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Amazon Aurora vs TiDB

Amazon Aurora logo

Amazon Aurora

Software

MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database built for the cloud

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
TiDB logo

TiDB

Software

Open source distributed HTAP database for elastic scale and real-time analytics

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Amazon Aurora aurora requires AWS ecosystem knowledge and integration with other AWS services; TiDB not 100% MySQL-compatible, requiring verification before migration
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon Aurora covers MySQL/PostgreSQL Compatible, TiDB covers MySQL Compatible.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon Aurora and TiDB actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon Aurora and TiDB differ
AttributeAmazon AuroraTiDB
Pricing modelusage-basedfreemium
PlatformsAWS CloudCloud, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Self-managed
Founded20062015

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 TiDB

  • MySQL Compatible
  • HTAP Workloads
  • Horizontal Scaling
  • Strong Consistency
  • High Availability
  • Real-time Analytics
  • Elastic Scaling
  • MySQL

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Amazon Aurora

  • Transaction processing
  • Data storage
  • Application backend
  • Reporting
  • Data analytics

TiDB

  • Transaction processing
  • Data storage
  • Application backend
  • Reporting
  • Data analytics

Both are used for transaction processing, data storage, application backend, reporting, data analytics, 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

TiDB

  • Not 100% MySQL-compatible, requiring verification before migration

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

TiDB

Free
  • ServerlessFree
    • 5GB storage
    • 50M request units
    • Free forever tier
  • Dedicated$250/month
    • Dedicated resources
    • SLA guarantees
    • Enterprise 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.
Amazon Aurora review

Choose TiDB if

  • You need mysql compatible.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Self-managed.
  • You also want htap workloads.
TiDB review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Aurora or TiDB better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Aurora starts at Free and TiDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Aurora or TiDB?
Amazon Aurora starts at Free and TiDB at Free.
Does Amazon Aurora or TiDB run on more platforms?
Amazon Aurora runs on AWS Cloud. TiDB runs on Cloud, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Self-managed.
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.
What can Amazon Aurora do that TiDB cannot?
Amazon Aurora covers MySQL/PostgreSQL Compatible, 5x MySQL Performance, Auto-scaling Storage, Global Database. TiDB covers MySQL Compatible, HTAP Workloads, Horizontal Scaling, Strong Consistency. 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
TiDB: Is TiDB MySQL-compatible?

Yes, TiDB speaks the MySQL protocol, so existing MySQL clients, ORMs, and drivers work without modification. However, TiDB is not 100% MySQL-compatible.

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
TiDB: How does TiDB scale?

TiDB provides automatic horizontal scaling with compute and storage scaling independently. It splits compute (TiDB servers) from storage (TiKV) to allow adding nodes without data replication.

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
TiDB: Does TiDB support analytics workloads?

Yes, TiDB is an HTAP database with TiFlash columnar engine providing analytics capabilities alongside transactional processing on the same data without separate pipelines.

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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