Query language: MariaDB SQL (MySQL-compatible with extensions)
Compatibility: MariaDB (10.6, 10.11), MySQL-compatible but diverging (new features like system-versioned tables, Oracle-mode PL/SQL)
Serverless: No (fixed instance types)
Scale to zero: No
VPC required: Yes
Multi-region: Cross-region read replicas (async)
Free Tier: new-account AWS Free Tier — $100 in credits at sign-up plus up to $100 more ($200 total), usable across eligible services including RDS/Aurora for up to 12 months
Min cost: $0 (free tier) → ~$15/month after
Time to first query: 10-15 min (VPC + instance + configuration)
Key features: System-versioned (temporal) tables, Oracle PL/SQL compatibility mode, Aria storage engine, reserved instances (up to 60% off), full portability
Limitations: No auto-scaling compute, no serverless, smaller managed-tooling footprint than MySQL/PostgreSQL on AWS, no Aurora equivalent
Best for: MariaDB migrations, teams using MariaDB-specific features (temporal tables, Oracle mode), open-source MySQL alternative without Oracle ownership
Not for: Variable traffic needing auto-scaling, new apps without MariaDB requirement (Aurora MySQL or Aurora PostgreSQL are better starting points)