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Amazon Aurora vs Percona Server for MySQL

Amazon Aurora: AWS's MySQL- and PostgreSQL-compatible engine on a shared, six-way replicated storage layer. Percona Server for MySQL: A drop-in MySQL build that ships enterprise features (thread pool, audit, encryption) as free GPL code.

key differences

  • Licensing: Amazon Aurora is proprietary (Proprietary (AWS service)); Percona Server for MySQL is open source (copyleft) (GPL-2.0).
  • Only Amazon Aurora has vector search, materialized views, pub/sub, time travel, branching.
  • Only Percona Server for MySQL has compression, online schema changes.
  • Amazon Aurora has a serverless option; Percona Server for MySQL 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 percona-server-mysql for

  • +Self-hosted MySQL fleets needing enterprise security features
  • +Replacing MySQL Enterprise Edition to cut license cost
  • +High-concurrency OLTP needing a thread pool
  • +MySQL on Kubernetes via the Percona Operator

best at · OLTP, Content, Metadata

Amazon AuroraAWS's MySQL- and PostgreSQL-compatible engine on a shared, six-way replicated storage layer.
Percona Server for MySQLA drop-in MySQL build that ships enterprise features (thread pool, audit, encryption) as free GPL code.
overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
Document, Spatial, Vector
Document, Spatial
Type
Managed service
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Amazon Web Services
Percona
First release
2015
2006
Latest version
–
9.7.2-2 (Sep 28, 2026)
License
ProprietaryProprietary (AWS service)
Open source (copyleft)GPL-2.0
Free tier
—
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
24.9
23.1
Rank
#123
#131
GitHub stars
–
1.3K
Stack Overflow questions
1.6K
632
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Addon
Addon
Multi-region
Read replicas
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong, Eventual
Strong, Eventual
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
–
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
SQL
Client languages
Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, C#, PHP, Ruby
C, Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, PHP, C#, Ruby
Best for
OLTP, Content, Metadata, Vector search
OLTP, Content, Metadata
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Amazon Aurora vs Percona Server for MySQL: FAQ

What is the difference between Amazon Aurora and Percona Server for MySQL?

Amazon Aurora: AWS's MySQL- and PostgreSQL-compatible engine on a shared, six-way replicated storage layer. Percona Server for MySQL: A drop-in MySQL build that ships enterprise features (thread pool, audit, encryption) as free GPL code. Licensing: Amazon Aurora is proprietary (Proprietary (AWS service)); Percona Server for MySQL is open source (copyleft) (GPL-2.0). Only Amazon Aurora has vector search, materialized views, pub/sub, time travel, branching. Only Percona Server for MySQL has compression, online schema changes.

When should I choose Amazon Aurora over Percona Server for MySQL?

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 Percona Server for MySQL for self-hosted MySQL fleets needing enterprise security features, replacing MySQL Enterprise Edition to cut license cost and high-concurrency OLTP needing a thread pool.

Is Amazon Aurora or Percona Server for MySQL more popular?

Amazon Aurora ranks #123 on the WhichDB Score (24.9/100) and Percona Server for MySQL ranks #131 (23.1/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Amazon Aurora and Percona Server for MySQL open source?

No. Amazon Aurora is proprietary, closed-source software. Yes. Percona Server for MySQL is open source. License: GPL-2.0.