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Side-by-Side Overview

Feature TiDB Cloud Serverless Amazon RDS for MySQL
Managed or Serverless Serverless Managed
Automatic Scaling Yes, scales seamlessly as demand changes Only for storage
Automatic Failover Yes Yes, if you pay for multi-region and with up to 35 second delay
Zero Downtime Upgrades Yes No
Non-blocking Schema Changes Yes No
MySQL Compatibility Yes Yes
Extra Functionality Vector search
AI query optimizer
REST APIs for your data
Database branching		 No
Pricing Model Pay as you go, usage based pricing Pay fixed hourly fee for the instances to run your database, then add storage and data transfer

Managed vs Serverless: The Foundamental Difference

Managed

Managed databases involve user management of resources, while the provider handles routine tasks.

  • User provisions RAM, CPU, and storage.
  • Major upgrades and scaling are on the users.
  • Provider handles routine tasks like security patches.
  • A balance between fully self-managed and hands-off systems.
Serverless

Serverless databases, like TiDB Cloud Serverless, manage everything automatically, freeing developers from backend concerns.

  • Automatically scale and manage uptime.
  • Optimize performance as needs change.
  • No manual intervention needed.
  • Enables full focus on application development.

Usage-based vs Up-front: Flexibility is The Key

With Amazon RDS for MySQL, you pay for peak demand resources, even when your database is idle.
TiDB Cloud Serverless adjusts dynamically, charging only for actual usage, leading to lower costs during low demand and scalability when needed.

TiDB Cloud Serverless

TiDB Cloud Serverless charges based on your actual usage.

  • Pay only for computing hours, stored data size, and network traffic.
  • Free 25GiB storage/month and 250 million reads/month.
  • Zero cost when idle.

How We Built Efficiency into TiDB Cloud Serverless

Amazon RDS for MySQL

With RDS for MySQL, you pay based on your estimated usage and resources reserved for peak demand.

  • Pay hourly for a base instance, including RAM, CPU, and storage options.
  • Additional charges for storage and data egress.
  • Costs are determined by your selected instance size and anticipated usage.

Why TiDB Cloud Serverless

What is it?
Serverless MySQL compatible database that scales automatically and charges for usage.

Who is it for?
Developers and teams who want to focus on solving end user problems without having to worry about scaling, uptime, or management tasks.

Pros
  • MySQL compatibility:
    Makes it easy to work with existing tooling, ORM, libraries, and application code.
  • No setup:
    As a serverless database, there’s nothing to configure or deploy.
  • Scales with demand:
    TiDB Cloud Serverless seamlessly allocates resources based on what your database needs.
  • Stays online:
    With multiple replicas of your data and zero-downtime schema updates, TiDB Cloud Serverless accepts writes and reads round the clock.
CLI

TiDB Cloud provides a command-line interface (CLI) ticloud for you to interact with TiDB Cloud from your terminal with a few lines of commands. For example, you can easily perform the following operations using ticloud:

  • Create, delete, and list your clusters.
  • Import data to your clusters.
  • Export data from your clusters.

TiDB Cloud CLI Quick Start

Simply run the following commands:

  • Install via script
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tidbcloud/tidbcloud-cli/main/install.sh | sh
  • Log into TiDB Cloud with authentication
ticloud auth login
Vector Search

TiDB Cloud Vector Search comes with comprehensive ecosystem support, including AI frameworks, embedding models and ORM libraries. This new feature enables you to build:

  • GraphRAG systems
  • Wiki chatbots
  • Image search engines
  • Semantic search platforms
  • Recommendation engines, etc.

Get started with SQL
Get started with Python
Quick start with integrations

Vector Search

AI-Assisted SQL Editor
Efficiently and intelligently construct SQL queries. Seamlessly generate intuitive queries, conduct thorough analyses of existing code, and receive tailored function recommendations—all powered by AI.

How to use AI Assisted SQL Editor

AI-Assisted SQL Editor

Branching
Manage your database as meticulously as your source code. Effortlessly branch out with CLI, and sync changes with the team effortlessly. Confidently conduct ‘what-if’ experiments in isolated environments ensuring no disruption to the main data stream.

How to use Branching

Branching

Data Service
Experience an all-in-one, low-code solution that streamlines backend development and data access. Our platform offers seamless integration of RESTful APIs and SQL-to-HTTP, simplifying complex processes into efficient, user-friendly operations.

How to use Data Service

Data Service

CLI
Vector Search
AI-Assisted SQL Editor
Branching
Data Service

TiDB Cloud provides a command-line interface (CLI) ticloud for you to interact with TiDB Cloud from your terminal with a few lines of commands. For example, you can easily perform the following operations using ticloud:

  • Create, delete, and list your clusters.
  • Import data to your clusters.
  • Export data from your clusters.

TiDB Cloud CLI Quick Start

Simply run the following commands:

  • Install via script
    curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tidbcloud/tidbcloud-cli/main/install.sh | sh
  • Log into TiDB Cloud with authentication
ticloud auth login

TiDB Cloud Vector Search comes with comprehensive ecosystem support, including AI frameworks, embedding models and ORM libraries. This new feature enables you to build:

  • GraphRAG systems
  • Wiki chatbots
  • Image search engines
  • Semantic search platforms
  • Recommendation engines, etc.

Get started with SQL
Get started with Python
Quick start with integrations

Vector Search

Efficiently and intelligently construct SQL queries. Seamlessly generate intuitive queries, conduct thorough analyses of existing code, and receive tailored function recommendations—all powered by AI.

How to use AI Assisted SQL Editor

AI Assisted SQL Editor

Manage your database as meticulously as your source code. Effortlessly branch out with CLI, and sync changes with the team effortlessly. Confidently conduct ‘what-if’ experiments in isolated environments ensuring no disruption to the main data stream.

How to use Branching

Branching

Experience an all-in-one, low-code solution that streamlines backend development and data access. Our platform offers seamless integration of RESTful APIs and SQL-to-HTTP, simplifying complex processes into efficient, user-friendly operations.

How to use Data Service

Data Service

Why Amazon RDS for MySQL

What is it?
Managed instances of MySQL Community Edition.

Who is it for?
Developers and teams who want a simple MySQL database for low priority projects with consistent usage patterns.

Pros

  • MySQL compatibility: RDS for MySQL uses the Community Edition of MySQL.
  • Easy deployment: Quick to get started with a fresh install.
  • Vertical scaling: If demand changes, you can increase the size of your database instance.
  • Options for resilience: Add read-only replicas when you need to handle more traffic.

Cons

  • Limited horizontal scaling: Horizontal scaling can’t help with writes as it relies on read-only replicas. Similarly, you need to introduce Amazon Cloudfront to manage horizontal scaling, which could complicate your DevOps.
  • Blocking schema changes: Just like regular MySQL, making schema changes requires taking your database offline. You can keep reads available, so long as you have a read-only replica available.
  • Disruptive upgrades: RDS for MySQL aims to take care of minor upgrades automatically but can involve short periods of downtime. For major upgrades, you need to schedule and perform them manually.
  • Capacity rather than usage pricing: RDS for MySQL charges based on the RAM and CPU your database might need, rather than the resources you actually use.
Innovative TeamsTiDB Cloud Serverless

Accelerate feature releases by focusing on development, not infrastructure

Significantly lower costs with usage-based pricing

Providing end users with faster performance and zero downtime

Reduce time-to-market with pre-integrated tech ecosystem

TiDB Cloud Serverless not only drastically lowered our costs, saving about 80%, but also offered a flexible approach to resource utilization.

Steve
Product Manager at AMZTrends

TiDB Cloud Serverless has significantly cut our maintenance and hardware expenses by approximately 50%.

Sun
Data Platform Lead, Chainbase

For startups, TiDB Cloud Serverless is not only cost-efficient and scalable but also highly conducive to development.

Thomas Yu
Co-founder, KNN3 Networks

TiDB Cloud Serverless has been incredibly helpful as a solution that meets our diverse project requirements, offering ease of use and affordability without specialized knowledge.

Makoto Mizutani
Migration Project Leader, AJU

The ease and comfort of getting started with TiDB Cloud Serverless perfectly address our needs, making it ideal for small yet exquisite projects. Its design concept also appeals to developers.

Sky Dong
Founding Engineer, Chaintool

Get Started with TiDB Cloud Serverless

Free

For Free

TiDB Cloud Serverless is built from the ground up to be fully serverless, and that allows us to offer a generous free tier. Get started today at no cost.

Start Free Today
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TiDB values and supports open-source. We’re offering up to 💰 $2000 in free TiDB Cloud Serverless credits to developers who contribute to the community.
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