Amazon RDS vs Google Cloud SQL comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google are both solutions in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3, while Google is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.8. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 24.7% mindshare in DS, compared to Google’s 16.2% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Google users who would recommend it.

Amazon RDS

Read 54 Amazon RDS reviews

4,861 Views
4,099 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Google Cloud SQL

Read 22 Google Cloud SQL reviews

2,949 Views
2,698 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Amazon RDS

Google Cloud SQL

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

Amazon RDS and Google Cloud SQL compete in the managed database services category. Amazon RDS appears to have the upper hand due to its deployment agility and extensive feature set, though Google Cloud SQL offers more competitive pricing within Google's ecosystem.

Features: Amazon RDS provides automated backups, multi-availability zone resilience, and supports multiple database engines such as MySQL, Oracle, and PostgreSQL, simplifying deployment and scalability. Google Cloud SQL features high availability, seamless integration with Google services, and automatic scaling, although it lacks the diverse database support offered by RDS.

Room for Improvement: Amazon RDS could improve in areas like migration processes, shell access for experienced DBAs, and its pricing structure that requires careful cost provisioning. Google Cloud SQL can enhance its user interface, documentation, and connectivity with additional tools, while also improving support for data migration and advanced configuration options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both Amazon RDS and Google Cloud SQL are public cloud solutions, with Amazon RDS offering stronger hybrid and on-premises support. Customer service varies for both, influenced by the purchased support level, though Amazon is often noted for additional costs associated with comprehensive support.

Pricing and ROI: Amazon RDS tends to cost more due to its extensive capabilities, requiring careful management to avoid unexpected charges. It provides value by reducing operational overhead. Google Cloud SQL is more budget-friendly, with straightforward and lower base costs, appealing to those who prioritize cost over features. Each solution's ROI differs based on organizational needs and existing tech stacks.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon RDS vs. Google Cloud SQL Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon RDS vs. Google Cloud SQL

April 2025

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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 RDS

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Google Cloud SQL

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Amazon RDS is 24.7%, down from 27.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Cloud SQL is 16.2%, down from 18.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

Featured Reviews

Samuel Ebite

AICE Graduate at alx_africa

Ensure high availability with robust encryption and seamless backups

Amazon RDS provides data encryption using services like KMS, crucial for securing high-sensitive data and meeting compliance requirements such as HIPAA or PCI DSS. The best practices we've employed with RDS help design a well-architected framework, encompassing security, encryption, scalability with multi-availability zone deployment, and operational excellence with automated backups. RDS features, such as reserved instances, storage auto-scaling, monitoring with technologies like CloudWatch, and proxies, contribute to cost optimization. The solution enhances security with IAM authentication and offers high availability to end users.

Read full review

Prathap Sankar

Analytics Delivery Manager at Tredence Inc.

Gain control and flexibility with customizable tools but has slower performance

I am majorly working in Google Cloud SQL for building my applications Google Cloud SQL provides complete customization options, along with a dashboarding tool and a comprehensive suite of tools that can be used to customize and build any application needed. The deployment model allows for…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of Amazon RDS are its scalability, reliability, and intelligence."

"Amazon RDS makes it easier for me to manage databases compared to traditional databases like MongoDB or local host servers."

"The initial setup is straightforward, and technical support is good."

"Amazon RDS is very easy to use."

"The Amazon RDS features I found most valuable are snapshots and automatic backups."

"The time to install or set up a database environment is very fast."

"Amazon RDS is quite a well-managed and stable service...The initial setup was very easy."

"The dashboard and performance are the most valuable features of Amazon RDS."

More Amazon RDS pros

"The setup was straightforward. Just a couple of clicks, and we were done."

"The most valuable features are that it's easy to use, simple, and user-friendly."

"The most valuable feature for us is the Postgres on Google Cloud SQL since it supports most of the features we need."

"Google Cloud SQL provides complete customization options, along with a dashboarding tool and a comprehensive suite of tools that can be used to customize and build any application needed."

"My suggestion to anyone thinking about this solution is to jump into it head-first!"

"It is not the cool features that I find valuable, it is the stability of Google Cloud Platform."

"Ease of management and the ability to oversee the statistics of your SQL."

"It directly provides robust data safety. It also offers various other storage options, such as Google Cloud Storage. These services ensure data security and redundancy. Furthermore, it includes different storage classes, allowing flexible data management tailored to specific needs."

More Google Cloud SQL pros

Cons

"There are some advanced monitoring queries that we cannot execute because Amazon doesn't give admin privileges to the end users."

"The support team of Amazon RDS provides us with some links to go through whenever we face some issues, but it doesn't work for us."

"For improvements, Amazon RDS could work on more features for multi-availability zone deployment to enhance higher availability, and on simplifying migration for those transitioning from on-premises to cloud environments."

"As a customer of Amazon RDS, you don't have super-user privileges, and that is the only drawback where improvements are required."

"I would like to see improvements in the tool's automatic restart."

"A lot of the features are disabled by default. The solution should enable more features. I understand this could cause challenges to management for many clients using RDS, however."

"It would be helpful if they made it easier to migrate from an existing on-premises solution to the cloud-based service."

"The solution's connectivity and response logs could be improved."

More Amazon RDS cons

"Google Cloud SQL needs to improve its support for high-end I/O operations. On-prem systems with high I/O capabilities perform better, as Google Cloud SQL takes more time to handle the same tasks."

"Google Cloud SQL still needs better connectivity to outside, existing data sources."

"The product's user interface could be more user-friendly to improve the overall user experience."

"To create a seamless data integration, the title integration of these databases with the data integration platforms is essential. This is what we would like to have in a future release."

"They could improve documentation and dashboard stability for efficient user experience and database management."

"I would appreciate more flexibility with specific extensions applicable to engines like PostgreSQL."

"The only thing that could be better is the pricing."

"I would like to see better integration with all the different tools on the platform."

More Google Cloud SQL cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Amazon RDS is cheaper compared to other tools."

"The solution's price is good."

"The platform pricing is on the higher side, but given its capabilities and ease of use, it remains competitive."

"The price of Amazon RDS is expensive."

"It is less expensive than SQL Server. We pay based on the usage on a monthly basis."

"AWS is becoming pretty expensive because cheap or absolutely free services have become paid services. Amazon RDS is not an expensive product, but Amazon's ecosystem is becoming increasingly expensive."

"We are paying for a service license."

"The solution is expensive."

More Amazon RDS pricing and cost advice

"You need to pay extra costs for backup and replication."

"It is not expensive, especially considering the significant reduction in database management time."

"It's really cheap. It wouldn't be more than, I believe it's around 50 euro per month for running a cloud SQL."

"While the platform’s pricing may be higher, it aligns with industry standards, considering the quality of service and features provided."

"From a financial perspective, Google Cloud SQL is on the cheaper side."

"The pricing is very much an important factor as to why we use this solution."

"The solution is affordable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

14%

University

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

13%

University

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon RDS?

The product's installation phase is easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon RDS?

The pricing for Amazon RDS is reasonable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon RDS?

One key improvement would be adding support for multi-storage paradigms, including columnar support, as seen in TiDB. The serverless support with Aurora could also be enhanced. Additionally, having...

See all answers

What do you like most about Google Cloud SQL?

The implementation part of the product was easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud SQL?

The cost is expensive, especially for services like BigQuery, which charge based on query operations. We pay as we use, with no fixed cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Cloud SQL?

Google Cloud SQL needs to improve its support for high-end I/O operations. On-prem systems with high I/O capabilities perform better, as Google Cloud SQL takes more time to handle the same tasks. T...

See all answers

Comparisons

MongoDB Atlas vs Amazon RDS

Compared 27% of the time

Oracle Database as a Service vs Amazon RDS

Compared 18% of the time

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Amazon RDS

Compared 15% of the time

Google Cloud Spanner vs Amazon RDS

Compared 5% of the time

Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer vs Amazon RDS

Compared 5% of the time

More Amazon RDS Competitors

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 39% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 12% of the time

Oracle Database as a Service vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 7% of the time

Google Cloud Spanner vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 4% of the time

Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 2% of the time

More Google Cloud SQL Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon RDS

May 2025

Download Amazon RDS product report

Buyer's Guide

Google Cloud SQL

May 2025

Download Google Cloud SQL product report

Also Known As

RDS

No data available

Overview

Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) is a web service that makes it easier to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud. It provides cost-efficient, resizeable capacity for an industry-standard relational database and manages common database administration tasks.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Google Cloud SQL is a fully-managed database service that makes it easy to set up, maintain, manage, and administer your relational PostgreSQL and MySQL databases in the cloud. Google Cloud SQL offers high performance, scalability, and convenience. Hosted on Google Cloud Platform, Cloud SQL provides a database infrastructure for applications running anywhere.

Google

Sample Customers

Edmodo

BeDataDriven, CodeFutures, Daffodil, GenieConnect, KiSSFLOW, LiveHive, SulAm_rica, Zync

Buyer's Guide

Amazon RDS vs. Google Cloud SQL

April 2025

Free Report: Amazon RDS vs. Google Cloud SQL

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