PostgreSQL: 6 Reasons Why You Should Use & When To Use? (2025)
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As organizations of all sizes deal with the proliferation of structured and unstructured data, the proper managed database service is essential. Since being introduced, the open-source PostgreSQL database has become a powerful relational database management solution, as it is powerful, scalable, and feature-rich. However, utilizing and managing PostgreSQL is often a complex and time-consuming endeavor, at least until you find a capable PostgreSQL Platform as a Service (PaaS) provider who will help you with the difficult and tedious parts of database management and allow you and your developers to focus on building applications rather than the infrastructure to support them.
PostgreSQL PaaS is a cloud database service model that provides users with PostgreSQL databases without the complexity of maintaining the underlying infrastructure. These managed PostgreSQL services handle tasks such as provisioning, configuration, patching, database backups, and scaling, allowing developers to concentrate on application development and data management.
Before selecting a PostgreSQL PaaS provider, consider these factors:
• Scalability and performance
• Reliability and availability
• Security features associated with your data
• Backup and disaster recovery options
• Provider compatibility with PostgreSQL versions
• Integration with other services in the cloud
• Pricing and cost management
• Geographic availability and data residency
• Support and documentation provided by the vendor
• Migration tools and processes provided by the vendor
Let’s evaluate a few top-level cloud-based database providers:
Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) for PostgreSQL is part of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and provides a managed PostgreSQL database service.
Pros:
• Simplistic integration with AWS cloud services
• Automated database backups and maintenance
• High availability deployments (Multi-AZ)
• Database Read replicas
Cons:
• Cloud database pricing is complicated
• Limited access to some database configuration settings
Google Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL is Google Cloud Platform’s managed PostgreSQL product.
Pros:
• Automatic increase in Storage and high availability configuration
• Access to Google Cloud Networking capabilities
• Automatic daily backups and point-in-time recovery
• Many options for pricing
Cons:
• Some restrictions in versions of the PostgreSQL DB
• Fewer global regions than some competitors
Microsoft Azure Database for PostgreSQL is a fully managed database service built for developers.
Pros:
• Availability built-in
• Intelligent performance recommendations
• Advanced threat protection
• Easy to scale at any level
Cons:
• More expensive than some alternatives
• Limited support for PostgreSQL extensions
Heroku Postgres is a managed PostgreSQL service offered by Heroku, a platform offered by Salesforce.
Pros:
• Easy native integration with Heroku app platform
• Data clips feature for result sharing
• Fork and Follow features to easily clone databases.
• Supports broad version of PostgreSQL.
Cons:
• For more intensive tiers, it can be pricier.
• Limited control of underlying infrastructure.
DigitalOcean has managed PostgreSQL databases as part of their cloud offerings.
Pros:
• Simple and transparent pricing
• Automatic daily backups
• Horizontal scaling with read-only nodes is simple.
• Standby nodes for high availability.
Cons:
• Fewer advanced features than at larger cloud providers.
• Limited region availability globally.
RalanTech is a young contender in the PostgreSQL PaaS market. It offers managed PostgreSQL with a specific focus on simplicity and performance.
Pros:
• Good pricing for small to medium-sized businesses
• Easy to use UI and good management tools
• Customer support has PostgreSQL expertise.
• Good options to scale
Cons:
• Smaller global infrastructure than larger cloud providers
• More limited integration with third-party services.
• As a newer company, their ecosystem might not be as mature.
Performance varies significantly based on use case, workload, and configuration. However, general benchmarks show:
It is essential to run your own benchmarks to understand the requirements of your specific application.
Major differences exist in the pricing structures for different providers:
Determining the best PostgreSQL database service comes down to when and how to order services to better suit your needs, existing infrastructure, budgets, and future expectations. It does not matter if you select a large cloud database producer or a budding producer. You should ultimately focus on the features, performance, scalability, and pricing of the database that best matches your use case.
In addition to the providers already identified, it is also important to consider relatively new entrants and trendsetters in the PostgreSQL PaaS space, like RalanTech. RalanTech offers many differentiators that provide unique features, specialized support, and aggressive pricing to meet certain business needs or niche markets. RalanTech provides a new way of looking at the PostgreSQL PaaS market by offering some compelling alternatives for small to mid-sized enterprises that need simple pricing and personalized support.
Before you commit to any provider, make sure you take advantage of free trials and proof-of-concept engagements to evaluate not only the performance but also the usability of each platform and their ability to integrate with your existing systems, including larger cloud providers such as RalanTech. Remember, PaaS offers many things to make managing a database easy, but it is still important to follow basic best practices around database design, optimization, update/maintenance schedules, and security to get the most from your new service.
RalanTech is specialized in database managed services. We are passionate about leveraging cutting-edge solutions to drive innovation, efficiency, and growth for our clients.
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