$10/day is a pretty beefy RDS instance (an m6g.large Postgres RDS instance costs ~$3.81/day). What instance size did you provision? How much disk space did you provision? Did you enable Multi-AZ? a billing issue or random charges Highly doubtful that this is a billing issue or a 'random charge'. More likely you misconfigured something and didn't realize it. Answer from joelrwilliams1 on reddit.com
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AWS
aws.amazon.com › amazon rds › amazon rds for postgresql › pricing
Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL Pricing
4 days ago - 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 1024 GiB plus $0.10 x 3000 IOPS, or $428/month. If you were to run an io1 Dedicated Volume in the same AWS ...
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AWS
aws.amazon.com › databases › amazon rds › pricing
Managed Relational Database - Amazon RDS Pricing - Amazon Web Services
4 days ago - 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 Amazon Aurora, RDS for MySQL, and RDS for PostgreSQL, RDS Extended Support is priced ...
Discussions

Why is Postgres RDS instance more expensive than SQL Server (license included) RDS instance?
Assuming like me you are using the calculator I think you are missing a couple of important nuances here: Only version available on a t3.micro for SQL Server is express, so you are not paying for any license here. Also only available as single AZ. When you do t4g.micro on RDS PgSQL it defaults to multi-az. When I do apples to apples t3.micro single AZ in us-east-2 for both engines I get approx $13 per month for DB cost for Postgres and $16 per month DB cost for SQL server. If you share source or screenshot of where you are getting your price from might be able to help more. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/aws
15
32
September 5, 2025
Why is RDS so incredibly expensive
$10/day is a pretty beefy RDS instance (an m6g.large Postgres RDS instance costs ~$3.81/day). What instance size did you provision? How much disk space did you provision? Did you enable Multi-AZ? a billing issue or random charges Highly doubtful that this is a billing issue or a 'random charge'. More likely you misconfigured something and didn't realize it. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/aws
37
10
May 23, 2022
Postgres RDS is too expensive -
If you’ve never managed bare metal, especially in a hybrid cloud/on-prem fashion, now is not the time. It would be better to get off RDS and run a Postgres ec2 cluster. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/devops
135
127
November 24, 2024
Cost for an aurora cluster
Do check how aws charge for their services using this calculator https://calculator.aws/#/ For aurora, if you are not using aurora serverless, you are charged for $/hr minimally even without activity as explained in https://aws.amazon.com/rds/aurora/pricing/ As for how to check your bill, navigate to aws bills page explained in https://aws.amazon.com/aws-cost-management/aws-billing/ . To sum up, please get yourself trained up on how to operate in an AWS environment to prevent cases such as this. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/aws
15
5
March 12, 2024
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/aws › why is rds so incredibly expensive
r/aws on Reddit: Why is RDS so incredibly expensive
May 23, 2022 -

I created an RDS postgres database with the lowest settings - literally free tier on everything, but apparently I don't qualify for that anymore.

I was never able to figure out how to create a table, put data into it, or connect to it.

However, I was charged $10 a day for a few days, so I killed it and won't be going back. I've had multiple similar experiences with AWS and I never get an explanation for the charged from AWS.

Is there any explanation for this? I use heroku and firebase and never have nearly as much difficulty using those and I've never had a billing issue or random charges.

Update:Here is a detail for the billing. How did this happen?

Update 2:
After feedback here that the costs came from the storage type, I went back and looked at the creation process to see what happened. In selecting the "Easy Create" process for a postgres RDS database, the more expensive storage type was the "default". That's pretty upsetting to me and I really wish that there was something that told you the project cost prior to activation, but at least I figured out what happened. I'm gonna recreate and see if I can't get it cheaper.

Thanks for the help.

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GoCloud
go-cloud.io › home › amazon rds pricing | the complete 2026 guide
Amazon RDS Pricing | Every Engine Cost & Hidden Fee (2026)
February 26, 2026 - A dev MySQL db.t3.micro = ~$12–15/month. A production PostgreSQL db.m5.large Multi-AZ with 500 GB gp3 = ~$425/month. A high-IOPS Oracle LI enterprise setup (db.r5.2xlarge Multi-AZ, io1, read replica) can exceed $4,000/month.
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AWS
aws.amazon.com › amazon rds › amazon aurora › pricing
Amazon Aurora Pricing
4 days ago - Amazon RDS Extended Support allows ... and PostgreSQL-Compatible Edition 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 Amazon Aurora, RDS Extended Support is priced per vCPU ...
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Cloudchipr
cloudchipr.com › blog › rds-pricing
The Ultimate Guide to AWS RDS Pricing: A Comprehensive Cost Breakdown 2025
We’ll examine how each database engine is priced, why two identically sized instances can bill very differently, and where storage choices quietly stack dollars over time. Real-world scenarios—from weekend prototypes to payment-heavy production clusters—show how to match configuration to need and sidestep surprise costs. When you drill into RDS Pricing, the first—and often largest—variable is the database engine itself ... AWS lets you pick from Amazon Aurora, MySQL, PostgreSQL...
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CloudZero
cloudzero.com › home › blog › a beginner’s guide to amazon rds pricing
Amazon RDS Pricing: A Complete Guide (2026)
April 15, 2026 - PostgreSQL typically adds a modest premium — around 10% more per instance-hour depending on size — for the same underlying compute capacity. Storage, provisioned I/O, and data transfer pricing are consistent across all three open-source engines.
Find elsewhere
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Usage AI
usage.ai › home › aws › rds pricing calculator: mysql, postgresql, and sql server cost breakdown for 2026
RDS Pricing Calculator | MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server Cost Breakdown for 2026 | Usage.ai
1 month ago - Source: go-cloud.io (February 2026) citing AWS official. PostgreSQL 11 is in Year 3 Extended Support from March 2026 at $0.200/vCPU-hr. PostgreSQL 12 and 13 may also be approaching end of standard support depending on timing.
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CloudySave
cloudysave.com › aws › rds › aws-postgresql-pricing
AWS PostgreSQL Pricing - CloudySave
In general, AWS PostgreSQL costs nothing when users start with it.
Published   February 8, 2023
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Cloud Burn
cloudburn.io › blog › amazon-rds-pricing
Amazon RDS Pricing: MySQL 5.7 Users Just Got a $292/Month Fee | Cloud Burn
April 1, 2026 - A few engine-specific billing details ... rolling 24-hour period exceeds the instance's baseline, AWS charges CPU credits at $0.075 per vCPU-Hour for MySQL and PostgreSQL....
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AWS
aws.amazon.com › databases › amazon rds › free tier
AWS Free Tier with Amazon Aurora & RDS
4 days ago - Host, scale and manage your PostgreSQL deployments in the cloud with Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL.
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Bminfotrade
bminfotrade.com › blog › cloud-computing › aws-rds-pricing-2026-mysql-postgresql-and-sql-server-costs
AWS RDS Pricing 2026: MySQL vs PostgreSQL vs SQL Server Costs Breakdown
AWS Relational Database Service (RDS) is billed through compute (instance hours), storage, backups, and data transfers. On-Demand prices are flexible, no commitments, pay as you use, whereas Reserved instances can have up to 70% in terms of savings on predictable workloads. All here are US East (N. Virginia) region, Single-AZ unless indicated, and 2026 on-demand values. ... ● Database engine: Open-source engines, such as MySQL and PostgreSQL, are less expensive; licensed engines, such as SQL Server, have an added fee.
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TigerData
tigerdata.com › blog › understanding-rds-pricing-and-costs
Why Is RDS So Expensive? RDS Pricing and Costs | Tiger Data
December 9, 2025 - AWS support is priced separately and not included in your RDS pricing calculations. Support plans can range from $100 to $15,000 per month, depending on your needs, and with Enterprise Support starting at $5,500 per month, it can become a high cost.
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CloudPrice
cloudprice.net › home › aws › rds instances
RDS Database Pricing - Compare All MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle Instances | CloudPrice
3 days ago - Compare Amazon RDS pricing for MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, and MariaDB across all AWS regions.
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Database Labs
databaselabs.io › pricing
Postgresql Pricing in Google Cloud, Amazon AWS, DigitalOcean | Database Labs
Prices for Postgresql Database as a Service in Google Cloud, Amazon, and DigitalOcean.
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AWS
aws.amazon.com › amazon rds › amazon rds on aws outposts › pricing
RDS on Outposts Pricing
1 month ago - Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts · Deploy RDS managed databases in on-premises environments
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Bytebase
bytebase.com › blog › industry › postgresql hosting options in 2026: pricing comparison
PostgreSQL Hosting Options in 2026: Pricing Comparison | Bytebase
1 week ago - Tiered Plans: Fixed-price bundles from specialized providers offer predictable costs but less flexibility. AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure all offer capable managed PostgreSQL; the tradeoff is complex pricing.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/aws › why is postgres rds instance more expensive than sql server (license included) rds instance?
r/aws on Reddit: Why is Postgres RDS instance more expensive than SQL Server (license included) RDS instance?
September 5, 2025 -

Question is in the Title. Only reason I'm considering Postgres is because of the "licensing costs" associated with SQL Server. Then I see this. What's up?

Postgres instance would be $86.51 USD:

db.t4g.micro

vCPU: 2

Memory: 1 GiB

SQL Server equivalent instance would be (license included): $67.71 USD

db.t3.micro

vCPU: 2

Memory: 1 GiB

Edit:

For those who asked for more information to better understand my perspective

  1. Go to https://aws.amazon.com/rds/pricing/?p=ft&c=db&refid=e21cc09f-34cd-4d7e-a012-ad97353eb4b4 and go to the "Pricing by Amazon RDS engines" section.

  2. Select either "Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL Pricing" or "Amazon RDS for SQL Server Pricing"

  3. Navigate to the "AWS Pricing Calculator" and click "Create your custom estimate now." Select the instance types that I have mentioned above without changing any of the filler info.

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Amazon EC2
instances.vantage.sh › rds
Amazon RDS Instance Comparison
A free and easy-to-use tool for comparing RDS Instance features and prices.