Cloud-native, serverless & distributed SQL · AWS vs Google Cloud
Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Limitless Database vs Spanner
Aurora PostgreSQL Limitless maps partly to Spanner with its PostgreSQL interface, which scales horizontally without manual sharding.
Side-by-side comparison
| Aspect | Amazon Web Services | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Limitless Database | Spanner |
| Lifecycle | Generally available | Generally available |
| What it is | Automated horizontal sharding for Aurora PostgreSQL, spreading data and writes across shards while you connect to a single database endpoint. | Globally distributed, strongly consistent relational database with GoogleSQL and PostgreSQL dialects, up to 99.999% availability, and compute measured in processing units or nodes. |
| Pricing model | Billed per ACU-hour of the shard group (serverless capacity) plus Aurora storage and I/O. | Billed for compute capacity and storage. |
| Docs | Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Limitless Database docs | Spanner docs |
| Pricing page | Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Limitless Database pricing | Spanner pricing |
Key differences
- Spanner's PostgreSQL interface supports PostgreSQL syntax and clients but is not PostgreSQL itself; extensions and some features differ.
Pricing summary
Pricing models only. No prices are quoted because they change by region and over time.
- AWS
- Billed per ACU-hour of the shard group (serverless capacity) plus Aurora storage and I/O. Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Limitless Database pricing →
- GCP
- Billed for compute capacity and storage. Spanner pricing →
And on Azure?
Partial match Azure's equivalent is Azure Database for PostgreSQL elastic clusters, Azure Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL. AWS vs Azure comparison →
FAQ
What is the Google Cloud equivalent of Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Limitless Database?
Aurora PostgreSQL Limitless maps partly to Spanner with its PostgreSQL interface, which scales horizontally without manual sharding.
How does pricing compare between Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Limitless Database and Spanner?
AWS: Billed per ACU-hour of the shard group (serverless capacity) plus Aurora storage and I/O. Google Cloud: Billed for compute capacity and storage. Check the official pricing pages for current rates.
What is the Azure equivalent?
Azure Database for PostgreSQL elastic clusters and Azure Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL (partial match). Aurora PostgreSQL Limitless Database maps to elastic clusters in Azure Database for PostgreSQL, which is managed Citus.