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Amazon Aurora vs IBM Db2 Database comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and IBM are both solutions in the Relational Databases Tools category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.5, while IBM is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.3. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 3.0% mindshare in SQL, compared to IBM’s 7.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of IBM users who would recommend it.
Amazon Aurora
Read 18 Amazon Aurora reviews
  • 2,410 Views
  • 1,575 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
IBM Db2 Database
Read 74 IBM Db2 Database reviews
  • 5,504 Views
  • 2,309 Comparison Views
90% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

IBM Db2 and Amazon Aurora are strong contenders in the database management category. However, Db2 holds an advantage in security and platform flexibility, while Aurora is superior in cloud-native operations and AWS ecosystem integration.

Features: IBM Db2 offers a robust SQL dialect with advanced capabilities like object tables and Java support, ensuring flexible platform use and enhanced performance through self-tuning memory management. Its integration with IBM products is highly valued for security and reliability. Amazon Aurora efficiently standardizes SQL with features such as auto-scaling and high availability, seamlessly integrating with AWS to offer low-latency replication and ease of management, favoring businesses focused on cloud services.

Room for Improvement: IBM Db2 requires simplification in terms of learning curve, particularly for users unfamiliar with Java, and faces challenges with its licensing complexities and cost. Enhancements for cross-platform deployments and development tools are needed. Amazon Aurora could refine its pricing model and compatibility with MySQL, while boosting its documentation on performance tuning for improved user experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Db2's deployment is mainly on-premises, requiring skilled personnel due to its complex process, with customer support regarded as positive but needing faster responses. Amazon Aurora benefits from its cloud-native structure, offering straightforward deployment and scalability with AWS, and customer support services considered consistent and user-friendly, simplifying management processes for users.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Db2 is notable for its high costs driven by intricate licensing fees, though it can be cheaper than Oracle solutions, providing a favorable ROI for its strong capabilities. Amazon Aurora is perceived as cost-effective with its pay-as-you-go model, leveraging AWS's infrastructure to manage costs effectively. Though more expensive than some self-managed solutions, its feature-rich offering compensates for the higher price, delivering solid ROI through its expansive functionalities.

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To learn more, read our detailed Amazon Aurora vs. IBM Db2 Database Report (Updated: June 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Amazon Aurora vs. IBM Db2 Database
June 2025
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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.4
Switching to Amazon Aurora saved 30% in costs and improved performance, reducing operational expenses and enhancing customer satisfaction.
Sentiment score
7.8
IBM Db2 Database delivers substantial ROI, praised for boosting performance and efficiency, and generating significant long-term financial benefits.
Using Amazon Aurora has saved us significantly in terms of manpower costs, with nearly fifty percent savings compared to an on-premises solution.
For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon Aurora report
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Db2 Database report
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.6
Amazon Aurora offers responsive support for premium subscribers, with enterprise-level 24/7 assistance, though access varies for personal accounts.
Sentiment score
6.5
IBM Db2 support is reliable, efficient, and varies by region, scoring 7-9, with room for documentation improvement.
Technical support from Amazon is rated very highly.
The initial support could improve by having engineers familiarize themselves with the issue content to provide more specialized assistance from the start.
For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon Aurora report
We normally receive substantial discounts on the price.
For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Db2 Database report
SP
Adnan Shafiq - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2708292 - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Amazon Aurora seamlessly scales to meet high-performance demands, handling large data volumes efficiently, vital for growing businesses.
Sentiment score
7.2
IBM Db2 Database excels in scalability and performance but may have cost and horizontal scaling limitations compared to Oracle.
This scalability is critical as it allows for runtime expansion, which is essential for businesses moving from on-premises to the cloud.
For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon Aurora report
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Db2 Database report
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Amazon Aurora maintains high reliability and performance, with occasional downtimes, quickly resolving initial bugs for minimal user interruptions.
Sentiment score
7.9
IBM Db2 Database is highly stable and reliable, frequently scoring eight to ten out of ten for stability.
It offers a stable environment, ensuring consistent performance.
For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon Aurora report
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Db2 Database report
 

Room For Improvement

Amazon Aurora users seek better pricing, Oracle integration, enhanced AI features, scalability, PostgreSQL extensions, and improved serverless query tools.
IBM Db2 requires improved UI, competitive pricing, better integration, cloud readiness, simplified management, and enhanced performance monitoring.
There are technical challenges, such as the inability to provision the database using a PostgreSQL snapshot directly.
Keeping extensions up-to-date with PostgreSQL releases would enhance Aurora's functionality.
For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon Aurora report
It might be slightly slower than other database vendors, but it works well since banks typically do not move quickly with leading-edge technology.
For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Db2 Database report
SP
Adnan Shafiq - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2708292 - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise users find Amazon Aurora's pricing reasonable, cost-effective compared to similar products, though costly versus self-managed solutions.
IBM Db2 Database offers cost-effective enterprise solutions but experiences complex licensing, often less costly than Oracle and pricier than SQL Server.
Amazon Aurora is not very expensive as other solutions with similar features from other vendors come at almost the same cost.
The pricing is reasonable and not overly expensive.
For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon Aurora report
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Db2 Database report
 

Valuable Features

Amazon Aurora offers scalability, AWS integration, high availability, speed, and features enhancing performance, cost-efficiency, and operational ease.
IBM Db2 Database impresses with powerful SQL, security, and scalability, ideal for enterprises due to its versatility and resilience.
It replicates data across multiple Availability Zones, ensuring high availability and geographical redundancy, which can be considered a GR instead of a DR.
Amazon Aurora offers a 99.9% SLA compared to PostgreSQL. This ensures a high level of availability for our applications.
For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon Aurora report
IBM Db2 Database, because of enterprise performance and support, is why banks still maintain their relationship with it.
For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Db2 Database report
Adnan Shafiq - PeerSpot reviewer
SP
reviewer2708292 - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon Aurora
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM Db2 Database
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of Amazon Aurora is 3.0%, down from 4.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Db2 Database is 7.4%, up from 6.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Adnan Shafiq - PeerSpot reviewer
High availability and geographical redundancy ensure reliable performance and cost efficiency
Amazon Aurora ( /products/amazon-aurora-reviews ) provides up to fifteen to sixteen read replicas. It replicates data across multiple Availability Zones, ensuring high availability and geographical redundancy, which can be considered a GR instead of a DR. As a managed service, maintenance tasks like backup and restore are handled by AWS ( /products/amazon-aws-reviews ), saving my organization significant time and money. Additionally, its fast cloning feature allows us to create a new clone from a large database swiftly, similar to a zero-copy cloning feature in Snowflake ( /products/snowflake-reviews ). This makes Amazon Aurora a compelling choice for my organization.
Read full review
ArpitKhare - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers optimizer plan and ALSM features along with exceptional stability
The TSA version of IBM Db2 Database doesn't meet my stability expectations. Every time when a switch over occurs, some stability issues can be noticed. The vendor should offer a free version of IBM Db2 Database. For instance, if our company wants to train new individuals on all the features of IBM Db2 Database, they can only be trained after purchasing the paid version of the solution. About ten years ago, a trial version was available for the solution that was highly beneficial for companies. The vendor can add AI or ML features in the future version of IBM Db2 Database.
Read full review
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
27%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
6%
Insurance Company
5%
Educational Organization
44%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
6%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon Aurora?
Aurora's compatibility with MySQL or PostgreSQL benefited our database management. The migration from on-premise MySQL to Aurora was similar, so we didn't need to change our source code.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon Aurora?
Amazon Aurora is not very expensive as other solutions with similar features from other vendors come at almost the same cost. I rated it as two to three on a scale where ten is very expensive.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Amazon Aurora?
Amazon Aurora should upgrade its base PostgreSQL ( /products/postgresql-reviews ) versions more frequently and offer all PostgreSQL extensions. Keeping extensions up-to-date with PostgreSQL release...
See all answers
What do you like most about IBM Db2 Database?
Db2 database scalability and performance capabilities match our database needs. It covers pretty much everything a database administrator or engineer might need.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Db2 Database?
IBM Db2 is an expensive solution. While I am not heavily involved with pricing, additional companies provide capabilities or products like those from BMC, which many installations might also purchase.
See all answers
What needs improvement with IBM Db2 Database?
IBM is implementing some release improvements. It might be slightly slower than other database vendors, but it works well since banks typically do not move quickly with leading-edge technology.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Compared 33% of the time
Oracle Database vs Amazon Aurora Logo
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Compared 22% of the time
MariaDB vs Amazon Aurora Logo
MariaDB vs Amazon Aurora
Compared 8% of the time
Citus Data vs Amazon Aurora Logo
Citus Data vs Amazon Aurora
Compared 7% of the time
MySQL vs Amazon Aurora Logo
MySQL vs Amazon Aurora
Compared 4% of the time
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SQL Server vs IBM Db2 Database Logo
SQL Server vs IBM Db2 Database
Compared 33% of the time
Oracle Database vs IBM Db2 Database Logo
Oracle Database vs IBM Db2 Database
Compared 18% of the time
SAP HANA vs IBM Db2 Database Logo
SAP HANA vs IBM Db2 Database
Compared 15% of the time
Teradata vs IBM Db2 Database Logo
Teradata vs IBM Db2 Database
Compared 13% of the time
IBM Netezza Performance Server vs IBM Db2 Database Logo
IBM Netezza Performance Server vs IBM Db2 Database
Compared 1% of the time
More IBM Db2 Database Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Amazon Aurora
June 2025
Amazon Aurora reportDownload Amazon Aurora product report
Buyer's Guide
IBM Db2 Database
May 2025
IBM Db2 Database reportDownload IBM Db2 Database product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
DB2
 

Overview

Amazon Aurora is a MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database built for the cloud, that combines the performance and availability of traditional enterprise databases with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of open source databases.

Amazon Aurora is up to five times faster than standard MySQL databases and three times faster than standard PostgreSQL databases. It provides the security, availability, and reliability of commercial databases at 1/10th the cost. Amazon Aurora is fully managed by Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), which automates time-consuming administration tasks like hardware provisioning, database setup, patching, and backups.

Amazon Aurora features a distributed, fault-tolerant, self-healing storage system that auto-scales up to 64TB per database instance. It delivers high performance and availability with up to 15 low-latency read replicas, point-in-time recovery, continuous backup to Amazon S3, and replication across three Availability Zones (AZs).

Visit the Amazon RDS Management Console to create your first Aurora database instance and start migrating your MySQL and PostgreSQL databases.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
DB2 Enterprise for Linux, UNIX, and Windows is the ideal data server for the most demanding workloads. New XML support is designed to help firms minimize the time and effort it takes to persist and use their XML data reducing development costs and improving business agility.
IBM
 

Sample Customers

Dow Jones, Arizona State University, Verizon, Capital One, United Nations, Nielsen, Autodesk, Fanduel
Knorr-Bremse, Mizuho Bank Ltd., Australian Government Department of Defence, SCHWENK Zement, Friedhelm Loh Group, YAZAKI Europe Limited, Ekornes ASA, Baldor Electric, VSN Systemen BV, Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC, PLANSEE Group, TE Connectivity, Hansgrohe SE, Openmatics, University of Toronto
Buyer's Guide
Amazon Aurora vs. IBM Db2 Database
June 2025
Free Report: Amazon Aurora vs. IBM Db2 Database
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