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Amazon Aurora Reviews

Vendor: Amazon Web Services (AWS)
4.2 out of 5
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What is Amazon Aurora?

Amazon Aurora is a MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database built for the cloud, that combines the performance and availability of traditional enterprise databases with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of open source databases.

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Amazon Aurora is the #6 ranked solution in top Database Management Systems (DBMS) solutions and #7 ranked solution in top Relational Databases. PeerSpot users give Amazon Aurora an average rating of 8.4 out of 10. Amazon Aurora is most commonly compared to Teradata: Amazon Aurora vs Teradata. Amazon Aurora is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 61% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a financial services firm, accounting for 18% of all views.
Buyer's Guide
Amazon Aurora
March 2026
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Amazon Aurora mindshare

As of March 2026, the mindshare of Amazon Aurora in the Relational Databases Tools category stands at 3.2%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Amazon Aurora3.2%
SQL Server11.9%
Oracle Database11.5%
Other73.4%
Relational Databases Tools

PeerResearch reports based on Amazon Aurora reviews

TypeTitleDate
CategoryRelational Databases ToolsMar 28, 2026Download
ProductReviews, tips, and advice from real usersMar 28, 2026Download
ComparisonAmazon Aurora vs SQL ServerMar 28, 2026Download
ComparisonAmazon Aurora vs Oracle DatabaseMar 28, 2026Download
ComparisonAmazon Aurora vs SAP HANAMar 28, 2026Download
Suggested products
TitleRatingMindshareRecommending
Teradata4.13.9%88%83 interviewsAdd to research
SQL Server4.211.9%93%272 interviewsAdd to research
 
 
Key learnings from peers

Valuable Features

Amazon Aurora's most valuable features include automated scalability, seamless maintenance, multi-region redundancy, high availability, and replication capabilities. Additionally, its compatibility with MySQL and PostgreSQL enhances ease of use, while serverless functionality optimizes cost efficiency. Users appreciate its SQL standardization, performance management, automated backups, and integration with AWS services. The reader endpoint supports efficient database connections, and the ability to manage large-scale databases without maintenance windows is highly praised.
  • "The most valuable feature is that the maintainability is offloaded to the service provider, so I don't have to maintain a database or do any administrative tasks, which comes in handy."
  • "We have seen an increase in customer satisfaction and availability with the switch from RDS to Aurora."
  • "Cost-wise, switching to Amazon Aurora is beneficial, saving me around $60,000 per year."

Room for Improvement

Amazon Aurora faces challenges with cost-effectiveness and a need for broader database engine compatibility. Users seek better developer support, more automated update systems, and robust comparison tools. There's feedback on performance issues, particularly with scalability and tuning. Greater integration with Oracle and enhanced PostgreSQL support is requested. Users also highlight a demand for tutorials, improved migration processes, and options for handling urgent patches. More AI features and flexible memory setups are desired, and queries sometimes face execution inconsistencies.
  • "It is a bit costly. The features are quite good, and I wouldn't say it requires any technical improvements, but from a cost perspective, some clients wouldn't go for Aurora because of that."
  • "There are tuning challenges. The same methods used for tuning in RDS might not work in Aurora, and some functionalities available in MySQL may not be compatible with Aurora."
  • "A challenge with stability is the lack of long-term log retention."

ROI

Switching from Amazon RDS to Amazon Aurora reduced costs by nearly thirty percent for larger Oracle instances. Aurora saves time and improves operational costs while enhancing service performance with MySQL and PostgreSQL support. Customers experience nearly $60,000 annual savings and significant manpower cost reductions compared to on-premises setups. Users note higher customer satisfaction and service availability. Return on investment varies, often involving reserved instances, but monetary savings and reliability gains are significant.

Pricing

Amazon Aurora users find pricing variable based on instance types and usage, with no licensing costs involved. While some consider it expensive, others view it as reasonable due to its managed service benefits and performance. Monthly billing and cost-efficient features compared to on-premises databases are noted, with emphasis on effective management of cloud expenses. Aurora's pricing is often compared to RDS, offering additional functionalities and fluctuating based on performance and operational demands.
  • "I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being expensive."
  • "There is no need to buy a license for the product. We can pay as per the use case."
  • "It is an expensive solution."

Popular Use Cases

Amazon Aurora is primarily used by organizations for scalable, high-availability relational database management, particularly with MySQL and PostgreSQL engines. Businesses utilize it for data storage, payment solutions, and internal applications, benefiting from its auto-scaling and serverless capabilities. It facilitates seamless migration from other database systems, offers enterprise-level features at lower costs, and is favored for its efficiency in handling backend services and comprehensive business intelligence solutions.

Service and Support

Amazon Aurora's customer service is rated highly by users with business profiles, as support is quick and efficient. Enterprise-level and 24/7 plans ensure prompt responsiveness. Free trial users encounter limited service, impacting those conducting evaluations. Issues have been noted with initial support knowledge, while experienced engineers offer valuable assistance. Some users find documentation sufficient. Support quality is seen improving with specialists handling complex cases, though expansion has affected consistency. Aurora support remains less accessible for personal accounts.

Deployment

Users found Amazon Aurora's initial setup straightforward and manageable. Many appreciated its ease, noting minimal time required, especially with the use of AWS Management Console and tools like Terraform. Even though some referenced documentation, it was rated positively. Maintenance is offloaded to Amazon, reducing team requirements. Migration is possible with available features, and infrastructure setup is convenient with the use of AWS resources, allowing for an easy spin-up of the database.

Scalability

Amazon Aurora is reported to be highly scalable, supported by AWS's management, which handles scaling as data grows. Users appreciate its automatic resource scaling without downtime. Many rate scalability positively, especially for handling large data and supporting high-performance needs across industries. Its ability to adapt to increased usage and multiple regions is frequently highlighted. Some mention the importance of scalability in their transition from on-premises systems to the cloud.

Stability

Amazon Aurora is praised for its high stability, scoring between eight and ten. Several users report no downtimes or major issues, while a few encountered minor problems such as force releases and a challenge with log retention. Those using dedicated instances note some hiccups but acknowledge improvements. Aurora is valued for high availability and performance, meeting expectations from AWS services. Migration glitches are mentioned, but post-migration stability remains reliable.
These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.
Download our Amazon Aurora Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
By visitors reading reviews
Company SizeCount
Small Business61
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise121
By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
11%
University
9%
Retailer
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Healthcare Company
6%
Transportation Company
5%
Government
4%
Insurance Company
4%
Outsourcing Company
4%
Construction Company
3%
Educational Organization
3%
Marketing Services Firm
3%
Energy/Utilities Company
3%
Hospitality Company
3%
Wholesaler/Distributor
2%
Media Company
2%
Comms Service Provider
2%
Performing Arts
2%
Recreational Facilities/Services Company
2%
Logistics Company
2%
Consumer Goods Company
2%
Real Estate/Law Firm
1%
Non Profit
1%
Sports Company
1%
Legal Firm
1%
Non Tech Company
1%

Compare Amazon Aurora with alternative products

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Learn more about Amazon Aurora

Amazon Aurora is up to five times faster than standard MySQL databases and three times faster than standard PostgreSQL databases. It provides the security, availability, and reliability of commercial databases at 1/10th the cost. Amazon Aurora is fully managed by Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), which automates time-consuming administration tasks like hardware provisioning, database setup, patching, and backups.

Amazon Aurora features a distributed, fault-tolerant, self-healing storage system that auto-scales up to 64TB per database instance. It delivers high performance and availability with up to 15 low-latency read replicas, point-in-time recovery, continuous backup to Amazon S3, and replication across three Availability Zones (AZs).

Visit the Amazon RDS Management Console to create your first Aurora database instance and start migrating your MySQL and PostgreSQL databases.

Amazon Aurora customers

Dow Jones, Arizona State University, Verizon, Capital One, United Nations, Nielsen, Autodesk, Fanduel

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Product Categories

Product Categories
Relational Databases Tools
Database Management Systems (DBMS)

Popular Comparisons

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Amazon Aurora Reviews Summary
Author infoRatingReview Summary
Associate Vice President - Database Management (Principal Solutions Architect) at Northbay4.0I use Amazon Aurora for its cost-effectiveness and enterprise-level features compared to MySQL and PostgreSQL. It offers high availability, up to 16 read replicas, and fast cloning. Improvement is needed in updating PostgreSQL versions and extensions.
Data & Solution Archtect at Enkel4.5I support customers migrating Oracle databases to Amazon Aurora, mainly in finance and services. Aurora's scalability, cost control, and tuning options are valuable, though I don’t use all features. Overall, I rate it highly for modernization projects.
Digital Services & Engagement Senior Manager at AXA5.0We switched from PostgreSQL to Amazon Aurora for its managed features and 99.9% SLA, significantly improving operational efficiency and reducing manpower costs by nearly 50%. However, migrating from PostgreSQL RDS posed challenges, needing improvement for easier transitions.
Solution Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees4.5I found migrating to Amazon Aurora smooth and setup easy, with valuable auto-scaling and internal management features. While stability and scalability are excellent, I wish there were more quick tutorials to reduce the learning curve.
Staff Software Engineer at Altimetrik (Deployed at FORD)4.0I switched to Aurora from Oracle, saving significantly and benefiting from its global endpoint and scalability. However, I wish it had a data comparison tool and longer log retention for troubleshooting.
AWS Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees4.0I find AWS a great managed database solution, particularly for auto-scaling storage and reduced administration. However, the inability to apply urgent one-off patches is a significant drawback, despite the higher cost for the managed service.
Web Developer and IT Consultant at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees4.0I use this service for SQL/PostgreSQL, finding its improved scaling impressive and stability high. Setup is easy, and pricing fair. I recommend Graviton processors for cost savings. Overall, I rate it 8/10.
Aws Devops Engineer at LTIMindtree4.5I value AWS Aurora for its performance, scalability, and availability, key for my DevOps. It offers great stability, simplifying management and backups. While UI improvements would be welcome, it exceeds my expectations.