Databases · pricing
Amazon RDS pricing
Amazon RDS publishes 3 tiers. Below is each one, what it adds over the tier beneath it, and where the ladder stops being worth climbing for most people.
As of 30 August 2026, Amazon RDS pricing is free across 3 published tiers. Figures are the vendor's list prices as recorded on this page's last check; the vendor's site is the final word.
- Entry price
- Free
- Model
- Usage-based
- Tiers
- 3
- Free tier
- Yes
Amazon RDS plans, side by side
Every published tier in ascending order of price, with the number of features each one lists. An absence here means the record does not itemise it, not that the tier lacks it.
| Plan | Price | Features listed | Step up from the tier below |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-Demand Instances | On request | - | Entry tier |
| Reserved Instances | On request | - | Priced on request |
| Database Savings Plans | On request | - | Priced on request |
What each tier adds
The set difference between each tier's feature list and the one beneath it. Where a tier lists nothing new, the vendor has either stopped repeating the inherited list or the tier raises limits rather than adding capability, the record does not distinguish the two, so this page does not either.
On-Demand Instances
On requestThe entry tier. The record does not itemise what it includes.
Reserved Instances
On requestNothing on the record separates this tier from On-Demand Instances on features. Check the vendor's page for the limits it lifts.
Database Savings Plans
On requestNothing on the record separates this tier from Reserved Instances on features. Check the vendor's page for the limits it lifts.
What the product covers
The full Amazon RDS feature record, grouped as the catalogue groups it. This is the product as a whole; the record does not map every feature onto a specific tier.
Other
- Multiple DB Engines
- Automated Backups
- Multi-AZ Deployment
- Read Replicas
- Encryption
- Performance Insights
- Automatic Scaling
Integrations
- MySQL
- PostgreSQL
- MariaDB
- Oracle
- SQL Server
Platform
- Web support
- Aws support
People bring Amazon RDS in for transaction processing, data storage, application backend, reporting, data analytics. If that is not the job you are buying for, the alternatives to Amazon RDS are worth a look before you commit to a tier.
How that compares in Databases
Too few databases tools in this directory publish a starting price to quote a meaningful median, so the table below is a like-for-like list rather than a ranking.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Rated | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon RDS (this page) | Free | usage-based | - | |
| Canary Labs | $3000/year | Per tag band per year | - | vs Amazon RDS |
| Presto | Free | Open source, no licence fee | - | vs Amazon RDS |
| Privacera | On request | quote | - | vs Amazon RDS |
| Dremio | Free, then $0.2/hour | Per Dremio Compute Unit consumed | - | vs Amazon RDS |
| Solace PubSub+ | Free | quote | - | vs Amazon RDS |
| StarRocks | Free | Open source, no licence fee | - | vs Amazon RDS |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry, they are not reviews hosted on Softwr. How each figure is used is set out on the Amazon RDS badges page.
Before you pay for Amazon RDS
Three things this page cannot tell you, and all three change the bill. The record carries a price and a billing period but not the unit - per-seat and flat-rate pricing are indistinguishable in this data, so a five-person team may be looking at five times the figure above. It carries no annual rate, so any discount for paying yearly is not something this page can quote. And it carries no trial length.
What it can tell you is the shape of the ladder: 3 tiers between On request and On request, with the jump not itemised on the record. Because there is a free tier, the cheapest way to answer the rest is to use it before paying anything.
Amazon RDS runs on aws cloud, multi-az, multi-region, and is published by Amazon Web Services of Seattle, Washington. The full record is on the Amazon RDS review, and the rest of the category is under best databases tools.
Amazon RDS pricing questions
- How much does Amazon RDS cost?
- Amazon RDS publishes 3 tiers, from On request for On-Demand Instances up to On request for Database Savings Plans. The entry tier costs nothing.
- Does Amazon RDS have a free plan?
- Yes, Amazon RDS is recorded as usage-based, so it can be used without paying.
- Which databases tools can I use without paying?
- 5 of the 8 databases tools listed alongside Amazon RDS have a free tier: Presto, Dremio, Solace PubSub+, StarRocks, EMQX.
- What am I actually paying for with Amazon RDS?
- The record lists 14 features across 3 areas: other, integrations, platform. In practice it is brought in for transaction processing, data storage, application backend.
- Does Amazon RDS charge per user?
- The record carries a price and a billing period for each of its 3 tiers, but not the unit that price is charged in. Per-seat and flat-rate billing look identical in this data, so check the vendor's page before budgeting for a team.
- Are these Amazon RDS prices current?
- They are what the catalogue entry holds, refreshed when the entry is. Vendors change pricing without notice and nobody at Softwr re-verifies each tier by hand, so treat this as a structured summary and the vendor's own pricing page as the authority.
- What should I compare Amazon RDS against before paying?
- The closest databases tools in this directory are Canary Labs, Presto, Privacera, Dremio. Each has a side-by-side comparison with Amazon RDS covering price, platforms and features.