Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL ranks #3 of 12 in our managed postgres providers testing. the cheapest real instance here at $128 — before you add the pooler and the standby everyone needs..
82/100
the lowest verified instance cost in this ranking, on the understanding that pooling and high availability are both separate purchases.
why people look for an alternative
−connection pooling costs extra via rds proxy
−multi-az roughly doubles the compute cost
−egress allowance is account-wide, not per database
−no scale-to-zero on standard rds
stay with Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL if cheapest verified instance at the anchor spec is the thing you care about most — nothing below beats it on that.
#1 in managed postgres providers · $150 with pooling, backups and egress all included — the only bill here you can predict exactly.
86/100
verdictthe most complete inclusive pricing in the category — everything you'd otherwise pay extra for is in the number — with a new owner worth watching.
Crunchy Bridge vs Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL
Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL
Crunchy Bridge
price
$127.57/mo at the anchor
$150/mo at the anchor
free tier
yes
no
monthly at anchor
$127.57 single-az
$150
egress
$0.09/gb past account-wide 100gb
free
backups and pitr
included in retention window
included
scale to zero
no
no
free tier
12 months, new accounts only
none
switch forproduction databases where a predictable invoice matters more than a free tier.
pros
+pooling, backups and egress all included in the base price
+billed by the minute, prorated to the second
+42 regions across aws, azure and gcp
+publishes a worked pricing example matching real workloads
cons
−acquired by snowflake — long-term roadmap uncertain
#5 in managed postgres providers · genuine scale-to-zero makes this the cheapest or the dearest option here, depending entirely on whether it's running.
78/100
verdictthe wrong tool for the workload we priced and the right one for most of the workloads people actually have.
Neon vs Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL
Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL
Neon
price
$127.57/mo at the anchor
$189.76/mo always-on
free tier
yes
yes
monthly at anchor
$127.57 single-az
$189.76 always-on
egress
$0.09/gb past account-wide 100gb
$0.10/gb past 500gb
backups and pitr
included in retention window
included via storage history
scale to zero
no
yes — default 5 min
free tier
12 months, new accounts only
100 cu-hours, 0.5gb
switch fordevelopment, preview environments and spiky workloads — precisely not a database that runs all month.
pros
+genuine scale-to-zero with configurable autosuspend
+cheapest branching here — 10 free, then $1.50 each
+pitr included via storage history, not an add-on
+no monthly minimums since december 2025
cons
−most expensive real instance at an always-on workload
−azure projects must migrate by 5 october 2026
−acquired by databricks — roadmap direction unclear
#7 in managed postgres providers · $142 with nothing rounded up — and no database features to speak of.
72/100
verdictthe most granular metering here with no tier sizes to overpay for — because there is no postgres product, just a container billed like any other.
Railway vs Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL
Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL
Railway
price
$127.57/mo at the anchor
$142.49/mo at the anchor
free tier
yes
no
monthly at anchor
$127.57 single-az
$142.49
egress
$0.09/gb past account-wide 100gb
$0.05/gb
backups and pitr
included in retention window
not documented
scale to zero
no
not confirmed
free tier
12 months, new accounts only
$1/mo credit
switch forteams already deploying on railway who want the database beside their services.
#9 in managed postgres providers · billed per database operation, which makes it either the cheapest thing here or uncomparable — and for our anchor, uncomparable.
66/100
verdicta genuinely different pricing model that suits a lot of real applications and cannot be placed against a fixed always-on workload.
Prisma Postgres vs Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL
Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL
Prisma Postgres
price
$127.57/mo at the anchor
$129/mo base
free tier
yes
yes
monthly at anchor
$127.57 single-az
n/a — operation-based
egress
$0.09/gb past account-wide 100gb
$0.08-0.09/gib after free tier
backups and pitr
included in retention window
included, 7-30 days
scale to zero
no
implicit — no instance
free tier
12 months, new accounts only
100k operations, 500mb
switch forlow-traffic and spiky applications where a provisioned instance would sit idle.
pros
+no fixed cost when the database is idle
+free tier of 100,000 operations and fifty databases
+pooling and backups included with no add-ons
+storage allowance covers the anchor at the business tier
cons
−operation-based billing can't be compared on a compute anchor
−cost unpredictable if query volume is unpredictable
#11 in managed postgres providers · the free database isn't paused after thirty days — it's deleted.
60/100
verdictsensible per-second billing and tight app integration, sold from a page that won't show its own prices — and a free tier that destroys your data.
Render Postgres vs Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL
Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL
Render Postgres
price
$127.57/mo at the anchor
not readable
free tier
yes
yes
monthly at anchor
$127.57 single-az
not readable
egress
$0.09/gb past account-wide 100gb
not published
backups and pitr
included in retention window
exists, price unconfirmed
scale to zero
no
no
free tier
12 months, new accounts only
deleted after 30 days
switch forteams already running services on render who want the database in the same place.
pros
+billing prorated to the second
+tight integration with render's app hosting
+wide tier range from $6 to $6,200
+storage overage clearly stated at $0.30/gb
cons
−free database is deleted after 30 days, not paused
every tool on this page went through the same test as Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL — same tasks, same order, scored the same way. the comparison tables are the figures from that testing, not vendor spec sheets.