This post was originally published in July 2018 and was updated in July 2023.

Now that Database-as-a-service (DBaaS) is in high demand, there are multiple questions regarding AWS services that cannot always be answered easily: When should I use Aurora and when should I use RDS MySQL?  What are the differences between Aurora and RDS? How do I choose which one to use?

In this blog, we will answer all of these important questions and provide a general overview comparing the two database services, Aurora vs RDS.

Understanding DBaaS

DBaaS cloud services allow users to use databases without configuring physical hardware and infrastructure or installing software. But …