Amazon RDS is used for SQL Databases.
Cloud and Infrastructure Engineer at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Simple and quick implementation, but technology could improve
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable aspect of Amazon RDS is it is on the cloud."
- "Amazon RDS could improve by having more sophisticated. I use other solutions that have better technology for more difficult tasks."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The most valuable aspect of Amazon RDS is it is on the cloud.
What needs improvement?
Amazon RDS could improve by having more sophisticated. I use other solutions that have better technology for more difficult tasks.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Amazon RDS for approximately two years.
The version of Amazon RDS depends on the database being used.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the solution depends on the RDS being used. For example, Aurora is not stable but Postgres is. The stability could improve.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the scalability of Amazon RDS a six out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The level or quality of support depends on how much you are paying for support. If you are paying for premium support then it will be better than the standard support offering.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Amazon RDS is simple. The deployment is quick because of automation. It can be done in less than 10 minutes.
The solution does not require human intervention for deployment. You can simply load it into the pipeline and the pipeline will deploy it automatically.
I rate the initial setup of Amazon RDS a ten out of ten.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Amazon RDS could improve by reducing the price.
I rate the price of Amazon RDS an eight out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
We have a few engineers doing the maintenance of the solution. They maintain the standardized code that everyone uses.
My advice to others is for them to use a different solution, such as Aurora, DynamoDB, or MongoDB. Amazon RDS is only used if the user wants to use a legacy-type application.
This is a well-established solution.
I rate Amazon RDS a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Reliable with good performance and an easy setup
Pros and Cons
- "It is very easy to set up initially."
- "Technical support could be better."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for internal systems and the database.
What is most valuable?
The performance has been fine. We have no complaints in regard to the speed.
It is very easy to set up initially.
It is stable and reliable.
What needs improvement?
I do not have complaints about RDS.
The solution tends to have a lot of updates. It's a very short time before we need to update again.
Technical support could be better.
They should make it cheaper for the users.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for ten years. I've used it for quite a long time. It's been a decade or so.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It doesn't break down.
How are customer service and support?
The support is not so good. We did choose the support level that was a little cheaper, and we don't find them to be that helpful or responsive.
How was the initial setup?
The setup process is simple and straightforward. It is not overly complex.
It only takes about ten to 20 minutes to deploy the product. It's very fast.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I have found the price to be a little bit too expensive.
What other advice do I have?
We're an Amazon partner.
I'm not sure which version of the solution I am using.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
Buyer's Guide
Amazon RDS
June 2025

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Architect - Database Administration at Mitra Innovation
Resilient, reliable, and easy to set up
Pros and Cons
- "The time to install or set up a database environment is very fast."
- "The solution is a bit expensive."
What is our primary use case?
Whatever is to be stored, for example, any database requirements, you can use RDS, unless you need to scale it to quite a large size, RDS could be a good solution. You can still go beyond RDS, however, basically for small to medium-sized database requirements, you can always reliably use RDS as a database solution.
What is most valuable?
The first thing I like about RDS is the on-prem implementation. The time to install or set up a database environment is very fast.
The resilience, multi-zone resilience, and availability are great. We don't need to extensively create any replication services or anything that we have to worry about as DBAs. Everything is given. It's just a matter of punching in the parameters and in the background, it all that is configured.
The initial setup is straightforward.
It's scalable.
The solution is reliable and stable.
What needs improvement?
If you are a very tech-savvy guy who is a DBA, there are certain limitations due to how it's been implemented. You cannot do a lot of platform-level changes if that's how it's been set up, however, it's not required actually. Those limitations have not stopped anything, not stopped us from doing anything. That said, someone more technical may not like the limitations. Platform-level changes are not allowed.
The solution is a bit expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been dealing with the solution for the last eight months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I haven't experienced any stability and can therefore say it's reliable and the performance is good. It doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I've found the solution to be scalable.
I have worked with only three clients at the moment with RDS.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support has been very good.
How was the initial setup?
The implementation process is straightforward. The instructions are very clear. Even a person with basic knowledge would be able to spin up an RDS without an issue. It's not very complicated. The parameters are simple. You can read and understand everything very easily and know what questions to ask and what parameters to consider.
One staff member is more than enough for deployment and maintenance.
You don't need a separate staff for the RDS management. A regular person who manages the rest of the Amazon services can easily monitor it. It has a very good service called CloudWatch, Amazon CloudWatch. Through CloudWatch, everything could be monitored very, very well. All these services are auto-scale. Alerts can be automated as well. I've done this for clients. We have it configured in a way where it's very easy to maintain and manage. We don't need to continuously monitor or anything. We have set thresholds and that CloudWatch service actually helps us to do the monitoring part automatically.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Across most of the database services, it had been a little expensive. It's not only Amazon. If you look at other cloud solution providers, they have to reconsider bringing the prices down. Some clients might not be able to reap their ROI the way that the pricing has been structured for RDS services. It was quite expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I'm an implementer.
I'd recommend the solution. It would be perfect for whoever starts a small or medium business. This is the go-to database they should consider.
I'd rate the solution ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
CTO at Huber
Secure, robust, single instance for both direct and indirect users
Pros and Cons
- "Amazon RDS is lightweight and flexible."
- "The security features could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
Amazon RDS is custom development.
Some databases that we would like to use are lightweight and simple to integrate with the application.
What is most valuable?
Amazon RDS is lightweight and flexible.
It's a secure solution.
What needs improvement?
The security features could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Amazon RDS for three years.
It is part of the cloud migration solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Amazon RDS is quite stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Amazon RDS is a scalable solution.
RDS is a single instance. However, the actual users are approximately 500 people, both direct and indirect.
We have stopped using it.
How are customer service and support?
I have not contacted technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
In the past, I used Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon EMR, and Amazon Redshift, but I no longer use them.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is satisfactory.
It took two weeks to complete the installation.
We have three engineers, one lead, and one manager to maintain this solution.
What about the implementation team?
With the help of our in-house staff, we completed the installation on our own.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing fees are paid on an annual basis.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Amazon RDS a ten out of ten because it is lightweight, and the flexibility.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Sr. Database Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Good overall features, a good community version, and an easy initial setup
Pros and Cons
- "The provisioning is much faster. You don't have to prepare hardware or install software. You just need to create an instance and you have a database."
- "A lot of the features are disabled by default. The solution should enable more features. I understand this could cause challenges to management for many clients using RDS, however."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily have many tools, including Jira, that are currently using RDS. It's mainly used by developers.
How has it helped my organization?
The provisioning is much faster. You don't have to prepare hardware or install software. You just need to create an instance and you have a database.
What is most valuable?
The RDS is a community version, so there are many common features that are basic. It's not an enterprise version, but all the features are very good overall.
What needs improvement?
A lot of the features are disabled by default. The solution should enable more features. I understand this could cause challenges to management for many clients using RDS, however.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for less than a year, but some people on my team have been using it longer.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability os really good. I like it.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We haven't expanded on the solution, so I'm unsure about if it would scale well or not. We have a bunch of teams using the solution in the company, but they're small.
How are customer service and technical support?
We haven't contacted technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are currently using a lot of other solutions as well. We have Oracle, we have PP2, and MySQL. We have a secret server as well.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. Deployment took about ten minutes.
What about the implementation team?
We handled the deployment ourselves.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We use the community version of the solution. I believe we only pay for the storage, but I'm not sure how it works exactly.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We didn't evaluate other solutions before choosing RDS. Since we're using everything else that is Amazon, it seemed like an obvious choice.
What other advice do I have?
We're currently expanding multiple versions of the solution. We use the cloud deployment model and most clients are also in the AWS environment.
I'd advise others to pay attention to the sizing, You don't want to over or under-size.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Head of Data Projects at Cognitivo
A distributed relational database service that's simple to implement and to start using
Pros and Cons
- "For me, RDS is a great solution. I like that Amazon RDS is a very simple solution to implement and to start using."
- "It would be better if it integrated seamlessly with Microsoft products. Our clients use the Microsoft Tally application server. We already tried to create a reputation from, for example, an on-premises environment from our client to Amazon RDS using Microsoft Tally server, and we couldn't do that because we didn't have a strong user in RDS. We couldn't create a reputation from an on-premises environment from the Microsoft Tally server to RDS. I think that it would be a good implementation, and it would help us with this case."
What is our primary use case?
We deployed RDS in our environment, and our use case is so simple. We don't have large-scale use, but we will start using RDS with more users. For now, we deployed it, and we use RDS with only a few users.
What is most valuable?
For me, RDS is a great solution. I like that Amazon RDS is a very simple solution to implement and to start using.
What needs improvement?
It would be better if it integrated seamlessly with Microsoft products. Our clients use the Microsoft Tally application server. We already tried to create a reputation, for example, an on-premises environment from our client to Amazon RDS using the Microsoft Tally server. But we couldn't do that because we didn't have a strong user in RDS. We couldn't create a reputation from an on-premises environment from the Microsoft Tally server to RDS. I think that it would be a good implementation, and it would help us with this case.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward.
What other advice do I have?
On a scale from one to ten, I would give Amazon RDS a ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Data Engineer at Elastacloud
A distributed relational database service with good technical support, but the price could be better
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup is straightforward, and technical support is good."
- "I also don't think it's very scalable."
What is our primary use case?
We are using AWS RDS to have a database that we're not using at the moment. I'm not making any changes to the parameter of the database or the configuration of the database on AWS. I just have to open a new port on the map of the network to have a connection to the prepaid network.
What is most valuable?
The initial setup is straightforward, and technical support is good.
What needs improvement?
The price could be better. We have better options like Microsoft Azure to use in the cloud. I also don't think it's very scalable.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Amazon RDS for almost five months.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I don't think it's very scalable. In comparison, Microsoft Azure has many options. In RDS, I couldn't even find many options to increase or to perform a scale up or scale down.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward because our data isn't difficult to manage. But there are a few things that take some time or become hard to manage because we have many security and network configurations. I need to rush through the connection between my machine and the cloud to bypass our prepaid network, and that makes things a little bit harder. But it's not too complicated.
What about the implementation team?
At the time, we needed to deploy by ourselves, manually. I think it took just one or two of us to implement and maintain this solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price could be better.
What other advice do I have?
On a scale from one to ten, I would give Amazon RDS a seven.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
CTO at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Extremely stable and easy to use but the pricing can get expensive without proper provisioning
Pros and Cons
- "The product is very, very easy to use."
- "You can only get access from the sales support. That means if you want to buy something or renew your subscription or upgrade, all these services are easily available. Yet, if you would like to get some technical support, you have to pay for it. You have to pay for an additional subscription."
What is our primary use case?
This product is used primarily for storing data. The process is you have to reserve RDS space and then you can install any database scheme you want, for example, MariaDB, SQL or Aurora. We typically use Aurora DB.
What is most valuable?
The solution has proven to be quite stable so far.
The product is very, very easy to use.
What needs improvement?
The only thing that I can say is, you have to be really careful about the Cloud provision plannings - meaning that you should calculate the cost carefully due to the fact that the bill is increased sharply if you increase the limit. You have to provision what you need per month.
The solution charges for technical support, which is something they should change, at least for those organizations on tier one.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've only been using this solution for six months. It's been less than a year. We haven't been using it for too long just yet.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We've found this solution to be very stable. It's reliable. We don't really deal with bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. So far, it's been very good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is fully scalable. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so with ease.
Everyone in our organization uses the product. It's pretty widespread. The idea is you save your data on Cloud and make it available to everybody, add it to your website.
We plan to continue to use this service, at least over the next year or so.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is not ideal. It's one of Amazon's pain points.
Amazon offers a free service tier, a so-called free tier for start-ups. We are a start-up. By the time that you sign up with Amazon, you're connected to the free tier, however, for some reason, you don't have access to the support.
You can only get access from the sales support. That means if you want to buy something or renew your subscription or upgrade, all these services are easily available. Yet, if you would like to get some technical support, you have to pay for it. You have to pay for an additional subscription. It's really too bad.
Everybody using cloud computing needs technical support at some point, so this jeopardizes the original promise of the free tier. If you have to pay for any given question to the technical department, it is not free anymore. That's really a drawback in terms of Amazon's service.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
There are alternatives to RDS, and therefore you can use another type of cloud computing if you like. However, I haven't used any.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
While, with all services of Amazon, there is a starter option that is given for free, this starter offer is not enough for the development or the deployment of products. Each time you pass these limits, you have to pay and it's completely unpredictable.
The pricing can get very expensive. You pay a standard price, which is low, for a fixed reservation. However, if you exceed your limit, instantly, then the bill is increased tremendously. That's a drawback for the system. You have to provision very carefully and to make sure that you do not exceed the limit.
That said, after careful provisioning, it is a very cheap option. If you are successful at cloud provisioning, you won't need to pay much.
You do have to pay extra for technical support, even if you are on the free service tier.
What other advice do I have?
Despite the issues around pricing and technical support, RDS is a good choice for organizations due to the fact that it's very easy to use. I'd recommend it to others due to this ease of use and general stability.
Overall, I would rate the solution at a seven out of ten. If they had a free technical support tier I might rate it higher.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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