Amazon Aurora Reviews

Name: Amazon Aurora
Brand: Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Rating: 4.2 (17 reviews)

4.2 out of 5

17 reviews
100% willing to recommend

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 #8 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 73% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a financial services firm, accounting for 27% of all views.

Helped 842,161 peers since 2012

Featured Amazon Aurora reviews

Rajitha Jatothu

Aws Devops Engineer at LTIMindtree

Aurora is a key pillar for us, offering performance and availability. It is faster than RDS and supports multi-region clusters and scalability. One feature we value is Aurora's ability to provide a reader endpoint, allowing applications to connect without tracking replicas. It supports auto-scaling and offers several options for monitoring and optimizing database performance. Aurora's fault tolerance and ability to handle multiple replicas contribute to its reliability and high performance.

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Girish Mukim

AWS Architect at IBM

One of the most valuable features is storage scaling. Depending on storage requirements, AWS enables auto-scaling of storage. In non-AWS environments, adding storage typically requires downtime. Furthermore, AWS provides out-of-the-box monitoring for performance to ensure there are no performance bottlenecks, and offers the option to switch to higher performance storage for improved performance. Another advantage is that with AWS handling administration, responsibilities like database provisioning and maintenance are significantly reduced. Customers can create services and start using them immediately without worrying about managing hardware or creating databases.

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Peter J Matra

Web Developer and IT Consultant at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees

I believe offering people the option to use Graviton processors or not is important, but they should just have people use the Graviton processors and the more advanced chips to save money. Sometimes mistakes can be easily made, and people can waste money by mistake if they do not know what they are doing.

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Amazon Aurora mindshare

As of March 2025, the mindshare of Amazon Aurora in the Relational Databases Tools category stands at 3.3%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Relational Databases Tools

PeerAnalyst reports based on Amazon Aurora reviews

Type	Title	Date
Category	Relational Databases Tools	Mar 23, 2025	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Mar 23, 2025	Download
Comparison	Amazon Aurora vs SQL Server	Mar 23, 2025	Download
Comparison	Amazon Aurora vs Oracle Database	Mar 23, 2025	Download
Comparison	Amazon Aurora vs MySQL	Mar 23, 2025	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
SQL Server	4.2	19.3%	93%	268 interviews Add to research
MySQL	4.1	8.5%	91%	148 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

Amazon Aurora boasts offloaded maintainability, seamless disaster recovery, robust scalability, SQL standardization, auto-scaling, easy snapshot management, and low-latency replication under 20 milliseconds. It integrates seamlessly with AWS services, supports multi-region replication and high availability, and eliminates maintenance with automatic updates. Users appreciate speed, efficiency, MySQL compatibility, and enhanced performance options. Global writer endpoints and reliable fault tolerance enhance organizational efficiency while minimizing administrative tasks.

"My overall experience with Amazon Aurora is very positive. I rate it ten out of ten for its reliability and efficiency."
"One of the standout features of Amazon Aurora is that we do not need to maintain disaster recovery or manage availability zones."
"The most valuable features of Amazon Aurora include the global instance with the global writer endpoint, which allows failovers and instance switches without requiring changes in my code, thanks to the default global Route 53 endpoint."

Room for Improvement

Amazon Aurora's pricing is a common concern, with users suggesting cost reductions. Some express the need for Oracle integration due to existing database usage. Challenges in query processing distributed data, as well as usability improvements, are mentioned. Performance insights and benchmarking data could aid decisions. Some desire enhanced cryptography, scalability, and AI features. Issues in migration, tool availability, patch management, and tuning methods are highlighted. Enhancements in user interface and integrations are also desired.

"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."
"There are tuning challenges."
"In Oracle, tools like Veridata allow for comparing databases and certifying data accuracy, even offering repair capabilities, which are missing in Aurora. There should be a similar comparison tool in Aurora."

ROI

Organizations reported significant cost reductions by transitioning to Amazon Aurora from RDS, noting savings of up to thirty percent and around $60,000 annually. They experienced improvements in performance, operational costs, and customer satisfaction. Data reliability, high availability, and managed backups proved beneficial. Aurora's support for MySQL and PostgreSQL engines enhances performance compared to traditional databases. Manpower costs decreased by nearly fifty percent compared to on-premises setups, though startups should understand cloud pricing to avoid unexpected expenses.

Pricing

Amazon Aurora pricing reviews suggest it's generally cost-effective compared to on-premises databases, offering excellent performance. While Aurora's costs vary based on usage and instance type, there are no license fees; pricing involves memory, storage, and usage. Some consider AWS pricing relatively expensive compared to self-managed solutions, but others find it fair given its managed service and additional features. Effective cost management is crucial for understanding overall expenditures, making it a reasonable choice for enterprises.

"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 used for scalable relational databases, primarily in internal applications and microservices, providing high availability and fast data storage. Users appreciate its auto-scaling capabilities and serverless features. It is deployed on AWS for enhanced performance in business intelligence, payment solutions, and database management, often replacing other systems like Oracle. Aurora supports business operations by serving as a primary database, handling intensive data loads, and ensuring quick data access for business applications.

Service and Support

Amazon Aurora's customer service is highly praised, offering efficient and prompt support with enterprise subscriptions. Users appreciate the quick assistance provided for urgent issues. However, those on free or personal tiers face limited support, particularly during product evaluations. Documentation is often sufficient for self-resolution, but more extensive technical support for free-tier evaluations would be beneficial. Handling regional outages prompted users to implement multi-region strategies. Support's responsiveness is valued, though its quality has slightly declined with company growth.

Deployment

Amazon Aurora's initial setup is widely regarded as straightforward and user-friendly, requiring minimal technical expertise. Many users appreciate its intuitive interface and documentation that guides the configuration process easily. It often requires only a basic understanding of database concepts, and deployment can be completed swiftly. The AWS Management Console and tools like Terraform facilitate a smooth experience. Migrating data might slightly extend setup time, but most users find it manageable and satisfactory.

Scalability

Amazon Aurora is recognized for its impressive scalability, easily accommodating data growth and significant user numbers. Users appreciate its fully managed nature, rapid scaling capabilities, and adaptability to increased demand, making it suitable for various industries. The pay-as-you-go model and cross-region support enhance its growth potential. Many users rate its scalability highly, praising improvements over time and the elimination of former limitations experienced with other platforms.

Stability

Amazon Aurora is recognized for high stability, with numerous users reporting no notable issues or downtime. Some have experienced a few glitches initially but noted stability post-migration. A few encountered issues with log retention and forced releases, affecting application transactions minimally. Nevertheless, Aurora is valued for its high availability and performance, especially when used with dedicated instances. Many rate stability between eight and ten, reflecting trust in its reliable, managed AWS environment.

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

By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

27%

Computer Software Company

15%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

University

Retailer

Healthcare Company

Construction Company

Media Company

Energy/Utilities Company

Educational Organization

Real Estate/Law Firm

Comms Service Provider

Wholesaler/Distributor

Hospitality Company

Outsourcing Company

Transportation Company

Non Profit

Recreational Facilities/Services Company

Legal Firm

Renewables & Environment Company

Sports Company

Compare Amazon Aurora with alternative products

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.