Query language: MySQL SQL (identical to community)
Compatibility: IS community MySQL (not “compatible” — it IS MySQL)
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: All MySQL features, reserved instances (up to 60% off), full portability, Multi-AZ deployments
Limitations: No auto-scaling compute, manual instance sizing, no serverless option
Best for: Cost-sensitive MySQL workloads, portability priority, teams wanting standard MySQL with no proprietary layer
Not for: Variable traffic needing auto-scaling (Aurora MySQL is better), new apps without MySQL requirement