This post is maintained by Bytebase, an open-source database DevSecOps tool that can manage PostgreSQL hosted in any providers. We update the post every year.
| Update History | Comment |
|---|---|
| 2025/05/06 | Initial version. |
PostgreSQL remains a top choice for relational databases in 2025 due to its reliability, extensibility, and active open-source community. With many hosting options available, choosing the right provider is key to balancing performance, scalability, and cost.
This article compares PostgreSQL hosting solutions from major clouds (AWS, GCP, Azure) and specialized providers (DigitalOcean, Aiven, Neon, Supabase, Timescale, Heroku), focusing on pricing models and key cost factors to help you make an informed decision.
Understanding Pricing Models
Before comparing providers, it’s important to understand the main cloud database pricing models:
Instance-Based: Pay hourly for fixed vCPU/RAM; storage and I/O billed separately. Common with major clouds.
Usage-Based/Serverless: Pay only for what you use — compute, storage, I/O, and data transfer. Ideal for variable workloads.
Tiered Plans: Fixed-price bundles from specialized providers offer predictable costs but less flexibility.
Most providers mix these models, with key cost factors including compute, storage, data transfer, backups, and high availability.
Comparison Table
| Provider | Entry-Level (Monthly) | Mid-Range (Monthly) | Enterprise-Level (Monthly) | Free Tier Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWS RDS | $12.41 (db.t4g.micro: 2 vCPU, 1 GiB) | $99.28 (db.m6g.large: 2 vCPU, 8 GiB) | $794.24 (db.m6g.4xlarge: 16 vCPU, 64 GiB) | Yes (12 months) |
| AWS Aurora | $59.86 (db.t4g.medium: 2 vCPU, 4 GiB) | $211.70 (db.r6g.large: 2 vCPU, 16 GiB) | $1,693.60 (db.r6g.4xlarge: 16 vCPU, 128 GiB) | Yes (12 months) |
| Google Cloud SQL | $11.32 (db-f1-micro: 0.2 vCPU, 0.6 GiB) | $122.49 (db-n1-standard-2: 2 vCPU, 7.5 GiB) | $980.03 (db-n1-standard-16: 16 vCPU, 60 GiB) | Yes ($300/90 days) |
| Google AlloyDB | $143.68 (2 vCPU, 16 GiB) | $301.44 (4 vCPU, 32 GiB) | $1,209.60 (16 vCPU, 128 GiB) | No |
| Azure PostgreSQL | $14.60 (B1ms: 1 vCPU, 2 GiB) | $99.28 (GP_Gen5_4: 4 vCPU, 16 GiB) | $794.24 (GP_Gen5_32: 32 vCPU, 128 GiB) | Yes (12 months) |
| DigitalOcean | $15.00 (1 vCPU, 1 GiB) | $60.00 (2 vCPU, 4 GiB) | $244.00 (6 vCPU, 16 GiB) | No |
| Aiven | Free (2 vCPU, 1 GiB) | $110 (4 vCPU, 8 GiB) | $435 (8 vCPU, 16 GiB) | Yes |
| Neon | Free (1 vCPU, 1 GiB) | $59 (2 vCPU, 4 GiB) | $299 (8 vCPU, 16 GiB) | Yes |
| Supabase | Free (1 vCPU, 0.5 GiB) | $25 (2 vCPU, 1 GiB) | $99 (4 vCPU, 8 GiB) | Yes |
| Timescale | Free (1 vCPU, 1 GiB) | $89 (2 vCPU, 4 GiB) | $499 (8 vCPU, 16 GiB) | Yes |
| Heroku Postgres | Free (0.5 vCPU, 512 MiB) | $50 (1 vCPU, 1 GiB) | $500+ (8 vCPU, 16 GiB) | Yes |
Major Cloud Providers: The Big Three
The top public clouds — AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure — offer powerful managed PostgreSQL services. They provide flexibility and performance, but with complex pricing models.
AWS
AWS offers two primary managed PostgreSQL options: Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL and Amazon Aurora (PostgreSQL-compatible edition).
RDS for PostgreSQL
- 💰 Pricing: Instance-based (e.g.,
db.t3.micro,db.m6g.large) - 📦 Storage: gp3 (scalable) or io1/io2 (high-performance)
- 🛡️ High Availability: Multi-AZ; doubles instance cost
- 💾 Backups: Free up to DB size; extra charged per GB-month
- 🧮 Discounts: Reserved Instances, Savings Plans
- 💵 Entry Point: Very low (e.g.,
db.t3.micro+ minimal storage)
Aurora PostgreSQL-Compatible
- 💰 Pricing: Cluster-based, compute + storage + I/O billed separately
- ⚙️ Compute: Per instance-hour or per ACU-hour (Serverless v2)
- 📦 Storage: Auto-scaling, charged per GB-month
- 🔁 I/O: Pay-per-request (Standard) or free (I/O-Optimized)
- 🛡️ High Availability: Built-in, cross-AZ replication
- 💾 Backups: Continuous to S3
- 💵 Entry Point: Higher than RDS; designed for heavier workloads
Google Cloud
GCP provides two main managed PostgreSQL offerings: the standard Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL and the higher-performance AlloyDB for PostgreSQL.
Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL
- 💰 Pricing: Instance-based (
db-f1-micro,db-n1-standard-2, etc.) - ⚙️ Compute: Billed per vCPU + RAM hour
- 📦 Storage: SSD or HDD, per GB-month
- 🛡️ High Availability: Regional standby; doubles cost
- 💾 Backups: Charged per GB-month
- 🧮 Discounts: Committed Use Discounts (CUDs)
- 💵 Entry Point: Very low (
db-f1-micro)
AlloyDB for PostgreSQL
- 💰 Pricing: Cluster-based with separate compute + storage
- ⚙️ Compute: Per vCPU + RAM hour
- 📦 Storage: Auto-scaling, includes I/O
- 🛡️ High Availability: Built-in, 99.99% SLA
- 💾 Backups: Continuous with PITR
- 💵 Entry Point: Higher (min: 2 vCPU, 16 GiB RAM)
Microsoft Azure
Azure's primary offering for managed PostgreSQL is Azure Database for PostgreSQL, available in different deployment models. The recommended and most versatile option is the Flexible Server model.
PostgreSQL Flexible Server
- 💰 Pricing: Compute + Storage
- ⚙️ Tiers:
- Burstable: Low-cost (e.g., B1ms: 1 vCPU, 2 GiB RAM)
- General Purpose: Balanced (D-series)
- Memory Optimized: For in-memory workloads (E-series)
- 📦 Storage: Per GB-month with baseline and optional IOPS
- 🛡️ High Availability: Optional zone-redundant (doubles cost)
- 💾 Backups: Configurable, per GB-month
- 🧮 Discounts: Reserved Capacity (up to 70% off compute)
- 💵 Entry Point: Very low (B-series)
Specialized Managed PostgreSQL Providers
Beyond the big three cloud providers, numerous companies offer specialized managed PostgreSQL hosting. These often focus on developer experience, specific features (like serverless or time-series), or simplified pricing, sometimes building on top of the major cloud infrastructure.
DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean offers Managed Databases for PostgreSQL, focusing on simplicity and predictable pricing.
- 💰 Model: Tiered monthly plans
- 💵 Entry Point: $15/month (1 vCPU, 1 GiB RAM, 10 GB SSD)
- 📦 Storage: Included in the plan
- 🌐 Bandwidth: 1 TB outbound included; overage billed
- 🛡️ High Availability: Optional standby node (doubles cost)
- 💾 Backups: Daily backups + 7-day PITR
- 🆓 Free Tier: ❌ Not available
Aiven
Aiven provides managed PostgreSQL (and other open-source data services) hosted on major cloud providers (AWS, GCP, Azure, DigitalOcean, UpCloud).
- 💰 Model: Tiered plans by cloud & region
- 💵 Entry Point: Free (2 vCPU, 1 GiB RAM, 1–5 GB SSD); paid plans from ~$19/month
- 📦 Storage & Network: Included in plan; generous allowances
- 🛡️ High Availability: Included in Business and Premium tiers
- 💾 Backups: Automatic backups included
- 🆓 Free Tier: ✅ Yes
Neon
Neon offers a serverless PostgreSQL platform with a unique architecture separating storage and compute.
- 💰 Model: Serverless, usage-based
- 💵 Entry Point: Free (shared vCPU, 10 GB storage)
- ⚙️ Compute: Billed only when active; scales to zero when idle
- 📦 Storage: Billed per GB-month and GB written
- 🛡️ High Availability: Built into platform architecture
- 💾 Backups: Includes time-travel and PITR
- 🆓 Free Tier: ✅ Yes
Supabase
Supabase positions itself as an open-source Firebase alternative, providing a suite of backend tools, including a dedicated PostgreSQL database for each project.
- 💰 Model: Tiered plans + usage-based overages
- 💵 Entry Point: Free (shared DB, 500 MB); Pro starts at $25/month
- ⚙️ Compute & Storage: Varies by tier; add-ons available
- 🛡️ High Availability: Included in Team and Enterprise tiers
- 💾 Backups: PITR; retention depends on tier
- 🆓 Free Tier: ✅ Yes
Timescale Cloud
Timescale Cloud is a managed PostgreSQL platform optimized for time-series data, built upon the TimescaleDB extension, but fully compatible with standard PostgreSQL.
- 💰 Model: Pure usage-based (compute + storage)
- 💵 Entry Point: ~$0.02/hr (smallest compute unit)
- 📦 Storage: Includes hypertables + regular tables
- 🛡️ High Availability: Optional (adds to cost)
- 💾 Backups: Continuous with PITR
- 🆓 Free Tier: ✅ $300 in trial credits
Heroku Postgres
Heroku Postgres is one of the original and well-known managed PostgreSQL services, tightly integrated with the Heroku PaaS.
- 💰 Model: Tiered hourly/monthly billing
- 💵 Entry Point: $5/month (Essential-0)
- 📦 Storage: Included based on plan
- 🛡️ High Availability: Premium and above tiers only
- 💾 Backups: PG Backups (free); PITR on paid tiers
- 🆓 Free Tier: ✅ Yes (Essential-0, limited)
Conclusion
In 2025, PostgreSQL hosting ranges from flexible cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) to simple, developer-focused options (Neon, Supabase, Aiven, etc.).
Cloud providers offer power and scale, but with complex pricing. Specialized hosts are easier to use, often with free tiers and clear pricing. Match your choice to workload needs, budget, and team expertise. Start small, test with free plans, and scale as needed.
