Daily full backup of the database (during the backup window)
Transaction logs are backed up every 5 minutes
This allows point-in-time restore — from the oldest backup up to 5 minutes ago
Retention: 1 to 35 days
Set retention to 0 to disable automated backups (RDS only — Aurora cannot be disabled)
Manual DB Snapshots
Manually triggered by you
Retained for as long as you want — no expiry
Important Tip
If you stop an RDS database, you still pay for storage. If you plan to stop it for a long time, take a snapshot and delete the instance instead. Restore from snapshot when needed — much cheaper.
Aurora Backups
Automated Backups
Retention: 1 to 35 days
Cannot be disabled — always on
Supports point-in-time recovery within that retention window
Backup happens continuously — Aurora logs every change in real-time (not just every 5 minutes like RDS)