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Should I use Postgres?

Postgres AI — Postgres database tooling and observability - postgres.ai

Depends. Postgres the database is a buy for nearly any team — free, battle-tested, proven at OpenAI scale. postgres.ai's paid tooling only makes sense for teams running large Postgres fleets; public evidence on it specifically is thin, so confidence is low.

Confidence

Low. Based on ~90 public sources; most cover Postgres broadly — very few cover postgres.ai's own paid tooling specifically.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Self-hosted (open source)

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Managed hostingVaries by provider

Best for

  • Production apps of almost any size
  • Teams wanting one proven default database
  • Banks and regulated industries
  • Cost-conscious teams avoiding license fees

Not for

  • Tiny hobby projects — a managed host or even a spreadsheet is less work
  • Global multi-region write scaling — Postgres wasn't designed for it
  • Teams with no DBA who also refuse to pay for managed hosting
  • Guess: buyers of's tooling — public details on its paid platform are too sparse to verify value

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

PostgreSQL 14 hits EOL Nov 2026 after 44 CVEs this year; upgrade soon.

high

A Feb 2026 remote-code-execution CVE exists — patch promptly, especially self-hosted.

high

A 12-year-old flaw enabled database server takeover in affected deployments.

medium

Pricing differs hugely between providers — comparison shopping is mandatory before committing.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free, open-source core with no license fees.
  • Community consensus: 'Postgres will handle 99%' of workloads.
  • Proven at extreme scale — 800M-user ChatGPT runs on it.
  • Adopted by major banks and financial institutions.
  • Called 'boring and reliable' — infrastructure that rarely fails.

Cons

  • Old versions hit EOL — v14 after 44 CVEs in 2026.
  • Hosting pricing is confusing and varies widely by provider.
  • Cloud compute costs surprise buyers.
  • Documented limitations in some financial-services scenarios.
  • Self-managed security is a frequent failure point.

Sources & method

Analyzed 10/02/2026 - 15 sources - Mature and actively patched, but CVEs flow steadily — self-managed deployments need hardening.

official x4review x5security x3news x3
  • CVE-2026-2006 — PostgreSQL RCE, Remote code execution vulnerability in PostgreSQL disclosed February 2026.
  • 12-year-old vulnerability enabled server takeover, A long-lived PostgreSQL flaw allowed database server takeover in affected deployments (September 2026).
  • PostgreSQL 14 EOL with 44 CVEs in 2026, Version 14 reaches end-of-life November 2026 after 44 CVEs this year; one patch left.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 4/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 15

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 4/5. Core is free; hosted costs vary widely.
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Hosting cost and setup confusion in community threads.
  • Feature depth: 5/5. 'World's most advanced' open-source database per official site.
  • Support quality: 4/5. Huge community; SLAs require paid hosting.
  • Security posture: 4/5. Actively patched; steady CVE stream needs prompt patching.
  • Yes Free tier Open-source core, $0 license fees
  • 1986 Project origin POSTGRES began at Berkeley
  • 44 CVEs in 2026 (v14) Before v14's Nov 2026 EOL
  • $500M Ecosystem funding Supabase raise at $10B valuation

Pricing

Self-hosted (open source)

$0

  • Full PostgreSQL database
  • Community support
  • You manage upgrades, backups, security

Managed hosting

Varies by provider

  • Supabase, Neon, PlanetScale, Heroku, Prisma price differently
  • Free tiers common on smaller plans

Security

Mature and actively patched, but CVEs flow steadily — self-managed deployments need hardening.

  • CVE-2026-2006 — PostgreSQL RCERemote code execution vulnerability in PostgreSQL disclosed February 2026.⁸
  • 12-year-old vulnerability enabled server takeoverA long-lived PostgreSQL flaw allowed database server takeover in affected deployments (September 2026).⁹
  • PostgreSQL 14 EOL with 44 CVEs in 2026Version 14 reaches end-of-life November 2026 after 44 CVEs this year; one patch left.10

What users say

Developers overwhelmingly treat Postgres as the reliable default; criticism centers on hosting costs and extreme-scale edge cases.

“It's 2026, Just Use Postgres”
Hacker News
“Postgres is the only piece of infrastructure that hasn't let me...”
Reddit, r/Backend
“Postgres will handle 99%...”
Reddit, r/Backend

Alternatives

Compare Postgres with each alternative.

  • Supabase

    Managed Postgres platform with auth, storage, free tier.

    Postgres vs Supabase

  • Neon

    Serverless Postgres that scales to zero for spiky workloads.

  • PlanetScale Postgres

    Usage-based managed Postgres with documented pricing.

Companies that use it

  • OpenAI⁵
  • GitLab
  • Microsoft
  • Veeam (bundles PostgreSQL in VBR)
Full analysis

Based on ~90 public sources; most cover Postgres broadly — very few cover postgres.ai's own paid tooling specifically.

Postgres the database is proven and free; postgres.ai's tooling only pays off when you run serious database scale.

Methodology

Based on ~90 public sources; most cover Postgres broadly — very few cover postgres.ai's own paid tooling specifically.

Sources

  1. It's 2026, Just Use Postgresnews.ycombinator.com
    review
  2. Postgres is the only piece of infrastructure that hasn't let me downreddit.com
    review
  3. Postgres for everything, how accurate is this picturereddit.com
    review
  4. PostgreSQL Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Featuresg2.com
    review
  5. Scaling PostgreSQL to power 800 million ChatGPT usersopenai.com
    official
  6. PostgreSQL: The world's most advanced open source databasepostgresql.org
    official
  7. What Is PostgreSQL? Databases Explainedcloud.google.com
    official
  8. CVE-2026-2006: PostgreSQL RCE Vulnerabilitysentinelone.com
    security
  9. 12-Year-Old PostgreSQL Vulnerability Enables Database Server Takeoversecurityweek.com
    security
  10. PostgreSQL 14 EOL Nov 2026: 44 CVEs This Yearherodevs.com
    security
  11. PostgreSQL Hosting Options in 2026: Pricing Comparisonbytebase.com
    news
  12. Product security pagepostgres.ai
    official
  13. Postgres AI - Crunchbase Company Profile & Fundingcrunchbase.com
    news
  14. Neon Postgres Review: Serverless PostgreSQLmedium.com
    review
  15. The limitations of PostgreSQL in financial servicescockroachlabs.com
    news

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