Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) for PostgreSQL is a fully managed relational database that makes it easier to set up operate, and scale PostgreSQL databases in the cloud.

New AWS customers can get started with Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL for free as part of the AWS Free Tier. The Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL Free Tier includes 750 hours on select Single-AZ instance databases, 20 GB of General Purpose SSD (gp2) storage, and 20 GB of storage for automated database backups each month for one year.

AWS Pricing Calculator

AWS Pricing Calculator for Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL

Calculate your Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL and architecture cost in a single estimate based on Region, instance type, deployment option, and more. Create your custom estimate now »

Highly available deployment options

Multi-AZ deployment (one standby)

When you run your DB instance as a Multi-AZ deployment for enhanced data durability and availability, RDS for PostgreSQL provisions and maintains a standby in a different Availability Zone.

Multi-AZ will automatically failover in the event of a scheduled or unplanned outage.

Learn more about Multi-AZ deployments.

Multi-AZ deployment (two readable standbys)

With Multi-AZ with two readable standbys, RDS for PostgreSQL provisions and maintains identical DB instances in three different Availability Zones for enhanced data durability and availability.

In the event of a planned or unplanned outage that affects the primary DB instance, RDS for PostgreSQL will perform an automatic failover to one of the standby DB instances. The two standby DB instances also serve read-only workloads.

Learn more about Multi-AZ deployments with readable standby instances.
 

On-Demand DB Instances costs

On-Demand database (DB) Instances let you pay for compute capacity by the hour your DB instance runs with no long-term commitments. This frees you from the costs and complexities of planning, purchasing, and maintaining hardware and transforms what are commonly large fixed costs into much smaller variable costs.

  • Single-AZ and Multi-AZ deployments: Pricing is billed per DB instance-hour consumed from the time a DB instance is launched until it is stopped or deleted.
  • Partial DB instance-hours: Following a billable status change, such as starting, creating, or modifying a DB instance class, partial DB instance hours are billed in one-second increments with a 10-minute minimum charge.

T4g and T3 CPU Credits

Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL T4g and T3 DB instances run in Unlimited mode, which means that you will be charged if your average CPU utilization over a rolling 24-hour period exceeds the baseline of the instance. CPU Credits are charged at $0.075 per vCPU-Hour. The CPU Credit pricing is the same for all T4g and T3 instance sizes across all regions and is not covered by Reserved Instances.

Reserved Instances costs

Amazon RDS Reserved Instances (RIs) give you the option to reserve a DB instance for a one- or three-year term and in turn receive a significant discount compared to the On-Demand Instance pricing for the DB instance. Amazon RDS provides three RI payment options—No Upfront, Partial Upfront, All Upfront—which enable you to balance the amount you pay upfront with your effective hourly price.

Amazon RDS Reserved Instances provide size flexibility for the PostgreSQL database engine. With size flexibility, your RIs discounted rate will automatically apply to usage of any size in the same instance family (M5, T3, R5, etc.)

Please note that Reserved Instance prices don't cover storage or I/O costs. To learn more about features, payment options, and rules, please visit our Reserved Instances page.

You may designate database instances as Reserved Instances by calling to the Purchasing API or selecting the Reserved Instance option in the AWS console. When you designate a database instance as a Reserved Instance, you must designate a Region, instance type, and quantity for the applicable Reserved Instances. The Reserved Instances may only be used in the designated Region.

We may terminate the Reserved Instance pricing program at any time. In addition to being subject to Reserved Instance pricing, Reserved Instances are subject to all data transfer and other fees applicable under the AWS Customer Agreement or other agreement with us governing your use of our services.

  • Calculation of RI monthly fees

    * This is the average monthly payment over the course of the Reserved Instance term. For each month, the actual monthly payment will either equal the actual number of hours in that month multiplied by the hourly usage rate or it will equal the number of seconds used in that month multiplied by the hourly usage rate, and divided by 3600. The formula you use will depend on the RDS for PostgreSQL instance type you run.

    The hourly usage rate is equivalent to the total average monthly payments over the term of the Reserved Instance divided by the total number of hours (based on a 365-day year) over the term of the Reserved Instance.
     

    Calculation of RI effective hourly rate

    ** Effective hourly pricing helps you calculate the amount of money a Reserved Instance will save you over On-Demand pricing.

    When you purchase a Reserved Instance, you are billed for every hour of the term you select, regardless of whether the instance is running. The effective hourly price shows the amortized hourly instance cost. This takes the total cost of the Reserved Instance over the entire term, including any upfront payment, and spreads it out over each hour of the Reserved Instance term.

Database storage costs

Dedicated Log Volume costs

A Dedicated Log Volume is an additional storage volume specifically for database transaction logs that is separate from the volume containing the database tables, making transaction write logging more efficient and consistent. A Dedicated Log Volume is ideal for databases with large allocated storage, high I/O per second (IOPS) requirements, or latency sensitive workloads.

Dedicated Log Volumes are priced the same as a data volume with 1,000 GiB and 3,000 IOPS and by storage type. Dedicated Log Volumes are only supported in Provisioned IOPS storage. For example, in US East (N. Virginia), an io1 Dedicated Log Volume attached to a Single-AZ instance in RDS for PostgreSQL would cost $0.125 x 1,000 GiB plus $0.10 x 3,000 IOPS, or $425/month. If you were to run an io1 Dedicated Volume in the same AWS Region attached to Multi-AZ with one standby, it would cost you $0.25 x 1,000 GiB plus $0.20 x 3,000 IOPS, or $850/month.

To learn more about data volume pricing, see Provisioned IOPS SSD storage costs.

Backup storage costs

Snapshot export costs

The Amazon RDS snapshot export provides an automated method to export data within an Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL snapshot to Amazon S3 in Parquet format. The Parquet format is up to 2x faster to unload and consumes up to 6x less storage in Amazon S3 compared to text formats. You can analyze the exported data using AWS services such as Amazon Athena, Amazon EMR, and Amazon SageMaker.

Snapshot export pricing example

Suppose you have a 100GB snapshot and you use filtering to select a 10GB table from this snapshot to export to Amazon S3. To export this data, you would pay 100GB * $0.013 per GB of snapshot size. Subsequent exports of data from the same snapshot are not incremental.

Additional charges apply for encrypting or decrypting data with AWS Key Management Service (KMS). Find more about these charges on the KMS pricing page. Charges also apply for storing exported data in Amazon S3 and for PUT requests made against your S3 bucket. Find more about these charges on the S3 pricing page.

Amazon RDS Extended Support costs

Amazon RDS Extended Support allows you to continue to use PostgreSQL major versions after the community end-of-life. During this time, AWS provides fixes for critical security issues and bugs through patch releases, giving you more time, up to three years, to upgrade to a new major version to help you meet your business requirements.

For provisioned instances on RDS for PostgreSQL, RDS Extended Support is priced per vCPU per hour. RDS Extended Support pricing is also dependent on the AWS Region and calendar date. Refer to the Amazon RDS documentation for calendar details.

RDS Extended Support pricing example

If you have an instance on RDS for PostgreSQL 12, this version reaches end of standard support on February 28, 2025. If you are deployed in US East (Ohio), you will be charged $0.100 per vCPU-hr between March 1, 2025 to February 28, 2027. Starting March 1, 2027, you will be charged $0.200 per vCPU-hr.

Data transfer costs

The pricing below is based on data transferred “in” and “out” of Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL.

Visit the main Amazon RDS pricing page for additional transfer fees and terms.

FAQs

How much does Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL cost?

It is free to try Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL. Pay only for what you use with no minimum or set up fees. RDS for PostgreSQL costs will vary based on your needs. Use the free AWS Pricing Calculator to view your options and help estimate costs.

For what time period will the AWS Free Tier for RDS for PostgreSQL be available to me?

New AWS accounts receive 12 months of AWS Free Tier access. For more information, please see the AWS Free Tier FAQs .

How am I billed when my RDS for PostgreSQL instance-hour usage exceeds the AWS Free Tier benefit?

You are billed at standard RDS for PostgreSQL prices for instance hours beyond what the Amazon RDS Free Tier provides.

How do you calculate monthly cost for RDS for PostgreSQL?

Monthly RDS for PostgreSQL costs are based on location as well as the following components:

  • DB instance hours – Based on the type (e.g. db.t3.micro, db.m4.large) of the RDS for PostgreSQL DB instance consumed. Following a billable status change, such as creating, starting, or modifying your RDS for PostgreSQL DB instance type, you will be billed based on partial DB instance hours. Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL supports per-second billing in which partial DB instance hours consumed are billed in one-second increments with a 10-minute minimum. 
  • Storage (per GB per month) – Storage capacity you have provisioned to your RDS for PostgreSQL DB instance. If you scale your provisioned storage capacity within the month, your bill will be pro-rated.
  • I/O requests per month – Total number of storage I/O requests (for Amazon RDS magnetic storage and Amazon Aurora only).
    Provisioned IOPS per month – Provisioned IOPS rate, regardless of IOPS consumed (for Amazon RDS Provisioned IOPS SSD storage only).
  • Backup storage – Automated database backups and any customer-initiated database snapshot storage. Taking additional database snapshots increases the backup storage or increasing your backup retention period increases the backup storage consumed by your RDS for PostgreSQL database.
  • Data transfer – Internet data transfer in and out of your RDS for PostgreSQL DB instance.

Calculate what your RDS for PostgreSQL monthly costs would be with the AWS Pricing Calculator.

When does billing of my RDS for PostgreSQL DB instances begin and end?

Billing commences for your RDS for PostgreSQL DB instance as soon as the DB instance is available and is billed for each hour it is running in an available state. Billing continues until the RDS for PostgreSQL DB instance terminates, which would occur when upon deletion or in the event of an instance failure.

Partial DB instance hours consumed are billed in one-second increments with a 10-minute minimum charge (following a billable status change, such as creating, starting, or modifying the DB instance type).

How do I stop RDS for PostgreSQL billing?

To stop all RDS for PostgreSQL related account charges, you must delete all your RDS for PostgreSQL DB instances and snapshots. By only stopping a RDS for PostgreSQL DB instance, you stop billing for additional instance hours, but you will still incur storage costs.

How will I be billed for a stopped RDS for PostgreSQL DB instance?

While your RDS for PostgreSQL database instance is stopped, you are charged for provisioned storage (including Provisioned IOPS) and backup storage (including manual snapshots and automated backups within your specified retention window), but not for RDS for PostgreSQL DB instance hours.

How can I reduce my RDS for PostgreSQL costs?

There are multiple ways to reduce your RDS for PostgreSQL costs. One way is to rightsize your RDS for PostgreSQL databases for your needs. With fully managed features like auto-scaling, you do not need to over provision for high availability.

To further save costs, you can purchase Reserved Instances, which allow you to reserve a RDS for PostgreSQL database instance for a one- or three- year term at a significant discount versus On-Demand Instance pricing.

Does RDS for PostgreSQL prices include taxes?

Unless otherwise noted, our RDS for PostgreSQL prices are exclusive of applicable taxes and duties, including VAT and applicable sales tax. For customers with a Japanese billing address, the use of AWS services is subject to Japanese Consumption Tax.

How do I purchase and create Reserved Instances for RDS for PostgreSQL?

Purchase Reserved Instances in the Reserved Instance section of the AWS Management Console for Amazon RDS. Another option is that you can use the Amazon RDS API or the AWS Command Line Interface to list the reservations available for purchase and then purchase a RDS for PostgreSQL DB instance reservation.

Once you have purchased a Reserved Instance, using a Reserved Instance is the same as using an On-Demand DB Instance. Launch a RDS for PostgreSQL DB instance using the same instance type and Region for which you made the reservation. As long as your reservation purchase is active, RDS for PostgreSQL will apply the reduced hourly rate for which you are eligible to the new DB instance.

How many Reserved Instances can I purchase?

You can purchase up to 40 Reserved Instances. If you wish to run more than 40 DB instances, please complete the Amazon RDS DB Instance request form.

How do the Reserved Instance payment options impact my RDS for PostgreSQL bill?

The RDS for PostgreSQL operations for creating, modifying, and deleting DB instances do not distinguish between Reserved Instances (RIs) and On-Demand Instances. When computing your bill, our system automatically applies your reservation(s) such that all eligible RDS for PostgreSQL DB instances are charged at the lower hourly reserved DB instance rate.

When you purchase an RI under the All-Upfront payment option, you pay for the entire term of the RI in one upfront payment.

By choosing the No Upfront option you can choose to pay nothing upfront. The entire value of the No Upfront RI is spread across every hour in the term and you will be billed for every hour in the term, regardless of usage.

The Partial Upfront payment option is a hybrid of the All Upfront and No Upfront options. You make a small upfront payment, and you are billed a low hourly rate for every hour in the term regardless of usage.

Can I modify my Reserved Instance terms after purchasing?

No, modifications of RI terms cannot be made in RDS for PostgreSQL after purchasing. You cannot change Region, DB engine, DB edition, DB instance class, deployment type, or term length after you purchase your RIs. See more details on the Reserved Instance page.

Can I use Amazon RDS Extended Support with any minor version?

No, you must be on the latest engine minor to receive RDS Extended Support on your database. 

How can I estimate my RDS Extended Support charges?

You can estimate your Extended Support charges using the AWS Pricing Calculator. Amazon RDS Extended Support charges depend on three factors: 1. number of vCPUs running on the instance, 2. AWS Region, and 3. number of years past end of standard support. To estimate your charges, determine the number of vCPUs on your instance and the appropriate calendar year pricing for your engine version. If your version is within the year 1 or 2 pricing, you will be charged #vCPUs x year 1 and 2 pricing per hour of usage for your chosen Region. If your PostgreSQL version is on year 3 pricing, you will be charged #vCPUs x year 3 pricing per hour of usage for your chosen Region.

For example, if you are running a RDS for PostgreSQL 11 db.r5.large instance in US East (N. Virginia) on April 30 2024, which is within the first year of RDS Extended Support, you will be charged $0.200 per hour, or 2 vCPUs x $0.100 per vCPU-hr.

When does Amazon RDS start charging for RDS Extended Support?

You will begin to receive charges for Amazon RDS Extended Support the day after the PostgreSQL major version end of standard support date. This will be in addition to the instance, storage, backup, and/or data transfer charges incurred for the life of the instance.

For example, RDS for PostgreSQL 12 standard support ends on February 28, 2025. If you run a RDS for PostgreSQL 12 instance on or after March 1, 2025 you will be charged for RDS Extended Support on that instance.

When do I stop receiving charges for RDS Extended Support?

Upgrading your instance to a newer engine version that’s available in standard support will prevent your instance from being charged RDS Extended Support pricing. RDS Extended Support charges automatically stop when you shut down or delete an instance that is running a major engine version beyond its end of standard support date.

Do I have to pay for RDS Extended Support on my DB snapshots?

No, you will not be charged RDS Extended Support pricing on DB snapshots. However, when you restore a DB snapshot to a new DB instance after the end of standard support, you will be charged RDS Extended Support pricing for that instance.

For example, if you restore a DB snapshot to a new DB instance on PostgreSQL 12 after February 28, 2025, the instance will be charged the RDS Extended Support pricing until you upgrade it to PostgreSQL version 13 or newer or delete the instance.

Will I be charged for Amazon RDS Read Replicas when using RDS Extended Support?

Yes, you will be charged for any Amazon RDS Read Replicas when using RDS Extended Support if they are running a major version that is past its end of standard support date.

Will I be charged for Multi-AZ when using RDS Extended Support?

Yes, you will be charged for all instances in a Multi-AZ deployment when using RDS Extended Support if your primary is running on a major version that is past its end of standard support date. If you are running on Multi-AZ with one standby, you will be charged for RDS Extended Support on both your primary and standby instances. If you are running on Multi-AZ with two readable standbys, you will be charged for RDS Extended Support on both your primary and your two readable standby instances.

There are two different RDS Extended Support prices listed for each engine version. How do I know which of those I’m being charged?

The RDS Extended Support price you are charged depends on the AWS Region, engine version, and the number of calendar years since standard support expired for that version. You will be charged year 1 and year 2 pricing in your chosen Region per vCPU-hr for the first two years after the end of standard support. For year 3, you will be charged year 3 pricing for your chosen Region per vCPU-hr starting on the first day of the third year.

For example, RDS for PostgreSQL 12 reaches end of standard support on February 28, 2025. If you are deployed in US East (Ohio), you will be charged $0.100 per vCPU-hr between March 1, 2025 to February 28, 2027. Starting March 1, 2027, you will be charged $0.200 per vCPU-hr.

How can I avoid being charged for RDS Extended Support?

We recommend upgrading your instance as early as possible to a major engine version that is within its standard support term. This will help avoid incurring RDS Extended Support charges.

Do Reserved Instance discounts apply to RDS Extended Support?

No, RDS Extended Support charges are independent of instance charges. Therefore, Reserved Instance discounts are not applicable to RDS Extended Support charges.

If I create a new instance on a major version engine after it reaches end of standard support, will I be charged for RDS Extended Support?

Yes, if you create an instance or restore a DB snapshot to an instance running on a version that has reached its end of standard support date, you will be charged for RDS Extended Support pricing in addition to the instance, storage, backup, and data transfer charges.