AWS RDS Free tier applies to db.t2.micro

This does not show for Postgres, so that means there is no rds free tier for postgres? Am I missing something?

I also checked "Include previous generation classes" and got nothing.

Switched to MySQL to see that it has db.t2.micro...Although I don't have a MySQL database.

Meaning I need to pay for db.t3.micro on RDS Postgres

Hello, I’m new to AWS and cloud in general and I want to have a db for my app (‘till now I only used free tiers from neondb(aws-wrapper, I know)). I’m looking for a solution to have a postgresql database on aws, but when I try to create one RDS Postgresql it comes down to ~$50/month. Isn’t any way to make this cheaper? I heard about spinning it up on a EC2 instance, but that wouldn’t make it significantly slower? Any tips? thanks in advance!

I’m looking to start a personal project where I gather all the player data for league of legends players on the NA server. These are the tables:

1. accounts (1.5M rows, 5-10 columns)

2. summoners (1.5M rows, 10-15 columns)

3. ranked_data (1.5M rows added everyday, 10-15 columns)

4. matches

   1. (initially, I’ll gather 1.5M players * 50 matches * 10 players per match. There will be overlap because multiple players play in the same game, so less rows in reality. I’ll continue to gather new matches probably every day)

   2. (200-300 rows)

AWS free tier has these parameters, “750 Hours of Amazon RDS Single-AZ db.t2.micro, db.t3.micro, and db.t4g.micro Instances usage running MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL databases each month (applicable DB engines).”

The largest option, db.t4g.micro, has 2 CPUs and 1Gb of RAM. Using the AWS pricing calculator, it would normally cost ~$23/mo if purchased without the free plan.

Is this powerful enough to house the data for this project?

AWS added Aurora PostgreSQL to the AWS Free Tier, which makes it easier for early-stage projects to test Aurora without committing spend immediately.

Why this matters (practically):

• You can validate Aurora-specific behavior (performance, scaling patterns, operational workflow) before paying real money.

• It lowers the barrier for startups to try Aurora instead of defaulting to standard RDS Postgres or self-managed Postgres.

• It’s useful for proof-of-concepts and small internal tools where you want a managed Postgres option from day one.

If you’re choosing between RDS Postgres vs Aurora Postgres right now, this makes “try Aurora first” a lot more reasonable.

Is it realistically possible to stay within the free tier for an RDS Postgres database running on a t3.micro instance, with storage auto-scaling turned off and using the free tier template? I've followed AWS's guidelines, but no matter what I try, the cost estimate before creating the database always shows around $15.

I’m building a small side project and need a managed PostgreSQL database that’s free (or has a solid free tier without expiring soon or being too limited). I tried AWS RDS free tier but found it complicated to set up and manage (credits, billing surprises, etc.).

Looking for something easier: quick signup, simple connection string, no credit card if possible, and reliable for hobby/low-traffic use.

Ideally:

• At least 500MB–1GB storage

• No quick expiration (like 30 days)

• Serverless or auto-sleep to save costs

• Bonus: branching, backups, or easy scaling

From what I’ve seen:

• Supabase (500MB, pauses on inactivity)

• Neon (0.5GB per project, serverless scale-to-zero)

• Render (1GB but expires after 30 days?)

• Railway (usage-based with credits)

• Others like ElephantSQL or Aiven?

What do you recommend in 2026? What’s working well for your side projects? Any gotchas with free tiers (like sudden pauses, limits, or upgrades needed)?

Thanks! 🚀

Hey everyone, I'm looking for a free hosting solution for a small dev project and could use some advice.

I need to deploy a simple web app (Node.js and/or Python) with a PostgreSQL database. It's just for testing, so traffic will be minimal - maybe 5 users max. The database is small too, probably under 100MB.

The main thing is I need to be able to deploy frequently - sometimes 10+ times a day while I'm actively developing. I also want the database to stick around longer than Render's 30-day free tier.

I'd prefer not to give out credit card info. I've seen Neon mentioned for databases and it looks okay, but I'm wondering if there's something simpler where I can host both the app and database together without much hassle.

What are you guys using for similar projects? Any recommendations for platforms that don't mind frequent deployments and offer a decent free tier?

Thanks!

Till now i have tested this, any other suggestions to add to the list?

Guys I'm new to cloud, I have hosted my frontend in vercel but have no idea where to host my backend and my database.(Currently using postgresql for database) . Guys any suggestion to host the website.

I am recently running my own web application on AWS. I am still under my free tier. But the cost of RDS for instance running PostgreSQL really confused me. It kept costing me money, but meanwhile, I can see my free tier usage is increasing. Could anyone help me understand this? Thanks.

Charges details:

Free Tier details:

I am currently using Postgres on AWS RDS. It is costing me about $15 per month despite the fact that I have only 1 table that I query a few times per day. I'm not sure why it costs so much.

The settings I chose are: db.ts.micro - Burstable Classes - 20GB

Are there any settings I should turn on/off to minimise cost. Is there a better AWS database to use for a side project with only a small amount of occasional traffic (I prefer a relational DB if possible)? I don't mind if there is a small delay while the DB server instance boots if that makes it cheaper.

If you are completely new to AWS RDS and just created a Free Tier account, be VERY CAREFUL when creating a database instance (or EC2 virtual box):

Even though you are on Free account, your option list for creating databases and virtual boxes - also contains COMMERCIAL instances, and if you accidentally select that one, there will be no further warning.

Especially, be aware that Amazon Aurora database IS NOT COVERED by free tier account, you will be charged for every hour of working instance.

There is no safeguard, no warning message, no nothing if you create a commercial instance being in Free Tier account. They just start billing you immediately and at the end of the month you can easily meet $500-800 bill.

Yes, there is a notification in small letters that db is covered by Free Tier when you select free DBs; When you select Aurora (or Oracle), it shows in small letters hourly price, and if you are totally new to AWS console, it is so easy to miss that detail. It was intentionally created that way.

This is obviously an unfair practice designed to lure inexperienced newcomers into hidden charges.The honest business would either exclude commercial options from Free Tier account, or at least show a loud and clear warnings when free account is about to use such options.

I tried running them through a docker compose file, but every time my ec2 instance hangs up and stops responding. I have to stop it and start it again.

I have a personal site. In it I have my own CMS for my posts, I have a journal app, an RSS reader, etc. I'm currently using Railway with MySql because they have a $5 credit per month so my bill comes out to about $1 a month.

However, I'd really like to keep my data within AWS for security, replicability, and ease of use reasons.

BUT I have problems with RDS and DynamoDB:

RDS: Free tier is very limited, seems very easy to go into non-free tier territory which is super expensive. Cheapest non-free tier is $15/month (too pricey for my use case)

DynamoDB: Proprietary and no-SQL. I've used DynamoDB a ton before, but I still like SQL databases for querying.

I would love it if there was a simple SQLite database option. I can't do that since my app is running inside a Docker container.

I don't think S3 Table Buckets are really fully developed yet so I want to hold off on those. And using S3 as a DB technically works but querying content is a nightmare.