Free assessment

What your managed databases cost, and what could change.

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Managed databases on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud are billed by the hour, the gigabyte and the request, and the bill never says which instance is idle or two sizes too big. The assessment is free and one-time: run a read-only collector on your own machine, upload the file it writes, and get a report of what the estate costs and every saving it can price, each one traced to its evidence.

How it works

  • Read-only, under your own profiles

    The collector makes Describe and Get calls on a fixed allowlist, using the cloud profiles you name. It never connects to a database and never reads SQL text or row values.

  • Nothing leaves until you upload

    It writes one file on your machine. Account ids, names and endpoints become aliases first, and you can open the file and read every part before you decide to upload it.

  • Every finding traced to its evidence

    Each saving names the metric series and inventory it came from, whether it is observed in your data or projected from usage, and the assumptions behind the price. A denied permission is marked Unknown, never guessed.

  • Deleted on a clock

    Evidence is deleted after 30 days and the report after 90, or the moment you delete the assessment. Stored in Montréal, on Google Cloud in Canada.

What the collector reads, and what leaves your machine

A missing permission is recorded as denied. The report then marks that part Unknown instead of guessing.

ServiceWhat it reads
Amazon RDSInstances, clusters, reserved instances and the manual snapshot list
Cost Explorer90 days of cost and usage, and reservation and Savings Plans coverage where available
CloudWatch30 days of metrics for each instance and cluster
AWS STSConfirms which account each profile belongs to

In the file you upload

  • Database inventory: classes, engines, storage, settings
  • Cost and usage by category and account
  • Metric series for each database
  • Reservations and the manual snapshot list
  • Aliases in place of account ids, names and endpoints

Stays with you

  • aliases.json, which maps the aliases back to your names
  • Your credentials and profiles
  • Data inside your databases: the collector never connects to them

The access it needs

Nine read-only IAM actions on AWS, the same list the collector checks before it reads anything. Hand it to security as is. The Azure and Google Cloud role lists follow when those providers open.

  • sts:GetCallerIdentityWhich account each profile belongs to
  • rds:DescribeDBInstancesInventory
  • rds:DescribeDBClustersAurora clusters
  • rds:DescribeDBSnapshotsManual snapshot list
  • rds:DescribeReservedDBInstancesReservations and expiry
  • cloudwatch:GetMetricData30 days of metrics
  • ce:GetCostAndUsage90 days of cost, on the payer account
  • ce:GetReservationCoverageReserved Instance coverage
  • ce:GetSavingsPlansCoverageSavings Plans coverage

Coverage

What is available today and what is coming. Anything not assessed still counts in cost totals, with no savings inferred for it.

ProviderEngineStatus
AWSAmazon RDS for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDBProvisioned instances, Single-AZ and Multi-AZAvailableIdle, downsize, IOPS, storage, gp2 and io1 to gp3, previous generation, extended support
AWSAmazon Aurora, provisionedPostgreSQL and MySQL compatibleAvailableIdle, downsize, I/O-Optimized, replica lag, volume growth, extended support
AWSAmazon Aurora Serverless v2Available, partialIdle and capacity headroom (ACU) only
AWSRDS for SQL Server, Oracle, Db2Cost onlyCounted in RDS spend, no savings inferred
AzureAzure Database for PostgreSQL and MySQLFlexible serverComing
Google CloudCloud SQLPostgreSQL, MySQL and SQL ServerComing
Something elseOn-premises, self-managed, another engineNot yetTell us what you run

What the report shows

The sample is a synthetic estate, Northstar Example Co.: 18 instances in 2 accounts, one region, 30 days of cost from Sep 27 to Oct 26, 2026. Metrics were denied in one account, so the report is partial and says so.

See the live sample
You could save about
$4,562 a month
11% of the $41,280 monthly RDS spend, about $54,700 a year
How much we could check
14 of 18
instances fully checked; 2 blocked by a missing permission
Monthly RDS spend
$41,280
USD, 2 accounts, Sep 27 to Oct 26, 2026
Multi-AZ standbys
$9,870
6 instances pay for a standby copy

Where the savings are

4 recommendations covering 7 instances, largest first. 9 findings in total, 2 not priced yet.

  • Move reporting-pg to a smaller class

    prod-1, db.r6g.2xlarge to db.r6g.xlarge. Its peaks fit in half the vCPUs.

    $2,310

  • Remove idle read replica orders-replica-2

    prod-1, db.r6g.xlarge. No connections for 21 days.

    $1,460

  • Switch 4 volumes from gp2 to gp3 storage

    2.1 TiB on orders-pg, catalog-pg, inventory-mysql and events-pg. Lower price, same baseline performance.

    $412

  • Upgrade legacy-mysql from a previous generation

    prod-1, db.m4.xlarge to db.m6g.xlarge.

    $380

  • Total, USD a month at on-demand prices$4,562

Not priced yet, not in the total

  • Upgrade audit-pg off PostgreSQL 11, now on paid extended support

    prod-1. AWS bills extended support per account, so this instance's share is not itemized.

    Unknownaccount paid $612 in 30 days

  • Possibly downsize billing-aurora

    prod-2, Aurora MySQL, 2 instances. Blocked: we could not read its metrics.

    Unknownunlock with the permission fix

Also in the report: where the RDS money goes over 90 days, backups above the free amount ($2,280 a month), and no Reserved Instances or Savings Plans found, so savings use full on-demand prices. It also lists checks with no dollar value, such as deletion protection and backup retention.

My platform isn't covered yet

Tell us what you run. We count requests to decide what to cover next. No email, no free text, just these choices.

Provider
Technology

Questions teams ask

What does it cost?
Nothing. The assessment is free and one-time, with no card and no commitment. If the report shows savings worth pursuing, you can ask for a pilot from the report; that is a separate conversation.
What does the collector read?
Describe and Get calls on a fixed allowlist, under the profiles you name: the RDS inventory, 90 days of Cost Explorer cost and usage, 30 days of CloudWatch metrics, reservations and the manual snapshot list. It never connects to a database.
What leaves my machine?
Only the file you upload, and only when you upload it. Account ids, resource names and endpoints are replaced by aliases first, and the mapping file stays with you. No credentials, no SQL text, no row values.
What access does it need?
The nine read-only IAM actions listed above, usually across a read-only role in each account and a billing profile on the payer. A denied action is recorded, and the report marks that part Unknown instead of guessing.
We run Azure or Google Cloud. Can we start?
Not yet. Azure Database flexible server and Cloud SQL are coming, and the coverage table on this page is the one kept current. Use the form above and we count your request.
How long is the data kept, and where?
Evidence for 30 days and the report for 90, or until you delete the assessment. Both are stored in Montréal, on Google Cloud in Canada. Sign-in is handled by Clerk in the United States.
Who can see the report?
You and the colleagues you invite. A Datapace operator can open it to help you, and every opening is recorded in the assessment's activity log.

See what your own estate costs.

Free and one-time. Read-only collection you run yourself. Delete it whenever you want.

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