Relational Databases Resources

Looking for input from G2 reviewers at software companies, SaaS teams, and IT services organisations in the Relational Databases category, specifically from those who have selected a relational database as the foundation for a production application and can speak to which platform held up as the codebase grew.

The platforms with the strongest software and IT company evidence:

• PostgreSQL: The combination of SQL standards compliance, performance under complex workloads, and extensibility that allows teams to add capabilities through extensions rather than changing databases is described as the architecture choice that ages well as a software product grows.
• MySQL: Software teams building standard CRUD applications, content management systems, and e-commerce backends credit the predictability and tooling ecosystem for keeping development velocity high without specialised database expertise.
• Microsoft SQL Server: The SQL Server Management Studio tooling, the reporting and analytics integration with the Microsoft BI stack, and the compatibility with .NET application frameworks are credited for making development and database administration accessible without requiring specialised DBA expertise.
• Amazon RDS: The ability to run MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQL Server on RDS while AWS handles the operational overhead is credited for allowing small software teams to operate production databases without a dedicated database engineer.
• SQLite: Software teams building mobile applications, desktop applications, and lightweight backend services credit SQLite for the development simplicity that eliminates the local database server setup step before coding can begin.

For software engineers who have chosen a relational database for a project that has now been in production for more than two years: what was the database-level behaviour that surprised you most as the data volume grew beyond what the initial design anticipated, and was the response a schema change, an indexing strategy, or a decision to evaluate a different database?

I like that Supabase gives Postgres, auth, and realtime out of the box, so I can skip repetitive backend code and still use RLS for data security. Realtime makes live leaderboards work without building my own WebSocket layer, and I can always drop into raw SQL when needed. The main struggle is free-tier cold starts after inactivity, where the first request takes several seconds to wake up. If you’ve run into this, how are you dealing with cold starts while keeping realtime experiences smooth?

New businesses often need relational database software that is dependable, easy to manage, and scalable as operations grow. Reliability is key, especially when internal resources for database administration may be limited.

In the relational databases category on G2, these five platforms are frequently highlighted:

• Amazon RDS: Managed by AWS and supports several engines including MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server. Handles routine maintenance and backup tasks automatically.
• Amazon Aurora: Optimized for high performance and built to scale with demand. Offers MySQL and PostgreSQL compatibility with fault-tolerant architecture.
• Microsoft SQL Server: A widely adopted choice with strong transactional processing, data integrity, and built-in security tools.
• Google Cloud SQL: Fully managed service for MySQL and PostgreSQL on Google Cloud. Easy to set up and integrates well with Google’s cloud ecosystem.
• Oracle Database: Longstanding reputation for stability and security. Used by organizations with high data and compliance needs, including those starting with Oracle’s cloud offerings.

Which of these platforms have other businesses found most dependable when starting out? Are there reliability concerns or onboarding challenges to watch for?

Insights from early-stage teams would be helpful.