Announcing Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL serverless database creation in seconds

Announcing Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL serverless database creation in seconds

At re:Invent 2025, Colin Lazier, vice president of databases at AWS, emphasized the importance of building at the speed of an idea—enabling rapid progress from concept to running application. Customers can already create production-ready Amazon DynamoDB tables and Amazon Aurora DSQL databases in seconds. He previewed creating an Amazon Aurora serverless database with the same speed, and customers have since requested quick access and speed to this capability.

Today, we’re announcing the general availability of a new express configuration for Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL, a streamlined database creation experience with preconfigured defaults designed to help you get started in seconds.

With only two clicks, you can have an Aurora PostgreSQL serverless database ready to use in seconds. You have the flexibility to modify certain settings during and after database creation in the new configuration. For example, you can change the capacity range for the serverless instance at the time of create or add read replicas, modify parameter groups after the database is created. Aurora clusters with express configuration are created without an Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) network and include an internet access gateway for secure connections from your favorite development tools – no VPN, or AWS Direct Connect required. Express configuration also sets up AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) authentication for your administrator user by default, enabling passwordless database authentication from the beginning without additional configuration.

After it’s created, you have access to features available for Aurora PostgreSQL serverless, such as deploying additional read replicas for high availability and automated failover capabilities. This launch also introduces a new internet access gateway routing layer for Aurora. Your new serverless instance comes enabled by default with this feature, which allows your applications to connect securely from anywhere in the world through the internet using the PostgreSQL wire protocol from a wide range of developer tools. This gateway is distributed across multiple Availability Zones, offering the same level of high availability as your Aurora cluster.

Creating and connecting to Aurora in seconds means fundamentally rethinking how you get started. We launched multiple capabilities that work together to help you onboard and run your application with Aurora. Aurora is now available on AWS Free Tier, which you gain hands-on experience with Aurora at no upfront cost. After it’s created, you can directly query an Aurora database in AWS CloudShell or using programming languages and developer tools through a new internet accessible routing component for Aurora. With integrations such as v0 by Vercel, you can use natural language to start building your application with the features and benefits of Aurora.

Create an Aurora PostgreSQL serverless database in seconds

To get started, go to the Aurora and RDS console and in the navigation pane, choose Dashboard. Then, choose Create with a rocket icon.

Review pre-configured settings in the Create with express configuration dialog box. You can modify the DB cluster identifier or the capacity range as needed. Choose Create database.

You can also use the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) or AWS SDKs with the parameter --express-configuration to create both a cluster and an instance within the cluster with a single API call which makes it ready for running queries in seconds.

$ aws rds create-db-cluster --db-cluster-identifier channy-express-db \
--engine aurora-postgresql \
--with-express-configuration

Your Aurora PostgreSQL serverless database should be ready in seconds. A success banner confirms the creation, and the database status changes to Available.