Deployment decisions still matter
Or how self-managed PostgreSQL can still rack up costs — or stay lean — depending on how you run it
Choosing to self-manage PostgreSQL avoids the licensing costs of DBaaS solutions — but how you deploy still determines what you pay long term.
We see cost creep in three key areas:
- Resource allocation: Teams provision for peak load and leave it there. With features like Horizontal Pod Autoscaling and resource quotas, Kubernetes can help right-size dynamically — but only if used intentionally.
- Data placement: Running databases in one zone and applications in another creates unnecessary data transfer charges. Co-locating workloads in the same region or cluster reduces latency and cost.
- Storage tiers: Expensive IOPS tiers (like io2) often go unused. Proper tuning and right-sizing of gp3 volumes covers most needs — if you're willing to do the math.
With tools like the Percona Operator for PostgreSQL and Percona Everest, many of these decisions can be automated — but you still need to own the strategy. Whether your team is building its own DBaaS layer or managing clusters directly, PostgreSQL costs are shaped by deployment defaults just as much as architecture.