Is Aiven or Longhorn better?

Neither clearly leads. Aiven starts at Free and Longhorn at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Aiven or Longhorn?

Aiven starts at Free and Longhorn at Free.

Does Aiven or Longhorn run on more platforms?

Aiven runs on Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp, Do. Longhorn runs on Linux, Kubernetes.

Can I use Aiven for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Aiven best used for?

Aiven is most often used for running managed open source databases without operating them, multi-cloud deployment across aws, google cloud, azure, digitalocean, ovh and upcloud, highly available data services with automatic failover, prototyping on a small free instance before scaling up. Of those, running managed open source databases without operating them and multi-cloud deployment across aws, google cloud, azure, digitalocean, ovh and upcloud are not what Longhorn is typically brought in for.

What can Aiven do that Longhorn cannot?

Aiven covers Multi-cloud Support, Automated Backups, Seamless Upgrades, VPC Peering. Longhorn covers Per-volume controllers, Synchronous replication, Snapshots and backups, Volume expansion.

Databases · head to head

Aiven vs Longhorn

Aiven

Databases

Fully managed open source data infrastructure cloud

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Longhorn

Cloud

Open source distributed block storage for Kubernetes, incubating at the CNCF

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Aiven the free plan gives 1 VM with 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM and 1 GB storage, and cannot pick a specific cloud or region; Longhorn there is no vendor and no SLA, so a production incident at three in the morning is your own problem unless you buy SUSE Rancher Prime support separately.
They diverge on capability: Aiven covers Multi-cloud Support, Longhorn covers Per-volume controllers.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Aiven and Longhorn actually diverge.

Attributes where Aiven and Longhorn differ
Attribute	Aiven	Longhorn
Pricing model	usage-based	Open source, no licence fee
Platforms	Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp, Do	Linux, Kubernetes
Category	Databases	Cloud
Founded	2016	Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Aiven

Multi-cloud Support
Automated Backups
Seamless Upgrades
VPC Peering
End-to-end Encryption
Compliance
Observability
PostgreSQL

Only in Longhorn

Per-volume controllers
Synchronous replication
Snapshots and backups
Volume expansion
Disaster recovery volumes
Web interface

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Aiven

Running managed open source databases without operating themnot Longhorn
Multi-cloud deployment across AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, DigitalOcean, OVH and UpCloudnot Longhorn
Highly available data services with automatic failovernot Longhorn
Prototyping on a small free instance before scaling upnot Longhorn

Longhorn

An on-premises Kubernetes cluster with local disks and no SAN that needs replicated persistent volumesnot Aiven
Edge sites where shipping a storage array is impractical and three nodes is the whole clusternot Aiven
A K3s deployment where the storage layer must be light enough to run alongside the workloadsnot Aiven
A team that wants snapshots and S3 backups of persistent volumes without paying per-node storage licencesnot Aiven

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Aiven

The free plan gives 1 VM with 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM and 1 GB storage, and cannot pick a specific cloud or region
Free and Developer tiers have no integrations and no connection pooling
Connection pooling, database forks and dynamic disk sizing need the Business or Premium plan
A 99.99 percent uptime SLA starts at the Startup plan from $75 a month
High availability with automatic failover starts at Business from $180 a month

Longhorn

There is no vendor and no SLA, so a production incident at three in the morning is your own problem unless you buy SUSE Rancher Prime support separately.
Synchronous replication across nodes means write latency depends on the slowest replica and the network between nodes, which makes it a poor fit for latency-sensitive databases.
Every replica is a full copy, so three-way replication consumes three times the raw capacity, unlike erasure-coded systems that are far more space efficient.
It is designed for block storage on modest clusters and does not scale to the node counts or throughput that Ceph or a commercial array handles, so growth eventually forces a migration.
Recovery from certain degraded states, such as a volume stuck detaching or replicas failing to rebuild, requires manual intervention and knowledge of Longhorn internals that is not widely held.

Pricing, plan by plan

Aiven

Free

Free TrialFree
- $300 credits
- 30 day trial
- All services
Startup$19/month
- Single node
- Basic support
- Daily backups

Longhorn

Free

LonghornFree
- Apache 2.0 licensed, no licence fee
- Community support via GitHub and Slack only
- No vendor SLA or escalation path

Which should you pick?

Choose Aiven if

You need multi-cloud support.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp, Do.
You also want automated backups.

Aiven review

Choose Longhorn if

You need per-volume controllers.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Linux, Kubernetes.
You also want synchronous replication.

Longhorn review

Questions people ask

Is Aiven or Longhorn better?: Neither clearly leads. Aiven starts at Free and Longhorn at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Aiven or Longhorn?: Aiven starts at Free and Longhorn at Free.
Does Aiven or Longhorn run on more platforms?: Aiven runs on Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp, Do. Longhorn runs on Linux, Kubernetes.
Can I use Aiven for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Aiven best used for?: Aiven is most often used for running managed open source databases without operating them, multi-cloud deployment across aws, google cloud, azure, digitalocean, ovh and upcloud, highly available data services with automatic failover, prototyping on a small free instance before scaling up. Of those, running managed open source databases without operating them and multi-cloud deployment across aws, google cloud, azure, digitalocean, ovh and upcloud are not what Longhorn is typically brought in for.
What can Aiven do that Longhorn cannot?: Aiven covers Multi-cloud Support, Automated Backups, Seamless Upgrades, VPC Peering. Longhorn covers Per-volume controllers, Synchronous replication, Snapshots and backups, Volume expansion.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Aiven: What does Aiven's free tier include and does it have any time limit?

The free tier includes PostgreSQL with 1 VM, 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM, and 1 GB storage with access to limited cloud and region selections. There are no time limitations on the free tier, though Aiven reserves the right to shut down accounts that violate policies or remain unused for extended periods.

Source

Longhorn: Who do we call when it breaks?

Nobody, unless you buy SUSE Rancher Prime, which includes commercial support for Longhorn. This is the decisive question for production use.

Aiven: How is Aiven billed and what are the monthly costs for each tier?

Aiven bills services by the hour and invoices monthly, charging only for what you actually run. PostgreSQL pricing starts at 5 dollars per month for Developer, 12 dollars per month for Hobbyist, 75 dollars per month for Startup, 180 dollars per month for Business, and 270 dollars per month for Premium. All paid tiers offer hourly billing options as well.

Source

Longhorn: How much capacity does replication cost?

Full copies, so three replicas means three times the raw capacity. Budget accordingly rather than assuming erasure coding efficiency.

Aiven: What backup retention periods are included at different Aiven tiers?

Backup retention increases with tier level: Startup tier provides 2 days of backup retention, Business tier offers 14 days, and Premium tier includes 30 days. Point-in-time restore is available on all paid tiers.

Source

Longhorn: Is it suitable for production databases?

For modest workloads yes, but synchronous replication adds write latency and high-transaction databases usually want something faster.

Aiven: Is high availability included in Aiven pricing or charged separately?

High availability, backups, and routine maintenance are all included in the tier costs with no separate charges. The Business tier includes 2 VMs with automatic failover, and Premium includes 3 VMs with a second standby node.

Source

Aiven: Does Aiven offer a trial period to test premium features?

Aiven offers a 30-day free trial to access premium features beyond what the free plan provides.

Source

Aiven vs Longhorn

Aiven

Longhorn

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Aiven

Only in Longhorn

What people use each for

Aiven

Longhorn

Where each one falls short

Aiven

Longhorn

Pricing, plan by plan

Aiven

Longhorn

Which should you pick?

Choose Aiven if

Choose Longhorn if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Aiven

More on Longhorn

Keep looking

Other head to heads