Best server for… pricing
Best and cheapest server for PostgreSQL on AWS
Updated 2026-10-19
Cheapest sensible starting point for PostgreSQL: t4g.medium at $0.0336/h ($24.53/month) on demand in us-east-1. Move up to r7g.large when you outgrow it.
Recommendations (us-east-1, on demand, Linux)
| Instance | When | Size | $/h | $/month | 3-yr RI $/h | Cheapest region | $25k credits last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| t4g.medium | Dev/test, self-managed | 2 vCPU / 4 GiB | $0.0336 | $24.53 | $0.0145 | ap-south-1 $0.0224 | 1,019 mo |
| r7g.large | Self-managed production, 16 GiB RAM | 2 vCPU / 16 GiB | $0.1071 | $78.18 | $0.0486 | ap-south-1 $0.0751 | 320 mo |
| r8g.large | Newer Graviton generation, same RAM | 2 vCPU / 16 GiB | $0.1178 | $86.01 | $0.0534 | ap-south-1 $0.0826 | 291 mo |
How we chose
Sizing assumption (ours, not a vendor requirement): Postgres performance depends mostly on RAM for cache, so memory-optimized (r-family) sizes are the usual production default.
Prices come from the AWS Price List. Treat sizes as starting points: watch memory and CPU for a week, then resize.
Managed database option (RDS, us-east-1)
| Instance | Engine | $/h | $/month | Multi-AZ $/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| db.t4g.medium | RDS for PostgreSQL | $0.065 | $47.45 | $0.129 |
| db.r7g.large | RDS for PostgreSQL | $0.239 | $174.47 | $0.478 |
| db.r8g.large | RDS for PostgreSQL | $0.239 | $174.47 | $0.478 |
RDS costs more per hour than the same size on EC2 but handles backups, patching and failover.
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Questions
What is the cheapest AWS server for PostgreSQL?
Cheapest sensible starting point for PostgreSQL: t4g.medium at $0.0336/h ($24.53/month) on demand in us-east-1. Move up to r7g.large when you outgrow it.
Can I run PostgreSQL on AWS credits?
Yes, EC2 and RDS usage is covered by AWS promotional credits; the last column shows how long $25k lasts.
Prices and credit amounts are estimates and may change. Check AWS for current terms.