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Amazon Aurora vs Elastic Stack

Amazon Aurora logo

Amazon Aurora

Software

MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database built for the cloud

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Elastic Stack logo

Elastic Stack

Software

Search, Observability, and Security Solutions

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Amazon Aurora has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Amazon Aurora aurora requires AWS ecosystem knowledge and integration with other AWS services; Elastic Stack self-managed deployment requires licensing based on node count and RAM usage
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon Aurora covers MySQL/PostgreSQL Compatible, Elastic Stack covers Full-text search.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon Aurora and Elastic Stack actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon Aurora and Elastic Stack differ
AttributeAmazon AuroraElastic Stack
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelusage-basedsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsAWS CloudCloud-hosted, Self-managed, Docker, Kubernetes (ECK)
Founded20062011

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Elastic Stack

  • Full-text search
  • Log analytics
  • Security monitoring
  • Alerting
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Api support

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Amazon Aurora

  • Transaction processingnot Elastic Stack
  • Data storagenot Elastic Stack
  • Application backendnot Elastic Stack
  • Reportingnot Elastic Stack
  • Data analyticsnot Elastic Stack

Elastic Stack

  • Distributed search and analytics engine for production-scale workloadsnot Amazon Aurora
  • Full-text search and vector search with approximate nearest neighbour supportnot Amazon Aurora
  • Security event tracking with field-level and document-level access controlnot Amazon Aurora
  • Machine learning capabilities including anomaly detection and forecastingnot Amazon Aurora

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

Elastic Stack

  • Self-managed deployment requires licensing based on node count and RAM usage
  • Serverless option has pending features including traffic filtering and bring-your-own-key encryption
  • Hosted deployment requires custom resource configuration for cluster management
  • Pricing models differ significantly across Hosted, Serverless, and Self-managed options

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

Elastic Stack

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Elastic Stack review.

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.
Amazon Aurora review

Choose Elastic Stack if

  • You need full-text search.
  • You work on Cloud-hosted, Self-managed, Docker, Kubernetes (ECK).
  • You also want log analytics.
Elastic Stack review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Aurora or Elastic Stack better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Aurora starts at Free and Elastic Stack at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Aurora or Elastic Stack?
Amazon Aurora has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Amazon Aurora and On request for Elastic Stack.
Does Amazon Aurora or Elastic Stack run on more platforms?
Amazon Aurora runs on AWS Cloud. Elastic Stack runs on Cloud-hosted, Self-managed, Docker, Kubernetes (ECK).
Can I use Amazon Aurora for free?
Yes. Amazon Aurora has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Elastic Stack starts at On request.
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 Elastic Stack is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Aurora do that Elastic Stack cannot?
Amazon Aurora covers MySQL/PostgreSQL Compatible, 5x MySQL Performance, Auto-scaling Storage, Global Database. Elastic Stack covers Full-text search, Log analytics, Security monitoring, Alerting. Both handle Web 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.

Source
Amazon 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.

Source
Amazon 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.

Source
Amazon Aurora: Can Amazon Aurora scale automatically?

Yes, Aurora automatically scales to match workload demands without performance degradation, supporting both read and write scaling.

Source
Amazon 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
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