AWS RDS Pricing (2026)
Managed relational database services handle provisioning, patching, backups, and replication so you can focus on your application. Support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and other engines with high availability built in. RDS supports 6 database engines including Aurora, which offers up to 5x throughput of standard MySQL. Starting from $0.0720/hr ($52.56/mo) for db.t3.small.
Key Features
- ✓Automated backups, patching, and failover
- ✓Multi-AZ / multi-region replication for high availability
- ✓Support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, and Oracle
- ✓Read replicas for scaling read-heavy workloads
- ✓Automatic storage scaling
Common Use Cases
Web Applications
Backend database for web apps with automated backups and multi-AZ failover for reliability.
SaaS Platforms
Multi-tenant database infrastructure with read replicas for scaling customer workloads.
Data Warehousing
OLAP workloads with read replicas and optimized instance types for analytical queries.
On-Demand Pricing
Pay-as-you-go pricing with no upfront commitment. You are billed per hour of usage and can start or stop at any time. Hourly rates start at $0.0720/hr ($52.56/mo) for db.t3.small.
| Instance | vCPU | Memory | Price/hr | Price/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provisioned IOPS | - | - | - | - |
| db.x2iedn.4xlarge | 16 | 512 GB | - | - |
| db.m5d.xlarge | 4 | 16 GB | - | - |
| db.r5b.large | 2 | 16 GB | - | - |
| db.m7i.16xlarge | 64 | 256 GB | - | - |
| db.m5d.4xlarge | 16 | 64 GB | - | - |
| db.m6i.32xlarge | 128 | 512 GB | $21.8880 | $15,978.24 |
| db.c6gd.12xlarge | 48 | 96 GB | - | - |
| Database Storage | - | - | - | - |
| Provisioned Throughput | - | - | - | - |
| db.r6id.32xlarge | 128 | 1024 GB | $38.1710 | $27,864.83 |
| Database Storage | - | - | - | - |
| Provisioned Throughput | - | - | - | - |
| db.m6i.8xlarge | 32 | 128 GB | - | - |
| db.r7i.24xlarge | 96 | 768 GB | $13.9200 | $10,161.60 |
| Provisioned IOPS | - | - | - | - |
| db.m7g.2xlarge | 8 | 32 GB | - | - |
| db.r5b.12xlarge | 48 | 384 GB | - | - |
| db.t4g.large | 2 | 8 GB | - | - |
| db.r6id.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | $2.3860 | $1,741.78 |
| db.m6gd.12xlarge | 48 | 192 GB | - | - |
| CPU Credits | - | - | - | - |
| Database Storage | - | - | $0.1250 | $91.25 |
| db.m5.2xlarge | 8 | 32 GB | $0.3780 | $275.94 |
| db.r7i.4xlarge | 8 | 128 GB | - | - |
| Database Storage | - | - | $0.1000 | $73.00 |
| db.r6idn.2xlarge | 8 | 64 GB | $3.1010 | $2,263.73 |
| db.r8gd.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | - | - |
| db.r5b.24xlarge | 96 | 768 GB | - | - |
| db.r5d.16xlarge | 64 | 512 GB | - | - |
| db.r7i.48xlarge | 96 | 1536 GB | - | - |
| db.x2idn.24xlarge | 96 | 1536 GB | - | - |
| Provisioned IOPS | - | - | - | - |
| db.r6g.12xlarge | 48 | 384 GB | - | - |
| db.r7i.12xlarge | 48 | 384 GB | - | - |
| db.m6i.24xlarge | 96 | 384 GB | $17.0880 | $12,474.24 |
| AmazonRDS | - | - | - | - |
| db.t3.medium | 2 | 4 GB | - | - |
| Database Storage | - | - | $0.1150 | $83.95 |
| db.m6idn.large | 2 | 8 GB | $0.2950 | $215.35 |
| db.m4.large | 2 | 8 GB | - | - |
| db.r6i.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | - | - |
| db.x2iedn.32xlarge | 128 | 4096 GB | - | - |
| db.r5.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | - | - |
| db.r6g.2xlarge | 8 | 64 GB | - | - |
| db.r5b.xlarge | 4 | 32 GB | - | - |
| db.r6idn.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | $3.1040 | $2,265.92 |
| db.m6gd.16xlarge | 64 | 256 GB | - | - |
| db.m6i.4xlarge | 16 | 64 GB | - | - |
| db.m5.8xlarge | 32 | 128 GB | - | - |
Pricing by Instance Family
Provisioned IOPS
4 instance types available
| Instance | Price/hr | Price/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Provisioned IOPS | - | - |
| Provisioned IOPS | - | - |
| Provisioned IOPS | - | - |
| Provisioned IOPS | - | - |
Database Instance
80 instance types available
| Instance | vCPU | Memory | Price/hr | Price/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| db.x2iedn.4xlarge | 16 | 512 GB | - | - |
| db.m5d.xlarge | 4 | 16 GB | - | - |
| db.r5b.large | 2 | 16 GB | - | - |
| db.m7i.16xlarge | 64 | 256 GB | - | - |
| db.m5d.4xlarge | 16 | 64 GB | - | - |
| db.m6i.32xlarge | 128 | 512 GB | $21.8880 | $15,978.24 |
| db.c6gd.12xlarge | 48 | 96 GB | - | - |
| db.r6id.32xlarge | 128 | 1024 GB | $38.1710 | $27,864.83 |
| db.m6i.8xlarge | 32 | 128 GB | - | - |
| db.r7i.24xlarge | 96 | 768 GB | $13.9200 | $10,161.60 |
| db.m7g.2xlarge | 8 | 32 GB | - | - |
| db.r5b.12xlarge | 48 | 384 GB | - | - |
| db.t4g.large | 2 | 8 GB | - | - |
| db.r6id.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | $2.3860 | $1,741.78 |
| db.m6gd.12xlarge | 48 | 192 GB | - | - |
| db.m5.2xlarge | 8 | 32 GB | $0.3780 | $275.94 |
| db.r7i.4xlarge | 8 | 128 GB | - | - |
| db.r6idn.2xlarge | 8 | 64 GB | $3.1010 | $2,263.73 |
| db.r8gd.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | - | - |
| db.r5b.24xlarge | 96 | 768 GB | - | - |
| db.r5d.16xlarge | 64 | 512 GB | - | - |
| db.r7i.48xlarge | 96 | 1536 GB | - | - |
| db.x2idn.24xlarge | 96 | 1536 GB | - | - |
| db.r6g.12xlarge | 48 | 384 GB | - | - |
| db.r7i.12xlarge | 48 | 384 GB | - | - |
| db.m6i.24xlarge | 96 | 384 GB | $17.0880 | $12,474.24 |
| db.t3.medium | 2 | 4 GB | - | - |
| db.m6idn.large | 2 | 8 GB | $0.2950 | $215.35 |
| db.m4.large | 2 | 8 GB | - | - |
| db.r6i.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | - | - |
| db.x2iedn.32xlarge | 128 | 4096 GB | - | - |
| db.r5.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | - | - |
| db.r6g.2xlarge | 8 | 64 GB | - | - |
| db.r5b.xlarge | 4 | 32 GB | - | - |
| db.r6idn.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | $3.1040 | $2,265.92 |
| db.m6gd.16xlarge | 64 | 256 GB | - | - |
| db.m6i.4xlarge | 16 | 64 GB | - | - |
| db.m5.8xlarge | 32 | 128 GB | - | - |
| db.m6i.xlarge | 4 | 16 GB | - | - |
| db.r5.2xlarge | 8 | 64 GB | - | - |
| db.m7i.large | 2 | 8 GB | - | - |
| db.r4.4xlarge | 16 | 122 GB | - | - |
| db.m7i.12xlarge | 48 | 192 GB | - | - |
| db.m6idn.4xlarge | 16 | 64 GB | - | - |
| db.r5.xlarge | 4 | 32 GB | - | - |
| db.m5d.2xlarge | 8 | 32 GB | - | - |
| db.m5.large | 2 | 8 GB | - | - |
| db.t2.large | 2 | 8 GB | - | - |
| db.r6gd.12xlarge | 48 | 384 GB | - | - |
| db.r3.2xlarge | 8 | 61 GB | $0.9450 | $689.85 |
Database Storage
11 instance types available
| Instance | Price/hr | Price/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Database Storage | - | - |
| Database Storage | - | - |
| Database Storage | $0.1250 | $91.25 |
| Database Storage | $0.1000 | $73.00 |
| Database Storage | $0.1150 | $83.95 |
| Database Storage | - | - |
| Database Storage | - | - |
| Database Storage | - | - |
| Database Storage | $0.2300 | $167.90 |
| Database Storage | - | - |
| Database Storage | - | - |
Provisioned Throughput
3 instance types available
| Instance | Price/hr | Price/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Provisioned Throughput | - | - |
| Provisioned Throughput | - | - |
| Provisioned Throughput | - | - |
CPU Credits
1 instance type available
| Instance | Price/hr | Price/mo |
|---|---|---|
| CPU Credits | - | - |
AmazonRDS
1 instance type available
| Instance | Price/hr | Price/mo |
|---|---|---|
| AmazonRDS | - | - |
Reserved Instance & Savings Plans Pricing
Commit to 1 or 3 years for lower hourly rates.
| Instance | vCPU | Memory | Price/hr | Price/mo | 1yr RI/hr | 3yr RI/hr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provisioned IOPS | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| db.x2iedn.4xlarge | 16 | 512 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.m5d.xlarge | 4 | 16 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.r5b.large | 2 | 16 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.m7i.16xlarge | 64 | 256 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.m5d.4xlarge | 16 | 64 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.m6i.32xlarge | 128 | 512 GB | $21.8880 | $15,978.24 | - | - |
| db.c6gd.12xlarge | 48 | 96 GB | - | - | - | - |
| Database Storage | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Provisioned Throughput | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| db.r6id.32xlarge | 128 | 1024 GB | $38.1710 | $27,864.83 | - | - |
| Database Storage | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Provisioned Throughput | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| db.m6i.8xlarge | 32 | 128 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.r7i.24xlarge | 96 | 768 GB | $13.9200 | $10,161.60 | - | - |
| Provisioned IOPS | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| db.m7g.2xlarge | 8 | 32 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.r5b.12xlarge | 48 | 384 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.t4g.large | 2 | 8 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.r6id.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | $2.3860 | $1,741.78 | - | - |
| db.m6gd.12xlarge | 48 | 192 GB | - | - | - | - |
| CPU Credits | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Database Storage | - | - | $0.1250 | $91.25 | - | - |
| db.m5.2xlarge | 8 | 32 GB | $0.3780 | $275.94 | - | - |
| db.r7i.4xlarge | 8 | 128 GB | - | - | - | - |
| Database Storage | - | - | $0.1000 | $73.00 | - | - |
| db.r6idn.2xlarge | 8 | 64 GB | $3.1010 | $2,263.73 | - | - |
| db.r8gd.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.r5b.24xlarge | 96 | 768 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.r5d.16xlarge | 64 | 512 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.r7i.48xlarge | 96 | 1536 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.x2idn.24xlarge | 96 | 1536 GB | - | - | - | - |
| Provisioned IOPS | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| db.r6g.12xlarge | 48 | 384 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.r7i.12xlarge | 48 | 384 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.m6i.24xlarge | 96 | 384 GB | $17.0880 | $12,474.24 | - | - |
| AmazonRDS | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| db.t3.medium | 2 | 4 GB | - | - | - | - |
| Database Storage | - | - | $0.1150 | $83.95 | - | - |
| db.m6idn.large | 2 | 8 GB | $0.2950 | $215.35 | - | - |
| db.m4.large | 2 | 8 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.r6i.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.x2iedn.32xlarge | 128 | 4096 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.r5.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.r6g.2xlarge | 8 | 64 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.r5b.xlarge | 4 | 32 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.r6idn.4xlarge | 16 | 128 GB | $3.1040 | $2,265.92 | - | - |
| db.m6gd.16xlarge | 64 | 256 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.m6i.4xlarge | 16 | 64 GB | - | - | - | - |
| db.m5.8xlarge | 32 | 128 GB | - | - | - | - |
How RDS Pricing Works
On-Demand
Pay per hour with no long-term commitment. Ideal for variable workloads and development environments.
Reserved / Committed Use
Commit to 1 or 3 years for significant discounts.
Spot / Preemptible
Use spare capacity at steep discounts. Best for fault-tolerant, batch, and stateless workloads.
Pricing Insights
Amazon RDS offers 20 pricing tiers from $0.0720/hr to $38.17/hr in the US East region.
The db.r7i.24xlarge (96 vCPU, 768 GB RAM) at $13.92/hr offers the best specs-per-dollar ratio.
By Instance Family
- ●Database Instance: 16 tiers, $0.0720/hr – $38.17/hr
- ●Database Storage: 4 tiers, $0.1000/hr – $0.2300/hr
Cost Optimization Tips
- ✓With 20 available tiers, right-sizing your instance to match actual usage is key to cost optimization.
Monthly Cost Examples
AWS RDS Free Tier
Free limit: 750 hrs/mo. Available for the first 12 months after account creation, then standard on-demand pricing applies.
Free Tier Comparison
| Provider | Service | Free Offering | Duration | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWS | RDS | db.t2.micro / db.t3.micro | 12 months | 750 hrs/mo |
| Azure | SQL Database | Serverless | 12 months | 100K vCore-sec, 32 GB |
| GCP | Cloud SQL | None | - | - |
| OCI | Autonomous Database | Transaction/JSON/APEX | Always | 2 instances, 1 OCPU + 20 GB each |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AWS RDS?
AWS RDS is a cloud service offered by Amazon Web Services. It provides various configurations (100 pricing tiers available) with pay-as-you-go and committed-use pricing options.
How much does AWS RDS cost per month?
Prices range from $52.56/month for db.t3.small to $27,864.83/month for db.r6id.32xlarge on On-Demand pricing in us-east-1.
Does AWS RDS have a free tier?
AWS offers various free tier options. Check the official AWS pricing page for the most current free tier details for RDS.
How many AWS RDS pricing tiers are available?
There are 100 pricing tiers available for AWS RDS. These range from entry-level configurations to high-performance options for enterprise workloads.
What pricing models does AWS RDS offer?
AWS RDS offers On-Demand (pay-per-hour, no commitment), Reserved/Committed Use (1-3 year commitments for significant discounts), and in some cases Spot/Preemptible pricing for interruptible workloads at the lowest cost.
Is a managed database worth the extra cost over self-hosted?
Managed databases cost 20-40% more than running your own on a VM, but include automated backups, patching, failover, and monitoring. For most teams the operational savings outweigh the price premium. Self-hosting makes sense only when you need custom configurations or have dedicated DBA expertise.
What is included in managed database hourly pricing?
Hourly pricing covers the compute instance, OS license, and database engine. Storage, backups, and data transfer are billed separately. Some providers bundle a limited amount of backup storage. Always check for I/O costs, which can be significant for write-heavy workloads.