Database backup service: six options compared on price, limits and fit

What a database backup service does, and the six options checked

A database backup service connects to your MySQL or PostgreSQL server on a schedule, takes the backup, sends the file to storage and tells you when a run fails. The hosted services checked here are SimpleBackups, SnapShooter and Ottomatik. SQLBackupAndFTP and Databasus are software you run yourself, and AWS Backup covers databases that already live in AWS.

All prices below were read on each vendor's own pricing page on 3 October 2026 and can change. They are monthly-billing figures unless stated. SnapShooter is the exception: its figure is the price its page displays with yearly billing selected, because the monthly-billing figure was unclear on the vendor's page when read.

What each service is best at, and one limitation

• SimpleBackups. Best for teams with mixed stacks: its database page lists MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB and Redis, and one-click connections to providers such as Amazon RDS, Supabase and Neon. Limitation: the Lite plan caps a database at 5 GB, so a larger database needs Plus at $99 per month (250 GB cap) or a $25 per month size add-on.
• SnapShooter. Best for DigitalOcean users, since daily DigitalOcean snapshots are part of the paid plans. Limitation: Lite and Startup run backups daily or twice a day; five-minute frequency starts on Business, displayed at $66 per month on yearly billing.
• Ottomatik. Best low-cost entry for a few MySQL or PostgreSQL databases, and its site lists MySQL binlog backups. Limitation: Lite is daily only, and it installs Python packages on your server to run jobs over SSH.
• SQLBackupAndFTP. Best if you prefer a per-computer license to a hosted monthly plan. Limitation: it is installed software, so the machine it runs on is yours to maintain.
• Databasus. Best for PostgreSQL teams that want point-in-time recovery from a free tool. Limitation: its site describes it as a PostgreSQL tool, and you host it.
• AWS Backup. Best when the database is Amazon RDS or Aurora and policy must live inside AWS. Limitation: it does not protect a database hosted elsewhere.

Where SimpleBackups fits and where it does not

SimpleBackups fits a team that runs several databases across more than one host or provider and wants one place for schedules, retention, alerts and backup files to download for manual restore. Every plan, including the free Basic plan, allows unlimited use of your own storage, and yearly or monthly subscriptions can be refunded in full within 30 days according to its pricing page. The SimpleBackups pricing breakdown covers the add-ons.

It does not fit two cases. If you run a single small PostgreSQL database and are comfortable with cron, a native dump is enough and costs nothing; see how to back up Postgres with pg_dump. And if you need to recover to an exact minute, check first whether your provider already does that. Amazon RDS, for example, documents automated backups with recovery to any point inside the retention period. SimpleBackups' documentation describes its PostgreSQL backups as scheduled pg_dump files and does not describe WAL archiving, so treat it as a scheduled-backup service.

Which database backup service to choose by buyer type

• One side project, one database under 1 GB: the SimpleBackups Basic plan or the SnapShooter Free plan, both $0.
• Two or three production databases, daily backups are enough: SnapShooter Lite ($13 per month on yearly billing) or Ottomatik Lite ($14 per month).
• Five to twenty jobs, hourly backups, team access: SimpleBackups Plus at $99 per month, which adds unlimited team members and one-hour intervals.
• PostgreSQL only, needs point-in-time recovery, has ops time: a self-hosted tool. Compare them in Postgres backup tools.
• Everything in AWS: RDS automated backups first, AWS Backup for central policy.

What to check before you pay for any of them

Three limits decide the real cost: the number of backup jobs, the included storage, and the largest database the plan accepts. On SimpleBackups, count one job per database: a schedule is a setting on a job, and Lite and higher plans allow several schedules on one job. Check how any other vendor counts before comparing. Then confirm the restore path, because a backup you have never restored is unproven. A short restore runbook run against a scratch server will tell you more than any feature list.