Databases / Selector
Find a database worth testing.
Include your workload, preferred cloud, existing engine, and operating constraints. Build a shortlist with an explained starting point, a credible alternative, and the assumptions to verify.
What are you building?
Choose the main workload. Refine the constraints to see a starting point, an alternative, and the tradeoffs.
Refine for your team & budget
Suggested starting point
PostgreSQL
Relational
Your core work changes related records and needs constraints, joins, and transactions in one database.
Watch out for
Choose transaction isolation deliberately. Read Committed is the default; an ACID database does not make every business workflow serializable.
Also consider: MySQL
Your team already operates it well and its relational features cover your access patterns.
What would change the choice?
Revisit this choice if one write region cannot meet measured latency or failure requirements.
More options in this category
Products to compare, not an additional ranking.
- Google Cloud SQL →Managed service
- Microsoft SQL Server →Database engine
- Amazon RDS →Managed service
- Oracle AI Database →Database engine
- SQLite →Embedded engine
Assumptions & deployment notes
Transactional workload · Growing app · Strict read expectations · Managed service · Balance cost and time · No preference · No existing engine
- Prefer a managed offering where available; confirm backup coverage, maintenance windows, export options, and your responsibilities.
- Compare provider fees with engineering time using a representative workload and a growth scenario.
- Measure growth and slow queries before adding databases, replicas, or shards.
- You want authoritative reads of committed data. Define the read path, transaction isolation, and required behavior during failures; the product name alone cannot guarantee this.
A shortlist to test against your workload. How recommendations work →