# Managed relational databases: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "managed relational database service" and as "hosted SQL database", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/it-data/managed-relational-databases/2026-10

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/it-data/managed-relational-databases/index.md

**Standing:** Amazon RDS leads with 45% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 58 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Amazon RDS](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/amazon-rds/index.md) | 45% | 23% | 70 |
| 2 | [Amazon Aurora](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/amazon-aurora/index.md) | 12% | 21% | 39 |
| 3 | [Google Cloud SQL](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/google-cloud-sql/index.md) | 10% | 12% | 66 |
| 4 | [Neon](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/neon/index.md) | 10% | 0% | 23 |
| 5 | [DigitalOcean Managed Databases](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/digitalocean-managed-databases/index.md) | 9% | 0% | 19 |
| 6 | [Supabase](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/supabase/index.md) | 7% | 6% | 18 |
| 7 | [Azure SQL Database](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/azure-sql-database/index.md) | 2% | 20% | 56 |
| 11 | [Aiven for PostgreSQL](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/aiven-for-postgresql/index.md) | 0% | 10% | 10 |
| 22 | [PlanetScale](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/planetscale/index.md) | 0% | 29% | 17 |
| 56 | [Google Cloud Spanner](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/google-cloud-spanner/index.md) | 0% | 42% | 12 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 81 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Amazon RDS; alternatives Azure SQL Database
- GPT-5.4 mini: Amazon Aurora, Amazon RDS; alternatives Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Amazon Aurora; alternatives Aiven for PostgreSQL, AlloyDB for PostgreSQL, Azure SQL Database, Neon
- Perplexity Sonar: Amazon RDS; alternatives Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL
- Grok 4.20: Google Cloud SQL; alternatives Aiven for PostgreSQL, Amazon RDS, Azure SQL Database, DigitalOcean Managed Databases
- Mistral Small: Amazon Aurora; alternatives Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Amazon RDS; alternatives Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL
- Llama 4 Maverick: Amazon Aurora, Amazon RDS; alternatives Ntirety, Rackspace Technology
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Amazon RDS; alternatives Azure Database for SQL Server / PostgreSQL, Neon, Vercel Postgres
- Kimi K2: Amazon RDS; alternatives Amazon Aurora, Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL, Neon
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Google Cloud SQL; alternatives Amazon RDS, Azure Database
- MiniMax M2.5: Amazon RDS; alternatives Amazon Aurora, DigitalOcean Managed Databases, Google Cloud SQL
- GPT-6 Luna: Amazon RDS; alternatives Amazon Aurora, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Google Cloud SQL
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Amazon RDS; alternatives Amazon Aurora, Azure SQL Database, Google Cloud SQL

## Sources the answers cite

73 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- digitalocean.com: 35 answers, 47 citations
- gane.ai/index: 32 answers, 49 citations
- g2.com: 28 answers, 57 citations
- aws.amazon.com: 27 answers, 46 citations
- learn.microsoft.com: 27 answers, 37 citations
- northflank.com: 26 answers, 32 citations
- docs.aws.amazon.com: 24 answers, 34 citations
- tech-insider.org: 23 answers, 25 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://digitalocean.com/resources/articles/aws-rds-alternatives (25 answers)
- https://tech-insider.org/aws-rds-vs-azure-database-vs-google-cloud-sql-2026 (23 answers)
- https://gane.ai/index/it/it-data/managed-relational-databases (22 answers)
- https://northflank.com/blog/best-database-providers (21 answers)
- https://viasocket.com/discovery/blog/6suci8/relational-database-services/7-relational-database-services-for-247-saas (15 answers)
- https://cloudinsight.cc/en/blog/cloud-sql-solutions (13 answers)
- https://aws.amazon.com/rds (12 answers)
- https://devtoolreviews.com/reviews/aws-rds-vs-google-cloud-sql-vs-azure-database-2026 (12 answers)
- https://cloud.google.com/sql (11 answers)
- https://cloudexpat.com/compare/rds-vs-azure-sql-vs-cloud-sql (11 answers)

## Warned against

- Amazon RDS: 16 of 70 labels negative. "Some models explicitly recommend avoiding RDS for production core systems unless absolutely necessary." (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- Azure SQL Database: 11 of 56 labels negative. "Azure SQL Database, while generally robust, has resource caps and licensing implications that require careful planning" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- Google Cloud SQL: 8 of 66 labels negative. "extended support is paid, and Cloud SQL automatically enrolls EOL-version instances. Check the exact engine version and upgrade dates before committing." (GPT-6 Luna, negative prompt)
- Amazon Aurora: 8 of 39 labels negative. "Experts advise caution or avoidance for production environments where stable performance is critical." (Mistral Small, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Amazon RDS at 42%.

- Amazon RDS: 35% to 42%, +7. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 1 of 71, unchanged.
- Neon: 6% to 10%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 5 → 4 of 71.
- Supabase: 4% to 8%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 7 → 6 of 71.
- Amazon Aurora: 11% to 14%, +3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 3 → 2 of 71.
- Azure SQL Database: 4% to 2%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 6 → 7 of 71.
- AlloyDB for PostgreSQL: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 9 → 13 of 71.
- Google Cloud Spanner: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 11 → 32 of 71.
- PlanetScale: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 13 → 37 of 71.
- Google Cloud SQL: 11% to 10%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 2 → 3 of 71.
- DigitalOcean Managed Databases: 7% to 8%, +1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 4 → 5 of 71.
- Aiven for PostgreSQL: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 23 → 11 of 71.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, October 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.