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Amazon Aurora vs Babelfish for PostgreSQL

Amazon Aurora: AWS's MySQL- and PostgreSQL-compatible engine on a shared, six-way replicated storage layer. Babelfish for PostgreSQL: Lets PostgreSQL understand SQL Server's T-SQL and TDS protocol, so SQL Server apps can migrate.

key differences

  • Licensing: Amazon Aurora is proprietary (Proprietary (AWS service)); Babelfish for PostgreSQL is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0 and PostgreSQL License).
  • Amazon Aurora is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Babelfish for PostgreSQL (≤ 10 TB).
  • Horizontal scaling is addon in Amazon Aurora and none in Babelfish for PostgreSQL.
  • Only Amazon Aurora has full-text search, vector search, geospatial, change data capture, materialized views.
  • Amazon Aurora has a serverless option; Babelfish for PostgreSQL does not.

choose amazon-aurora for

  • +Production MySQL or PostgreSQL backends on AWS
  • +Read-heavy web and SaaS applications
  • +Spiky or dev/test workloads on Serverless v2
  • +Cross-region disaster recovery with Global Database

best at · OLTP, Content, Metadata

choose babelfish-postgresql for

  • +Migrating SQL Server applications to PostgreSQL
  • +Reducing SQL Server licensing on AWS
  • +Gradual rewrite of T-SQL apps to native PostgreSQL

best at · OLTP

Amazon AuroraAWS's MySQL- and PostgreSQL-compatible engine on a shared, six-way replicated storage layer.
Babelfish for PostgreSQLLets PostgreSQL understand SQL Server's T-SQL and TDS protocol, so SQL Server apps can migrate.
overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
Document, Spatial, Vector
–
Type
Managed service
Extension
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Amazon Web Services
Amazon Web Services and Babelfish community
First release
2015
2021
Latest version
–
6.1.0 (Aug 26, 2026)
License
ProprietaryProprietary (AWS service)
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0 and PostgreSQL License
Free tier
—
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
24.9
4.6
Rank
#123
#400
GitHub stars
–
339
Stack Overflow questions
1.6K
29
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
Addon
None
Multi-region
Read replicas
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong, Eventual
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Shared storage, Primary replica, Serverless
Single node, Primary replica, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
—
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
✓
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS
AWS
capabilities
Transactions
✓
✓
Joins
✓
✓
Secondary indexes
✓
✓
Full-text search
✓
—
Vector search
✓
—
Geospatial
✓
—
JSON
✓
✓
Change data capture
✓
—
Triggers
✓
✓
Stored procedures
✓
✓
Materialized views
✓
—
TTL / expiry
—
—
Pub/Sub
✓
—
Columnar storage
—
—
In-memory
—
—
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
—
—
Encryption at rest
✓
—
Role-based access
✓
✓
Time travel
✓
—
Branching
✓
—
Online schema changes
—
—
Streaming ingest
—
—
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
SQL, PL/pgSQL
T-SQL, SQL, PL/pgSQL
Client languages
Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, C#, PHP, Ruby
C#, .NET, Java, Python, JavaScript, ODBC
Best for
OLTP, Content, Metadata, Vector search
OLTP
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Amazon Aurora vs Babelfish for PostgreSQL: FAQ

What is the difference between Amazon Aurora and Babelfish for PostgreSQL?

Amazon Aurora: AWS's MySQL- and PostgreSQL-compatible engine on a shared, six-way replicated storage layer. Babelfish for PostgreSQL: Lets PostgreSQL understand SQL Server's T-SQL and TDS protocol, so SQL Server apps can migrate. Licensing: Amazon Aurora is proprietary (Proprietary (AWS service)); Babelfish for PostgreSQL is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0 and PostgreSQL License). Amazon Aurora is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Babelfish for PostgreSQL (≤ 10 TB). Horizontal scaling is addon in Amazon Aurora and none in Babelfish for PostgreSQL.

When should I choose Amazon Aurora over Babelfish for PostgreSQL?

Choose Amazon Aurora for production MySQL or PostgreSQL backends on AWS; read-heavy web and SaaS applications; and spiky or dev/test workloads on Serverless v2. Choose Babelfish for PostgreSQL for migrating SQL Server applications to PostgreSQL, reducing SQL Server licensing on AWS and gradual rewrite of T-SQL apps to native PostgreSQL.

Is Amazon Aurora or Babelfish for PostgreSQL more popular?

Amazon Aurora ranks #123 on the WhichDB Score (24.9/100) and Babelfish for PostgreSQL ranks #400 (4.6/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Amazon Aurora and Babelfish for PostgreSQL open source?

No. Amazon Aurora is proprietary, closed-source software. Yes. Babelfish for PostgreSQL is open source. License: Apache License 2.0 and PostgreSQL License.