Amazon Aurora vs Google Cloud Spanner

Amazon Aurora9.4Visit Google Cloud Spanner9.2Visit

Higher score Amazon Aurora #1 in Cloud Database Services 9.4/10 Paid ✓ 0 of 2 features Visit AWS

vs

Google Cloud Spanner #3 in Cloud Database Services 9.2/10 90-day trial Free trial✓ 0 of 2 features Visit Google Cloud

• Amazon Aurora fits best

  AWS teams needing managed relational databases

• Google Cloud Spanner fits best

  Global, strongly consistent SQL workloads

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Side by side

Feature	Amazon Aurora 9.4/10 Visit ↗	Google Cloud Spanner 9.2/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	9.2
Ranking	#1 in Cloud Database Services	#3 in Cloud Database Services
Best for	AWS teams needing managed relational databases	Global, strongly consistent SQL workloads
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	—	—
Free plan	—	—
Free trial	—	90 days
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Email, Live chat, Phone, Tickets, Community, Docs · 24/7	Community, Docs
Compliance	SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS	SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, SSO/SAML, 2FA
Integrations	9 integrations	10 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Amazon Aurora 0/2 · Google Cloud Spanner 0/2
Autoscaling	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Multi-region	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Database models	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Deployment model	Not checked yet	Both
Maximum storage	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Backup retention	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Choose provisioned or serverless configurations for database workloads. Distributed storage across three Availability Zones supports fault tolerance. Up to 15 read replicas, automatic failover, and cross-Region replication.	Strongly consistent ACID transactions across regions Horizontal scaling with automatic data splitting and replication GoogleSQL and PostgreSQL interfaces with multi-region options
Cons	Usage-based charges vary with engine, configuration, Region, and usage. Optional features are billed separately from instances and storage. Its integrations and management fit most naturally within the AWS ecosystem.	Usage-based pricing varies by edition, replicas, storage, and network use No free plan; a 90-day free trial is available Advanced capabilities and highest availability require Enterprise tiers
Our verdict	Amazon Aurora is a managed relational database service for AWS teams running PostgreSQL-, MySQL-, or DSQL-compatible workloads. Its provisioned and serverless configurations suit organizations that want managed database infrastructure for… Read the review →	Google Cloud Spanner is a fully managed distributed relational database for mid-market and enterprise teams running applications that require strong consistency and high availability across regions. It supports GoogleSQL and a PostgreSQL… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Amazon Aurora — where it wins

  • Choose provisioned or serverless configurations for database workloads.
  • Distributed storage across three Availability Zones supports fault tolerance.
  • Up to 15 read replicas, automatic failover, and cross-Region replication.

  Where it doesn't

  • Usage-based charges vary with engine, configuration, Region, and usage.
  • Optional features are billed separately from instances and storage.
  • Its integrations and management fit most naturally within the AWS ecosystem.

• Google Cloud Spanner — where it wins

  • Strongly consistent ACID transactions across regions
  • Horizontal scaling with automatic data splitting and replication
  • GoogleSQL and PostgreSQL interfaces with multi-region options

  Where it doesn't

  • Usage-based pricing varies by edition, replicas, storage, and network use
  • No free plan; a 90-day free trial is available
  • Advanced capabilities and highest availability require Enterprise tiers

• Amazon Aurora9.4/10 · Paid

  A flexible AWS-managed database for teams balancing deployment choice and availability.

  Visit AWSFull verdict →
• Google Cloud Spanner9.2/10 · 90-day trial

  Global SQL workloads get strong consistency, scaling, and flexible deployment modes.

  Visit Google CloudFull verdict →