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Amazon Aurora Reviews

Vendor: Amazon Web Services (AWS)
4.2 out of 5
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What is Amazon Aurora?

Amazon Aurora is a MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database built for the cloud, that combines the performance and availability of traditional enterprise databases with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of open source databases.

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Amazon Aurora is the #7 ranked solution in top Relational Databases. PeerSpot users give Amazon Aurora an average rating of 8.4 out of 10. Amazon Aurora is most commonly compared to SQL Server: Amazon Aurora vs SQL Server. Amazon Aurora is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 70% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a financial services firm, accounting for 24% of all views.
Buyer's Guide
Amazon Aurora
August 2025
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Amazon Aurora mindshare

As of August 2025, the mindshare of Amazon Aurora in the Relational Databases Tools category stands at 2.9%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Amazon Aurora2.9%
SQL Server16.6%
Oracle Database12.9%
Other67.6%
Relational Databases Tools

PeerResearch reports based on Amazon Aurora reviews

TypeTitleDate
CategoryRelational Databases ToolsAug 29, 2025Download
ProductReviews, tips, and advice from real usersAug 29, 2025Download
ComparisonAmazon Aurora vs SQL ServerAug 29, 2025Download
ComparisonAmazon Aurora vs Oracle DatabaseAug 29, 2025Download
ComparisonAmazon Aurora vs SAP HANAAug 29, 2025Download
Suggested products
TitleRatingMindshareRecommending
SQL Server4.216.6%93%270 interviewsAdd to research
Teradata4.15.1%87%76 interviewsAdd to research
 
 
Key learnings from peers

Valuable Features

Amazon Aurora's most valuable features include automated scalability, seamless maintenance, multi-region redundancy, high availability, and replication capabilities. Additionally, its compatibility with MySQL and PostgreSQL enhances ease of use, while serverless functionality optimizes cost efficiency. Users appreciate its SQL standardization, performance management, automated backups, and integration with AWS services. The reader endpoint supports efficient database connections, and the ability to manage large-scale databases without maintenance windows is highly praised.
  • "Amazon Aurora's best features are about scaling up and scaling down, which is perfect."
  • "Amazon Aurora is built on community databases and AWS has added additional features to it, allowing customers to have enterprise-level features at a lower cost."
  • "My overall experience with Amazon Aurora is very positive. I rate it ten out of ten for its reliability and efficiency."

Room for Improvement

Amazon Aurora faces challenges with cost-effectiveness and a need for broader database engine compatibility. Users seek better developer support, more automated update systems, and robust comparison tools. There's feedback on performance issues, particularly with scalability and tuning. Greater integration with Oracle and enhanced PostgreSQL support is requested. Users also highlight a demand for tutorials, improved migration processes, and options for handling urgent patches. More AI features and flexible memory setups are desired, and queries sometimes face execution inconsistencies.
  • "I don't use Amazon Aurora's global database feature; I just use the local feature."
  • "Amazon Aurora should upgrade its base PostgreSQL versions more frequently and offer all PostgreSQL extensions."
  • "A challenge I noticed is during migration from PostgreSQL RDS to Amazon Aurora. There are technical challenges, such as the inability to provision the database using a PostgreSQL snapshot directly."

ROI

Switching from Amazon RDS to Amazon Aurora reduced costs by nearly thirty percent for larger Oracle instances. Aurora saves time and improves operational costs while enhancing service performance with MySQL and PostgreSQL support. Customers experience nearly $60,000 annual savings and significant manpower cost reductions compared to on-premises setups. Users note higher customer satisfaction and service availability. Return on investment varies, often involving reserved instances, but monetary savings and reliability gains are significant.

Pricing

Amazon Aurora users find pricing variable based on instance types and usage, with no licensing costs involved. While some consider it expensive, others view it as reasonable due to its managed service benefits and performance. Monthly billing and cost-efficient features compared to on-premises databases are noted, with emphasis on effective management of cloud expenses. Aurora's pricing is often compared to RDS, offering additional functionalities and fluctuating based on performance and operational demands.
  • "I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being expensive."
  • "There is no need to buy a license for the product. We can pay as per the use case."
  • "It is an expensive solution."

Popular Use Cases

Amazon Aurora is primarily used by organizations for scalable, high-availability relational database management, particularly with MySQL and PostgreSQL engines. Businesses utilize it for data storage, payment solutions, and internal applications, benefiting from its auto-scaling and serverless capabilities. It facilitates seamless migration from other database systems, offers enterprise-level features at lower costs, and is favored for its efficiency in handling backend services and comprehensive business intelligence solutions.

Service and Support

Amazon Aurora's customer service is rated highly by users with business profiles, as support is quick and efficient. Enterprise-level and 24/7 plans ensure prompt responsiveness. Free trial users encounter limited service, impacting those conducting evaluations. Issues have been noted with initial support knowledge, while experienced engineers offer valuable assistance. Some users find documentation sufficient. Support quality is seen improving with specialists handling complex cases, though expansion has affected consistency. Aurora support remains less accessible for personal accounts.

Deployment

Users found Amazon Aurora's initial setup straightforward and manageable. Many appreciated its ease, noting minimal time required, especially with the use of AWS Management Console and tools like Terraform. Even though some referenced documentation, it was rated positively. Maintenance is offloaded to Amazon, reducing team requirements. Migration is possible with available features, and infrastructure setup is convenient with the use of AWS resources, allowing for an easy spin-up of the database.

Scalability

Amazon Aurora is reported to be highly scalable, supported by AWS's management, which handles scaling as data grows. Users appreciate its automatic resource scaling without downtime. Many rate scalability positively, especially for handling large data and supporting high-performance needs across industries. Its ability to adapt to increased usage and multiple regions is frequently highlighted. Some mention the importance of scalability in their transition from on-premises systems to the cloud.

Stability

Amazon Aurora is praised for its high stability, scoring between eight and ten. Several users report no downtimes or major issues, while a few encountered minor problems such as force releases and a challenge with log retention. Those using dedicated instances note some hiccups but acknowledge improvements. Aurora is valued for high availability and performance, meeting expectations from AWS services. Migration glitches are mentioned, but post-migration stability remains reliable.
These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.
Download our Amazon Aurora Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
By visitors reading reviews
Company SizeCount
Small Business68
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise236
By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
24%
Computer Software Company
15%
Retailer
6%
Government
5%
Manufacturing Company
5%
University
5%
Healthcare Company
5%
Insurance Company
4%
Construction Company
4%
Media Company
3%
Comms Service Provider
3%
Hospitality Company
2%
Energy/Utilities Company
2%
Wholesaler/Distributor
2%
Real Estate/Law Firm
2%
Transportation Company
2%
Educational Organization
2%
Recreational Facilities/Services Company
1%
Legal Firm
1%
Outsourcing Company
1%
Sports Company
1%
Non Profit
1%
Performing Arts
1%

Compare Amazon Aurora with alternative products

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Learn more about Amazon Aurora

Amazon Aurora is up to five times faster than standard MySQL databases and three times faster than standard PostgreSQL databases. It provides the security, availability, and reliability of commercial databases at 1/10th the cost. Amazon Aurora is fully managed by Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), which automates time-consuming administration tasks like hardware provisioning, database setup, patching, and backups.

Amazon Aurora features a distributed, fault-tolerant, self-healing storage system that auto-scales up to 64TB per database instance. It delivers high performance and availability with up to 15 low-latency read replicas, point-in-time recovery, continuous backup to Amazon S3, and replication across three Availability Zones (AZs).

Visit the Amazon RDS Management Console to create your first Aurora database instance and start migrating your MySQL and PostgreSQL databases.

Amazon Aurora customers

Dow Jones, Arizona State University, Verizon, Capital One, United Nations, Nielsen, Autodesk, Fanduel

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Amazon Aurora Reviews Summary
Author infoRatingReview Summary
Digital Services & Engagement Senior Manager at AXA5.0We switched from PostgreSQL to Amazon Aurora for its managed features and 99.9% SLA, significantly improving operational efficiency and reducing manpower costs by nearly 50%. However, migrating from PostgreSQL RDS posed challenges, needing improvement for easier transitions.
Associate Vice President - Database Management (Principal Solutions Architect) at Northbay4.0I use Amazon Aurora for its cost-effectiveness and enterprise-level features compared to MySQL and PostgreSQL. It offers high availability, up to 16 read replicas, and fast cloning. Improvement is needed in updating PostgreSQL versions and extensions.
Data & Solution Archtect at Enkel4.5I support customers migrating Oracle databases to Amazon Aurora, mainly in finance and services. Aurora's scalability, cost control, and tuning options are valuable, though I don’t use all features. Overall, I rate it highly for modernization projects.
AWS Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees4.0No summary available
Web Developer and IT Consultant at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees4.0No summary available
Aws Devops Engineer at LTIMindtree4.5No summary available
Solution Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees4.5I found migrating to Amazon Aurora smooth and setup easy, with valuable auto-scaling and internal management features. While stability and scalability are excellent, I wish there were more quick tutorials to reduce the learning curve.
AWS DATA ENGINEER at Coforge Growth Agency4.0I used Amazon Aurora in a German project for its superior speed and efficiency over other databases. Despite a challenge with the serverless version's lack of a query editor, Aurora's performance and cost advantages outweighed previous solutions like Redshift and Snowflake.