Database & Data Management · head to head
Amazon Aurora vs Amazon Redshift
Amazon Aurora
Database & Data Management
MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database built for the cloud
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Amazon Redshift
Database & Data Management
Fast, scalable cloud data warehouse from AWS
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Amazon Aurora aurora requires AWS ecosystem knowledge and integration with other AWS services; Amazon Redshift on-demand pricing runs up to 75% higher than competitors like Snowflake and BigQuery
- They diverge on capability: Amazon Aurora covers MySQL/PostgreSQL Compatible, Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Amazon Aurora and Amazon Redshift actually diverge.
| Attribute | Amazon Aurora | Amazon Redshift |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | AWS Cloud | Web |
| Founded | 2006 | 2012 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (usage-based), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Database & Data Management).
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 Amazon Aurora
- MySQL/PostgreSQL Compatible
- 5x MySQL Performance
- Auto-scaling Storage
- Global Database
- Serverless v2
- Multi-master
- Fault Tolerant
- AWS Lambda
Only in Amazon Redshift
- Columnar Storage
- Massively Parallel
- Machine Learning
- AQUA Acceleration
- Data Sharing
- Federated Query
- Concurrency Scaling
- Glue
Both cover
- S3
- Web support
- Aws support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Amazon Aurora
- Transaction processingnot Amazon Redshift
- Data storagenot Amazon Redshift
- Application backendnot Amazon Redshift
- Reporting
- Data analyticsnot Amazon Redshift
Amazon Redshift
- Business intelligencenot Amazon Aurora
- Data warehousingnot Amazon Aurora
- Real-time analyticsnot Amazon Aurora
- Reporting
- Machine learningnot Amazon Aurora
Both are used for reporting, on those jobs the choice comes down to price and fit rather than capability.
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Amazon Aurora
- Aurora requires AWS ecosystem knowledge and integration with other AWS services
- Pricing can become expensive with high-traffic applications using many read replicas
- Limited support for non-relational data types compared to NoSQL alternatives
Amazon Redshift
- On-demand pricing runs up to 75% higher than competitors like Snowflake and BigQuery
- Requires significant manual tuning including managing concurrency scaling costs and configuring Workload Management queues
- Performance degrades without proper design of distribution keys and sort keys
- Limited elastic resize options - can only halve or double current cluster size
- AWS lock-in makes it unsuitable for multi-cloud architectures
Pricing, plan by plan
Amazon Aurora
Free- Serverless v2$0.12/hour
- Auto-scaling
- Pay per ACU
- Instant scaling
- Provisioned$29/month
- Dedicated instances
- Predictable performance
- Reserved capacity
Amazon Redshift
Free- Free TrialFree
- 750 DC2.Large hours
- 2 months free
- Full features
- On-Demand$0.25/hour
- Pay per node hour
- All features
- Standard support
Which should you pick?
Choose Amazon Aurora if
- You need mysql/postgresql compatible.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on AWS Cloud.
- You also want 5x mysql performance.
Choose Amazon Redshift if
- You need columnar storage.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want massively parallel.
Questions people ask
- Is Amazon Aurora or Amazon Redshift better?
- Neither clearly leads. Amazon Aurora starts at Free and Amazon Redshift at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Amazon Aurora or Amazon Redshift?
- Amazon Aurora starts at Free and Amazon Redshift at Free.
- Does Amazon Aurora or Amazon Redshift run on more platforms?
- Amazon Aurora runs on AWS Cloud. Amazon Redshift runs on Web.
- Can I use Amazon Aurora for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Amazon Aurora best used for?
- Amazon Aurora is most often used for transaction processing, data storage, application backend, reporting. Of those, transaction processing and data storage are not what Amazon Redshift is typically brought in for.
- What can Amazon Aurora do that Amazon Redshift cannot?
- Amazon Aurora covers MySQL/PostgreSQL Compatible, 5x MySQL Performance, Auto-scaling Storage, Global Database. Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Massively Parallel, Machine Learning, AQUA Acceleration. Both handle S3, Web support, Aws support.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Amazon Aurora: Is Amazon Aurora compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL?
Yes, Amazon Aurora offers MySQL and PostgreSQL compatibility with full compatibility to their open-source counterparts, allowing you to migrate existing databases with standard tools.
SourceAmazon Redshift: What deployment options does Amazon Redshift offer?
Redshift offers Provisioned Cluster (with RA3 or DC2 nodes) and Serverless options to match varying workloads. The new Redshift RG instance family, powered by Graviton, delivers 2.4x faster performance than RA3 at 30% lower cost per vCPU.
SourceAmazon Aurora: What uptime SLA does Amazon Aurora provide?
Aurora is designed for up to 99.99% single-region uptime and 99.999% multi-region uptime with automatic failover.
SourceAmazon Redshift: What does Amazon Redshift cost?
Provisioned cluster pricing: RA3 on-demand starts at $1.086/hour for ra3.xlplus. Serverless costs approximately $0.375 per RPU-hour with 4-RPU minimum (roughly $1.50/hour active workload). Managed storage costs $0.024/GB-month.
SourceAmazon Aurora: How much does Amazon Aurora cost?
Aurora uses serverless, usage-based pricing where you pay only for consumed capacity. Typical pricing ranges from $50-70 per month for minimal setups to $400-600 per month for small production clusters.
SourceAmazon Redshift: Does Redshift work with data lakes?
Yes, Redshift's integrated data lake query engine processes workloads on Apache Iceberg tables and other supported formats in Amazon S3, allowing you to run SQL analytics across your data warehouse and data lake from the same engine.
SourceAmazon Aurora: Can Amazon Aurora scale automatically?
Yes, Aurora automatically scales to match workload demands without performance degradation, supporting both read and write scaling.
SourceAmazon Redshift: Is there a free tier for Amazon Redshift?
AWS offers a free trial with $300 USD in Serverless credits valid for 90 days, but Redshift is not part of the permanent AWS Free Tier.
SourceAmazon Aurora: How many read replicas does Aurora support?
Aurora supports up to 15 low-latency read replicas for distributing read traffic across your application.
Source