for modern cloud applications. It is wire compatible with PostgreSQL and backed by a Key-Value Store, which is either RocksDB or a purpose-built derivative, called Pebble.

Ordered key-value store. Core features are complimented by layers.

Embeddable relational database for web apps written in pure JavaScript

Primary database model

Relational DBMS

Document store

supported via specific layer
Key-value store
Relational DBMS

supported via specific SQL-layer

Relational DBMS

DB-Engines Ranking measures the popularity of database management systems
Trend Chart

Score	3.90
Rank	#68	Overall
	#36	Relational DBMS

Score	0.89
Rank	#197	Overall
	#32	Document stores
	#29	Key-value stores
	#92	Relational DBMS

Score	0.13
Rank	#338	Overall
	#149	Relational DBMS

Website

www.cockroachlabs.com

github.com/apple/foundationdb

google.github.io/lovefield

Technical documentation

www.cockroachlabs.com/docs

apple.github.io/foundationdb

github.com/google/lovefield/blob/master/docs/spec_index.md

Developer

Cockroach Labs

FoundationDB

Google

Initial release

2015

2013

2014

Current release

24.1.0, May 2024

6.2.28, November 2020

2.1.12, February 2017

License

Commercial or Open Source

Open Source

Apache 2.0, commercial license available

Open Source

Apache 2.0

Open Source

Apache 2.0

Cloud-based only

Only available as a cloud service

DBaaS offerings (sponsored links)

Database as a Service

Providers of DBaaS offerings, please contact us to be listed.

Implementation language

C++

JavaScript

Server operating systems

Linux
macOS
Windows

Linux
OS X
Windows

server-less, requires a JavaScript environment (browser, Node.js)

tested with Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari

Data scheme

dynamic schema

schema-free

some layers support schemas

yes

Typing

predefined data types such as float or date

yes

some layers support typing

yes

XML support

Some form of processing data in XML format, e.g. support for XML data structures, and/or support for XPath, XQuery or XSLT.

Secondary indexes

yes

SQL

Support of SQL

yes, wire compatible with PostgreSQL

supported in specific SQL layer only

SQL-like query language

via JavaScript builder pattern

APIs and other access methods

JDBC

Supported programming languages

C#
C++
Clojure
Go
Java
JavaScript (Node.js)
PHP
Python
Ruby
Rust

.Net
C
C++
Go
Java
JavaScript

Node.js
PHP
Python
Ruby
Swift

JavaScript

Server-side scripts

Stored procedures

in SQL-layer only

Triggers

Using read-only observers

Partitioning methods

Methods for storing different data on different nodes

horizontal partitioning (by key range)

all tables are translated to an ordered KV store and then broken down into 64MB ranges, which are then used as replicas in RAFT

Sharding

none

Replication methods

Methods for redundantly storing data on multiple nodes

Multi-source replication using RAFT

yes

none

MapReduce

Offers an API for user-defined Map/Reduce methods

Consistency concepts

Methods to ensure consistency in a distributed system

Immediate Consistency

Linearizable consistency

Foreign keys

Referential integrity

yes

in SQL-layer only

yes

Transaction concepts

Support to ensure data integrity after non-atomic manipulations of data

ACID

Concurrency

Support for concurrent manipulation of data

yes

Durability

Support for making data persistent

yes

yes, by using IndexedDB or the cloud service Firebase Realtime Database

In-memory capabilities

Is there an option to define some or all structures to be held in-memory only.

yes

using MemoryDB

User concepts

Access control

Role-based access control

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More resources

Recent citations in the news

IBM Expands Its Hybrid Cloud and AI Capabilities with CockroachDB Integration
7 May 2025, TipRanks

Cockroach Labs Brings Distributed SQL to IBM LinuxONE and Linux on IBM Z
7 May 2025, StreetInsider

AI Meets Resilience: Cockroach Labs Intros CockroachDB 24.2
2 October 2024, Channel Insider

Now CockroachDB Ditches Open-Source License
20 August 2024, It's FOSS News

CockroachDB scurries off to proprietary software land
23 August 2024, theregister.com

provided by Google News

Apple Acquires Durable Database Company FoundationDB
24 March 2015, TechCrunch

FoundationDB Record Layer: A Multi-Tenant Structured Datastore
25 July 2020, Apple Machine Learning Research

Apple-owned FoundationDB open sources the core technology at the heart of iCloud
19 April 2018, AppleInsider

FoundationDB team’s new venture, Antithesis, raises $47M to enhance software testing
13 February 2024, SiliconANGLE

IBM Cloudant pulls plan to fund new foundational layer for CouchDB
15 March 2022, theregister.com

provided by Google News

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