Softwr

Databases · head to head

Amazon Aurora vs Visual Studio

Amazon Aurora logo

Amazon Aurora

Databases

MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database built for the cloud

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit Amazon AuroraFull review
Visual Studio logo

Visual Studio

Developer Tools

IDE for .NET and C++ development on Windows

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit Visual StudioFull review

The short version

  • Amazon Aurora is a MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database.
  • Visual Studio is free; Amazon Aurora starts at $0.12/mo.
  • Where Amazon Aurora falls short: aurora requires AWS ecosystem knowledge and integration with other AWS services.
  • Where Visual Studio falls short: A standalone perpetually licensed Visual Studio Professional 2022 costs $499 as a one-time purchase, separate from the subscription tiers.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon Aurora and Visual Studio actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon Aurora and Visual Studio differ
AttributeAmazon AuroraVisual Studio
Pricing modelUsage-basedFreemium
CategoryDatabasesDeveloper Tools

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web).

Not yet recorded: founded for Visual Studio.

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 Visual Studio

Nothing recorded that Amazon Aurora does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Amazon Aurora

  • Transaction processingnot Visual Studio
  • Data storagenot Visual Studio
  • Application backendnot Visual Studio
  • Reportingnot Visual Studio
  • Data analyticsnot Visual Studio

Visual Studio

  • Managing complex, large-scale projects across multiple platformsnot Amazon Aurora
  • Commercial development in small businessesnot Amazon Aurora
  • DevOps and automated deployment workflowsnot Amazon Aurora
  • Windows/SQL Server developer and tester rolesnot Amazon Aurora
  • Short-term or month-to-month IDE access needsnot 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

Visual Studio

  • Community edition is free only for individual developers, classroom use, academic research and open-source contribution, not general commercial use
  • Monthly subscriptions are $45 per user per month for Professional and $250 per user per month for Enterprise, and do not include perpetual use rights the way annual Standard subscriptions do
  • A standalone perpetually licensed Visual Studio Professional 2022 costs $499 as a one-time purchase, separate from the subscription tiers

Pricing, plan by plan

Amazon Aurora

Free
  • Serverless v2$0.12/hour
    • Auto-scaling
    • Pay per ACU
    • Instant scaling
  • Provisioned$29/mo
    • Dedicated instances
    • Predictable performance
    • Reserved capacity

Visual Studio

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Visual Studio review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon Aurora if

  • You need mysql/postgresql compatible.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want 5x mysql performance.
Amazon Aurora review

Choose Visual Studio if

  • You want to start without paying.
Visual Studio review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Aurora or Visual Studio better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Aurora starts at Free and Visual Studio at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Aurora or Visual Studio?
Amazon Aurora starts at Free and Visual Studio at Free.
Does Amazon Aurora or Visual Studio run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
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 Visual Studio is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Aurora do that Visual Studio cannot?
Amazon Aurora covers MySQL/PostgreSQL Compatible, 5x MySQL Performance, Auto-scaling Storage, Global Database.

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
Visual Studio: What are the pricing differences between subscription types?

Standard subscriptions include access to more benefits, such as Azure dev/test pricing, monthly Azure individual credit, software and download access, services, training, and support. Monthly subscriptions offer flexibility but fewer benefits.

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
Visual Studio: Are discounts available for startups?

There aren't any discounts available to start-ups, however an unlimited number of users within an organization can use Visual Studio Community for specific scenarios like open source work.

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
Visual Studio: Who can use Visual Studio Community for free?

In non-enterprise organizations, up to five users can use it. Enterprise organizations (greater than 250 PCs or greater than $1M annual revenue) cannot use it beyond academic/open-source scenarios.

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
Visual Studio: What's the renewal pricing structure?

Enterprise standard renews at $214.09/month (after initial $499.92); Professional at $66.59/month (after $99.99).

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
Share

Related pages

More on Amazon Aurora

More on Visual Studio

Keep looking

Other head to heads