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Amazon Aurora Serverless vs MySQL comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon Aurora Serverless
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
20th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.8
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MySQL
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
152
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of Amazon Aurora Serverless is 1.2%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MySQL is 6.2%, down from 7.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
MySQL6.2%
Amazon Aurora Serverless1.2%
Other92.6%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Anibal Palacios - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Database availability has improved with quick recovery and enhanced network setup
I use Aurora mainly for creating and maintaining databases, such as Aurora (MySQL version) databases, within the system. I value it for its network security and quicker recovery options Aurora is used as it is an easier solution for our requirements and offers high availability. It allows us to…
Prabir Kumar Kundu - PeerSpot reviewer
SR AVP–Presales Cloud & Platform Management Services at Path Infotech ltd
Offers robust security and availability with impressive replication capabilities
Regarding their documentation and interface, there is room for improvement. Documentation is definitely required when running multiple databases on a cluster system. The load balancer, MySQL LB, which is used to connect to the application, lacks clear documentation. When there are multiple application servers connecting to the MySQL cluster and going through the MySQL load balancer, the documentation is not user-friendly. It's there, but only technical persons with deep knowledge of the MySQL database can implement it. Most of the community users or ISVs who use MySQL don't have many technical persons or DBA experts, so they face some challenges for the high availability of connecting high available databases from high available applications. That documentation should be simplified.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Amazon Aurora Serverless helps in reducing costs by allowing scalable solutions that split read and write endpoints, effectively managing database load and saving on capacity costs compared to our previous solution."
"Amazon Aurora Serverless is easy to scale, offering a cluster-based shared scaling model with options for Autoscale."
"Aurora could improve its affordability, even though its price is very completive compared to DBs as SLQ Server."
"Aurora makes it easier for me to create an environment within the network, offering faster recovery and 100% availability by replicating databases across two availability zones, and its scalability features for peak workloads are very beneficial."
"The most valuable feature of Amazon Aurora Serverless is its serverless nature, which means I do not have to maintain the underlying infrastructure."
"The most valuable feature of Amazon Aurora Serverless is its serverless nature, which means I do not have to maintain the underlying infrastructure, and it is highly scalable with a favorable pricing model that greatly enhances our operational efficiency by eliminating the need to set specific thresholds and preventing client data access issues due to uneven growth."
"MySQL is indeed the world's most popular open source database."
"It has a community version, and when I have to create a new database, I have no problems with licenses."
"The availability of resources for MySQL has been the biggest benefit for our organization."
"This product is good as it is a graphical interface; it's easy to do all MySQL database administration very easily."
"Mysql is free : it's an open source project, so you can use it with no cost."
"I would use MySQL for a medium project, with around 1,00,000 hundred thousand users, because of the indexing and stored procedures."
"The way that MySQL has improved my organization is that it comes free and also works fine on the technical side."
"MySQL is easy to install, connect, and do all such things."
 

Cons

"Amazon Aurora Serverless could benefit from a few more security features, particularly in terms of its accessibility."
"Aurora could improve its affordability, as it is currently considered a bit expensive."
"Amazon Aurora could improve its detailed monitoring, especially in CloudWatch, to provide more precise query level insights."
"The version of the product with free licensing does not offer stellar scalability support."
"At times, the autoscaling does not happen when there is a surge in load."
"I would like to see some improvements in the solution’s integration aspects."
"It should have some code analytical functions. It can also have a monitoring tool."
"It has a lot of options to interact with. Sometimes it is hard to find the appropriate options quickly."
"MySQL’s performance is not optimal on subqueries and can significantly increase the server load for database intensive applications."
"We require more ease of use, scalability, and high availability."
"Its performance should be better. When we use big data, it is slow in performance. We should be able to use mirroring for improved performance."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Can range from free to quite expensive, depending on the environments and requirements, so better to really set goals ahead of setting it up."
"There is a license needed for this solution."
"The price of the solution is good because we have a good partner."
"We pay a yearly subscription fee."
"There is not a license required for this solution."
"My company uses MySQL's corporate licenses."
"It's cheaper than other solutions."
"We've never bought a commercial license. We just use the open-source community edition."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
32%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business74
Midsize Enterprise34
Large Enterprise64
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon Aurora Serverless?
In my experience, Aurora is a bit expensive. The costs depend on the size of the database.
What needs improvement with Amazon Aurora Serverless?
Aurora could improve its affordability, as it is currently considered a bit expensive. There is room to make it more cost-effective for users even though its price is very completive compared to DB...
What is your primary use case for Amazon Aurora Serverless?
I use Aurora mainly for creating and maintaining databases, such as Aurora (MySQL version) databases, within the system. I value it for its network security and quicker recovery options.
Why are MySQL connections encrypted and what is the biggest benefit of this?
MySQL encrypts connections to protect your data and the biggest benefit from this is that nobody can corrupt it. If you move information over a network without encryption, you are endangering it, m...
Considering that there is a free version of MySQL, would you invest in one of the paid editions?
I may be considered a MySQL veteran since I have been using it since before Oracle bought it and created paid versions. So back in my day, it was all free, it was open-source and the best among sim...
What is one thing you would improve with MySQL?
One thing I would improve related to MySQL is not within the product itself, but with the guides to it. Before, when it was free, everyone was on their own, seeking tutorials and how-to videos onli...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Aurora Serverless vs. MySQL and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.