Overview
Aiven is a managed data platform for open-source engines: PostgreSQL, MySQL, Apache Kafka, Valkey, OpenSearch, ClickHouse and Grafana. You pick a service, a cloud (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, DigitalOcean, OVH or UpCloud) and a region, and Aiven runs it with monitoring, backups, patching and version upgrades. Larger customers can run services inside their own cloud account (BYOC).
Pricing is a single hourly rate per service that includes the virtual machines, networking and routine operations. For PostgreSQL the ladder runs Free, Developer ($5/mo), Hobbyist (from $12/mo), Startup (from $75/mo, one node with a 99.99% SLA), Business (from $180/mo, two nodes with failover) and Premium (from $270/mo, three nodes). Point-in-time recovery grows from 2 to 14 to 30 days across the paid production tiers; the free and hobby tiers keep only a single backup for disaster recovery.
The free services are real managed instances but constrained: one per service type per organization, no region choice, no VPC, static IPs, integrations or forking, and Aiven may power them off when idle (you can power them back on). The $5 Developer plan adds 8 GB of storage, backups and email support but keeps the same no-region-choice rule, so production apps that need a specific region should start at Hobbyist or Startup.
Pricing and plans
Free tier · no card
One free service per type per organization: PostgreSQL or MySQL with 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM, 1 GB storage (20 connections on PostgreSQL); Kafka at 250 KiB/s with 5 topics and 3-day retention; OpenSearch with 20 GB storage and 4 GB RAM. No choice of cloud or region, no SLA, powered off when inactive.
At the limit Not stated The vendor does not say what happens at the limit, or we have not found it yet.
Paused if unused| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | PostgreSQL/MySQL: 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM, 1 GB storage; no region choice, no pooling, no SLA |
| Developer | $5/mo | PostgreSQL/MySQL: 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB storage, backups, basic support; no region choice |
| Hobbyist | From $12/mo | 1 VM, 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB; DigitalOcean, Google Cloud or OVH |
| Startup | From $75/mo | 1 VM, 2-32 CPU, 4-192 GB RAM, 80 GB-11 TB; 99.99% SLA, 2-day PITR |
| Business | From $180/mo | 2 VMs with automatic failover, 14-day PITR |
| Premium | From $270/mo | 3 VMs (second standby), 30-day PITR |
What it does
- Many engines, one console
- PostgreSQL, MySQL, Kafka, Valkey, OpenSearch, ClickHouse and Grafana are managed from the same console, API, CLI and Terraform provider.
- Multi-cloud placement
- Paid production plans run on AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, DigitalOcean, OVH or UpCloud in the region you choose.
- All-inclusive hourly price
- Networking, backups and high availability are part of the plan price rather than separate line items.
- Point-in-time recovery
- PostgreSQL PITR covers 2 days on Startup, 14 on Business and 30 on Premium.
- Database forks
- Paid PostgreSQL plans can fork a service into a copy for testing; not available on Free or Developer.
- Bring Your Own Cloud
- Services can be deployed into your own AWS, GCP or Azure account for data residency and lower infrastructure cost (larger setups, by contact).
Strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Always-free PostgreSQL, MySQL, Kafka and OpenSearch services with no credit card
- A $5/mo Developer plan for PostgreSQL and MySQL with backups
- Wide cloud choice, including EU providers OVH and UpCloud
- Predictable pricing with networking included
- Stated SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA and PCI DSS compliance
Limitations
- Free and Developer plans cannot choose a cloud or region and have no VPC, static IPs, integrations, forking or connection pooling
- Free PostgreSQL is capped at 20 connections and 1 GB storage, and idle free services may be powered off
- No scale-to-zero: paid services bill every hour they are powered on
- High availability starts at the Business plan (from $180/mo for PostgreSQL)
Who it suits
Good for
- Teams that want several managed open-source engines from one vendor
- Companies that need a specific cloud or an EU provider
- Learning and prototyping Kafka or PostgreSQL for free
- Production workloads that want flat, predictable monthly bills
Look elsewhere if
- Hobby apps that need a free database in a chosen region
- Spiky workloads that benefit from scale-to-zero serverless billing
Pricing history
-
Free Kafka tier and a $5 Developer plan
Announced and launched the same day: a free Apache Kafka service (250 KiB/s, 5 topics, 3-day retention) and a $5/mo Developer plan for PostgreSQL and MySQL, next to the existing free tiers. Source ↗
Alternatives to Aiven
| Tool | From | Free option | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redis Cloud Managed Redis | $5/mo | Free tier | |
| Render Managed PaaS | $7/mo | Free tier | |
| MongoDB Atlas Managed document database | $8/mo | Free tier | |
| Crunchy Bridge Managed PostgreSQL on AWS, Azure and GCP | $9/mo | ||
| Supabase Managed Postgres backend platform | $25/mo | Free tier | |
| Convex Reactive backend and document database | $25/mo | Free tier |
Questions
Is Aiven's PostgreSQL free tier free forever?
Yes, there is no time limit and no card is needed, but you get 1 GB of storage, 20 connections, no region choice, and Aiven may power the service off when it sees no activity.
What does the Aiven Developer plan include?
For $5/mo, PostgreSQL or MySQL on one node with 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM, up to 8 GB storage, backups and basic support; you still cannot pick the cloud or region.
Does Aiven charge for data transfer?
Aiven says networking costs are included in the plan price; the bill changes when you change plan, add storage, add services or upgrade support.
Which Aiven plan has high availability?
Business (two nodes with automatic failover) and Premium (three nodes); Startup is a single node with a 99.99% SLA.
Does Aiven offer free Kafka?
Yes, since December 2025: up to 250 KiB/s combined throughput, 5 topics with 2 partitions each and up to 3 days of retention, one per organization.
Sources read for this page