Amazon Web Services (AWS) Relational Database Service (RDS) offers a managed solution for cloud-hosted relational databases, but its pricing structure can be complex and unpredictable. Timescale, which builds its cloud services on AWS, identifies these challenges, especially for users coming from Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL, and highlights the importance of understanding RDS pricing to manage costs effectively. The article elaborates on RDS pricing components, including database instances, storage options, backup storage, snapshot exports, data transfer, and technical support, noting that costs can vary depending on factors like region and deployment configuration. It also discusses the potential financial impact of extras like RDS Proxy and performance insights, suggesting the use of AWS's Pricing Calculator and encouraging vigilance regarding data growth and related charges. In contrast, Timescale offers a simplified pricing model focusing on compute and storage, emphasizing its benefits, particularly for time-series data, with claims of improved performance and significant cost savings compared to RDS. Timescale also includes expert technical support in its pricing, aiming to provide a more transparent and predictable cost framework for users.