Alternatives / AWS Aurora
Looking for an open source AWS Aurora alternative? We compared 5 open source databases by license, scaling, and maintenance. TiDB is MySQL compatible and distributed, Neon is serverless Postgres, and Supabase, Turso, and OceanBase take other approaches.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
| Alternative | Best for | License |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Postgres backend platform | Apache-2.0 |
| TiDB | MySQL-compatible distributed SQL | Apache-2.0 |
| Neon | Serverless Postgres with branching | Apache-2.0 core |
| Turso | SQLite-compatible multi-tenant | MIT |
| OceanBase | Distributed MySQL/Oracle-compatible | Apache-2.0 |
We looked for open-source databases that scale like Aurora. We verified each project's license, recent activity, stars, and self-hosting in its repository. See our methodology for the full criteria.
TiDB is a distributed MySQL-compatible database with horizontal scaling and high availability. Neon is serverless Postgres with separated storage and compute and instant branching, and Supabase is a Postgres backend with auth, APIs, and realtime.
Turso offers SQLite-compatible databases for multi-tenant apps, and OceanBase is a distributed relational database with MySQL and Oracle compatibility.
Neon's open-source core is Apache-2.0, but running the full service yourself is complex. TiDB and OceanBase are heavy to operate.
Supabase, TiDB, Neon, and OceanBase are Apache-2.0. Turso is MIT.
All five had commits within days or weeks of this update.
Aurora is a proprietary AWS database billed by capacity and I/O, which ties you to AWS. Open-source databases run anywhere, but you operate clustering and backups.
Supabase is an open-source backend platform built on Postgres, with authentication, auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs, realtime subscriptions, file storage, edge functions, and vector search, and a dashboard for managing it all. It is Apache-2.0 and can be self-hosted with Docker, with the hosted Supabase platform offered as a paid service.
Pricing: Free self-hosted; hosted plans have a free tier and paid plans.
TiDB is a distributed SQL database combining OLTP and OLAP with horizontal scalability, high availability, strong consistency, MySQL compatibility, and a cloud-native architecture, for large-scale e-commerce, financial services, and IoT data.
Pricing: Free open source; managed TiDB Cloud is paid.
Turso is an in-process SQL database written in Rust and compatible with SQLite, with a Postgres frontend now available as an experimental feature. It targets embedded, on-device, and multi-tenant use, with bindings for Rust, JavaScript, Python, Java, and .NET, and a managed Turso Cloud. It is a database only: it does not include authentication, storage, or functions.
Pricing: Free and open source; Turso Cloud plans are paid.
Neon is an Apache-2.0-core PostgreSQL system separating compute from storage with autoscaling, scale-to-zero, database branching, extensions, and object-backed storage.
Pricing: Open-source core; managed hosted infrastructure and services may be paid.
OceanBase is a distributed relational database supporting OLTP, OLAP, and hybrid workloads with Multi-Paxos consensus, petabyte scalability, MySQL and Oracle protocol compatibility, real-time analytics, and multi-tenancy.
Pricing: Free open source; commercial editions and cloud are paid.
| Alternative | Type | License | Self-hosted | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Backend platform | Apache-2.0 | Yes | Full backends |
| TiDB | Distributed SQL | Apache-2.0 | Yes | Horizontal scaling |
| Neon | Postgres | Apache-2.0 (core) | Complex | Branching workflows |
| Turso | SQLite database | MIT | Yes | Per-tenant databases |
| OceanBase | Distributed SQL | Apache-2.0 | Yes | Large OLTP and OLAP |
Want MySQL compatibility at scale
TiDB scales out and stays MySQL compatible.
Want serverless Postgres
Neon separates storage and compute with instant branching.
Want a full Postgres backend
Supabase adds auth, APIs, and realtime to Postgres.