“PostgreSQL Compatible Databases”: A Tale of Two Approaches

CockroachDB is a distributed SQL database that offers a highly compatible PostgreSQL interface, allowing customers to easily migrate their applications to the new database without sacrificing performance or compatibility. The company has re-written the SQL layer from scratch to deliver the best performance and resilience possible, while also providing a familiar and easy-to-use SQL interface. In contrast to other vendors who have forked PostgreSQL, CockroachDB owns its own stack, resulting in less technical debt and the ability to optimize for customer experience. This enables the company to provide better distributed-SQL performance, simplify database migrations, and deliver improved resilience with features such as WAL failover and a cost-based optimizer. Ultimately, compatibility matters, but it's subjective and being 100% compatible is impossible; customers should look for databases that offer the features they need while still providing the resilience their applications demand.