Tools: Serverless Databases 2026: Why Cockroachdb Is The New Standard
Posted on Jan 28
• Originally published at dataformathub.com
The serverless paradigm has fundamentally reshaped how we conceive of application infrastructure, pushing the boundaries of elasticity and operational simplicity. In 2026, the data layer, often the most stubborn component to truly "serverless-ify," continues its evolution. As an engineer who's spent considerable time in the trenches with these systems, I can tell you that while the promise of infinitely scalable, zero-ops databases is enticing, the reality involves nuanced architectural choices and rigorous optimization.
This past year has seen significant shifts, not least of which is a major transition for one of the pioneering serverless databases. We'll explore the current robust state of CockroachDB Serverless, dissecting its recent advancements and practical implications for your applications. We'll also reflect on FaunaDB's architectural contributions, now transitioning to an open-source future.
The vision for serverless databases has always been clear: abstract away database provisioning, scaling, sharding, and maintenance, letting developers focus solely on application logic. This translates into pay-per-use billing, automatic scaling to zero, and global distribution with strong consistency. While many solutions offer some facets of this, achieving the full spectrum without significant trade-offs remains the core challenge, as we've explored in our deep dive into Serverless PostgreSQL 2025.
Before we dive into the operational details of a live serverless database, it's crucial to address a significant development in the serverless data ecosystem. FaunaDB, a database known for its unique combination of document-relational features, global distribution, and strong ACID transactions, announced in March 2025 that it would cease operations of its managed service by May 30, 2025. The company stated its intention to open-source its core technology, including its FQL query language.
This means that while FaunaDB's managed service is no longer available for new or existing users as of the current date (January 2026), its architectural principles and the FQL query language itself continue to hold significant technical merit. Fauna was designed from the ground up to be serverless, offering a cloud-native OLTP database with distributed ACID transactions based on the Calvin protocol. It provided a globally replicated, strongly consistent, and temporal database that supp
Source: Dev.to
