Solution Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
Jul 11, 2025
I would like to see some tutorials from Amazon for Aurora because I'm too new to it. I believe Amazon can make more tutorials for the product since there's a lot of reading required, and a short tutorial of maybe two to three minutes would really help.
Associate Vice President - Database Management (Principal Solutions Architect) at Northbay
Real User
Top 10
Apr 30, 2025
Amazon Aurora should upgrade its base PostgreSQL ( /products/postgresql-reviews ) versions more frequently and offer all PostgreSQL extensions. Keeping extensions up-to-date with PostgreSQL releases would enhance Aurora's functionality.
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. There's also a concern with queries working in development on MySQL but not in production on Aurora.
Currently, I am unsure what aspects of Aurora require improvement. The solution meets our needs in terms of high availability, durability, and backups. However, room for improvement might be in the UI, integrations, or data working capabilities for better user experience.
AWS Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 5
Dec 2, 2024
AWS RDS doesn't provide an option to apply one-off patches, which can be critical for business due to unexpected product bugs. While self-managed systems allow immediate patch application, RDS has limitations on patch application and scheduling, which doesn't guarantee inclusion of urgent patches.
Head of Cloud & DevOps at Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Real User
Top 20
Nov 27, 2024
Aurora’s finance aspects could be improved, particularly in reducing the per-hour use cost. This would help more users accept Aurora. I also faced challenges due to the static memory provisioning setup that could be enhanced with a better understanding of scalability.
When using the serverless version of Amazon Aurora, I encountered issues such as the inbuilt query editor not being available. This was a challenge when I had to use alternative tools like PG Admin to manage queries.
There should be constant changes, which can be challenging to keep up with annually. The UAE evolves rapidly, and after just a two-month break, you might find that things have shifted around. It would be helpful to have a more structured way of introducing these changes. I like how Microsoft does it with Patch, where you know to expect updates regularly. If AWS implemented something similar, the update pattern would be more predictable. The only database issue we encountered was when we were using a read replica for both read and write operations. This sometimes caused the database to be slow, likely because the read queries weren’t optimized. However, the issue was resolved once we split the read and write operations into separate replicas, and everything has been smooth since then.
The product's distributed query process for MySQL needs improvement. Whenever we file a query, it gets processed in only one machine. Thus, customers have to leave the dataset copies on some data links. They could be able to write data pipelines directly into MySQL. At present, they have to extract it from the data warehouse and process it using EMR data from clusters. If there is a feature for computing distributed data, we will not have to duplicate the data in other data warehouses.
EVP Technology at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Real User
May 3, 2023
It would have been helpful if they had provided some benchmarking numbers. If they had given those, we would have been able to make a more informed decision.
Cloud Data Solutions Architect at a recreational facilities/services company with 10,001+ employees
Reseller
Mar 17, 2023
I would like to see performance insights on the database based on the queries. Currently, we use SolarWinds as the monitoring tool. I would like to leverage SolarWinds’ performance insights in AWS services. SolarWinds gives larger insights when we run performance issues.
Owner at a computer software company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Feb 17, 2023
There is improvement needed to have more developer focus. Additionally, it would be helpful to have a stand-alone solution outside of Amazon. Amazon has a tendency to favor developing web-based clients, which may not always provide the fastest or most responsive solution as desired.
Product Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Oct 28, 2022
Since leaving the previous organization, I have read that they have made Aurora faster. It was about five times quicker than before, which is quite impressive. I know that because we were using Aurora, we didn't have to use a Redis cache, which saved us some time. It was easier to use in terms of a technical perspective, we didn't need anyone to figure out how to write, multiple read, and different locations, with a Redis cache on top of that. We didn't have to configure it that way; we could have one instance. It was more usable that way. At the time we were using it, Aurora was supposed to be five times faster, but we didn't see that. Aurora was supposed to be five times quicker, but we didn't see any evidence. As I already stated, since leaving that organization, I was reading an article and noticed that they had enhanced Aurora and that it would be much quicker than before. I haven't tried it myself, but that's what I've heard. In my experience, I didn't see the claimed speed, and when you factor in the cost, or the extra cost of Aurora compared to a normal database, it didn't justify the cost from a performance standpoint, but it did justify the cost because we didn't have to have multiple instances, Redis caches, and other things like that. The pricing could improve. It should be reduced.
Cloud solution architect at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Apr 7, 2022
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. Right now, I think it has only two flavors: MySQL and Postgre. I would like Aurora to be integrated with the Oracle engine because most clients have Oracle databases, especially the CRM ones. I have seen that they're mostly into Oracle databases. Of course, we can migrate the data, but if they have a similar engine or an Oracle engine, that would also be helpful.
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.
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...
I would like to see some tutorials from Amazon for Aurora because I'm too new to it. I believe Amazon can make more tutorials for the product since there's a lot of reading required, and a short tutorial of maybe two to three minutes would really help.
Amazon Aurora should upgrade its base PostgreSQL ( /products/postgresql-reviews ) versions more frequently and offer all PostgreSQL extensions. Keeping extensions up-to-date with PostgreSQL releases would enhance Aurora's functionality.
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. There's also a concern with queries working in development on MySQL but not in production on Aurora.
Currently, I am unsure what aspects of Aurora require improvement. The solution meets our needs in terms of high availability, durability, and backups. However, room for improvement might be in the UI, integrations, or data working capabilities for better user experience.
AWS RDS doesn't provide an option to apply one-off patches, which can be critical for business due to unexpected product bugs. While self-managed systems allow immediate patch application, RDS has limitations on patch application and scheduling, which doesn't guarantee inclusion of urgent patches.
Aurora’s finance aspects could be improved, particularly in reducing the per-hour use cost. This would help more users accept Aurora. I also faced challenges due to the static memory provisioning setup that could be enhanced with a better understanding of scalability.
When using the serverless version of Amazon Aurora, I encountered issues such as the inbuilt query editor not being available. This was a challenge when I had to use alternative tools like PG Admin to manage queries.
There should be constant changes, which can be challenging to keep up with annually. The UAE evolves rapidly, and after just a two-month break, you might find that things have shifted around. It would be helpful to have a more structured way of introducing these changes. I like how Microsoft does it with Patch, where you know to expect updates regularly. If AWS implemented something similar, the update pattern would be more predictable. The only database issue we encountered was when we were using a read replica for both read and write operations. This sometimes caused the database to be slow, likely because the read queries weren’t optimized. However, the issue was resolved once we split the read and write operations into separate replicas, and everything has been smooth since then.
There is room for improvement in pricing. I would like to see more AI-related features in future releases.
The product's distributed query process for MySQL needs improvement. Whenever we file a query, it gets processed in only one machine. Thus, customers have to leave the dataset copies on some data links. They could be able to write data pipelines directly into MySQL. At present, they have to extract it from the data warehouse and process it using EMR data from clusters. If there is a feature for computing distributed data, we will not have to duplicate the data in other data warehouses.
It would have been helpful if they had provided some benchmarking numbers. If they had given those, we would have been able to make a more informed decision.
I would like to see performance insights on the database based on the queries. Currently, we use SolarWinds as the monitoring tool. I would like to leverage SolarWinds’ performance insights in AWS services. SolarWinds gives larger insights when we run performance issues.
There is improvement needed to have more developer focus. Additionally, it would be helpful to have a stand-alone solution outside of Amazon. Amazon has a tendency to favor developing web-based clients, which may not always provide the fastest or most responsive solution as desired.
Since leaving the previous organization, I have read that they have made Aurora faster. It was about five times quicker than before, which is quite impressive. I know that because we were using Aurora, we didn't have to use a Redis cache, which saved us some time. It was easier to use in terms of a technical perspective, we didn't need anyone to figure out how to write, multiple read, and different locations, with a Redis cache on top of that. We didn't have to configure it that way; we could have one instance. It was more usable that way. At the time we were using it, Aurora was supposed to be five times faster, but we didn't see that. Aurora was supposed to be five times quicker, but we didn't see any evidence. As I already stated, since leaving that organization, I was reading an article and noticed that they had enhanced Aurora and that it would be much quicker than before. I haven't tried it myself, but that's what I've heard. In my experience, I didn't see the claimed speed, and when you factor in the cost, or the extra cost of Aurora compared to a normal database, it didn't justify the cost from a performance standpoint, but it did justify the cost because we didn't have to have multiple instances, Redis caches, and other things like that. The pricing could improve. It should be reduced.
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. Right now, I think it has only two flavors: MySQL and Postgre. I would like Aurora to be integrated with the Oracle engine because most clients have Oracle databases, especially the CRM ones. I have seen that they're mostly into Oracle databases. Of course, we can migrate the data, but if they have a similar engine or an Oracle engine, that would also be helpful.