Compare
SelfHost vs
AWS RDSManaged PostgreSQL on Graviton instances. Same infrastructure, different markup. Here's how they compare on pricing, features, and what's actually included.
TL;DR
The short
version.
SelfHost is 30-46% cheaper than RDS on equivalent Graviton instances. Same hardware, fraction of the markup.
Connection pooling, monitoring, and alerts included free. RDS charges extra: RDS Proxy $21-44/mo, CloudWatch $3/instance/mo.
Manage your database from Claude, Cursor, or VS Code with 75 MCP tools. RDS has no equivalent.
Pricing
Real numbers,
three configs.
All prices are monthly, us-east-1 (N. Virginia). RDS prices include RDS Proxy and CloudWatch for apples-to-apples comparison.
Features
Side by side
comparison.
| Feature | SelfHost | AWS RDS |
|---|---|---|
| Connection pooling | Coming soon | RDS Proxy $21-44/mo extra |
| Monitoring | Built-in, up to 90-day history | CloudWatch $3/mo + Datadog ~$70/mo |
| Alerts | Included (email + Slack) | CloudWatch Alarms $0.10/alarm + SNS |
| PITR | Included on Pro ($79/mo) | Included (but 2x compute for Multi-AZ) |
| AI management | 75 MCP tools | None |
| BYOC | $79/mo (Pro) | N/A (you're already on AWS) |
| Regions | 38 AWS regions | 30+ regions |
| Multi-AZ | Replicas on Pro | 2x compute cost |
| Autoscaling | Included on Pro | Manual or Aurora only |
| PG config access | Full tuning | Limited parameter groups |
| CPU credit charges | None (Graviton at flat rate) | $0.075/vCPU-hr on T4g bursts |
Deep dive
Why SelfHost is
cheaper.
RDS charges a 2-3x markup over raw EC2. SelfHost runs PostgreSQL on the same Graviton instances (t4g, r7g) with a 35% markup — significantly less than RDS.
Hidden costs
What RDS doesn't
show upfront.
Required for connection pooling. Charged separately per vCPU of your database instance.
CloudWatch Enhanced Monitoring at 1-second granularity. Basic monitoring is 60-second intervals.
Free tier limited to 7 days retention. Detailed analysis beyond that is charged per-vCPU.
T4g instances in Unlimited mode incur $0.075/vCPU-hr for sustained CPU usage above the baseline.
Multi-AZ deployments double your compute bill. A $156/mo instance becomes $312/mo with failover.
Automated backups beyond 100% of provisioned DB storage size are charged per GB per month.
Limitations
What RDS
can't do.
Can't manage your database from Claude, Cursor, or VS Code. No AI-native management interface whatsoever.
Need a separate RDS Proxy service at $21-44/mo. SelfHost includes PgBouncer on every database.
Need CloudWatch + Datadog + PagerDuty for what SelfHost provides in one dashboard with email and Slack alerts built in.
You're locked into RDS. Can't bring your own EC2 instances. SelfHost Pro lets you connect your AWS account and run databases on your own infrastructure.
Parameter groups don't expose everything. SelfHost gives you full access to tune shared_buffers, work_mem, max_connections, and every other PostgreSQL setting.