This page describes how CockroachDB handles releases and links to the release notes for all CockroachDB releases.
Release types
A new major version of CockroachDB is released quarterly. After a series of testing releases, each major version receives an initial production release, followed by a series of patch releases. These releases follow a staged process where new versions first roll out to select Cockroach Cloud organizations, with binaries available for CockroachDB afterwards:
- Major releases (x.y.0 GA): Approximately 2 weeks after Cloud GA.
- Patch releases (x.y.1+): Approximately 1 week after Cloud availability.
Releases are named in the format vYY.R.PP, where YY indicates the year, R indicates the major release starting with 1 each year, and PP indicates the patch number, starting with 0.
For example, the v23.2.29 production release is the latest patch release of major version v23.2.
Major versions
Major versions of CockroachDB alternate between Regular and Innovation releases:
Regular releases offer extended support windows for long-term stability and security. This support window is further extended after a patch release is nominated to an LTS (long-term support) release.
Innovation releases offer shorter support windows but include all of the latest features.
For details on how LTS impacts support in CockroachDB self-hosted, refer to Release Support Policy. For details on support per release type in CockroachDB Cloud, refer to CockroachDB Cloud Support and Upgrade Policy.
Patch releases
All major versions of CockroachDB receive patch releases that update functionality and fix issues. During the early testing phase a version receives a series of testing releases followed by a series of production releases. A major version’s initial production release is also known as its GA (generally available) release.
| Patch Release Type | Naming | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Production | vYY.R.0 - vYY.R.n(ex. v24.2.1) |
Production releases are qualified for production environments. The type and duration of support for a production release may vary depending on the major release type, according to the Release Support Policy. |
| Testing | vYY.R.0-alpha.1+,vYY.R.0-beta.1+,vYY.R.0-rc.1+(ex. v24.3.1-alpha.2) |
Produced during development of a new major version, testing releases are intended for testing and experimentation only, and are not qualified for production environments or eligible for support or uptime SLA commitments. |
A cluster that is upgraded to an alpha binary of CockroachDB or a binary that was manually built from the master branch cannot subsequently be upgraded to a production release.
CockroachDB Cloud releases
CockroachDB Cloud is a managed product that handles CockroachDB upgrades on your behalf, but still offers some flexibility over when to perform upgrades and which version to use. Version and upgrade support varies depending on the Cloud plan:
- CockroachDB Basic only supports Regular releases. Clusters are automatically upgraded to the next major regular version upon its GA release and receive regular patch updates.
- CockroachDB Standard only supports Regular releases. By default clusters are automatically upgraded to the next major version upon its GA release, with the option to handle the upgrade timing manually. Clusters receive regular patch updates.
- CockroachDB Advanced support both Regular and Innovation releases.
For more information, read the CockroachDB Cloud upgrade policy.
Supported releases
| Version | Release Type | GA date |
|---|---|---|
| v26.1 | Innovation | 2026-02-02 |
| v25.4 | Regular | 2025-11-03 |
| v25.2 | Regular | 2025-05-12 |
| v24.3 | Regular | 2024-11-18 |
| v24.1 | Regular | 2024-05-20 |
| v23.2 | Regular | 2024-02-05 |
Upcoming releases
The following releases and their descriptions represent proposed plans that are subject to change. Please contact your account representative with any questions.
| Version | Release Type | Expected GA date |
|---|---|---|
| v26.2 | Regular | 2026 Q2 |
Unsupported versions
A full archive of CockroachDB major versions that are no longer supported is available on the Unsupported Versions page.
Licenses
All CockroachDB binaries released on or after the day 24.3.0 is released onward, including patch fixes for versions 23.1-24.2, are made available under the CockroachDB Software License.
All CockroachDB binaries released prior to the release date of 24.3.0 are variously licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 (BSL), the CockroachDB Community License (CCL), and other licenses specified in the source code.
To review the CCL, refer to the CockroachDB Community License page. You can find the applicable Business Source License or third party licenses by reviewing these in the licenses folder for the applicable version of CockroachDB in the GitHub repository cockroachdb/cockroach. See individual files for details.
In late 2024, Cockroach Labs retired its Core offering to consolidate on a single CockroachDB Enterprise offering under the CockroachDB Software License. This license is available at no charge for individual users and small businesses, and offers all users, free and paid, the full breadth of CockroachDB capabilities. For details, refer to the CockroachDB licensing update and Licensing FAQs.
Next steps
After choosing a version of CockroachDB, learn how to:
- Create a cluster in CockroachDB Cloud.
- Upgrade a cluster in CockroachDB Cloud.
- Install CockroachDB self-hosted
- Upgrade a Self-Hosted cluster.
Be sure to review Cockroach Labs' Release Support Policy and review information about applicable software licenses.
