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Upstash VS DynamoDB

Compare Upstash VS DynamoDB and see what are their differences

Upstash logo Upstash

Upstash provides Serverless Redis and Kafka as a service.

DynamoDB logo DynamoDB

Amazon DynamoDB is a fast and flexible NoSQL database service for all applications that need consistent, single-digit millisecond latency at any scale. It is a fully managed cloud database and supports both document and key-value store models.
  • Upstash Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-16
  • DynamoDB Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-18

Upstash features and specs

  • Scalability
    Upstash is a serverless database service that can automatically scale with your application's needs, ensuring high availability and performance without manual intervention.
  • Cost Efficiency
    With a pay-per-request pricing model, Upstash can be cost-effective, especially for applications with variable workloads, since you only pay for what you use.
  • Ease of Use
    Upstash simplifies database management with straightforward APIs and integration with popular platforms like AWS Lambda, making it easy to set up and use.
  • Low Latency
    Being geographically distributed, Upstash offers low-latency access, which can improve the speed of data retrieval for end-users around the world.

Possible disadvantages of Upstash

  • Limited Database Options
    Upstash currently focuses on a limited range of databases like Redis, which may not meet the needs of all projects requiring different types of databases.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Using a specialized platform like Upstash could lead to vendor lock-in, making it more challenging to migrate to other database providers or solutions in the future.
  • Feature Parity
    Some advanced features found in fully-fledged, self-managed databases may not be supported by Upstash, potentially limiting functionality for complex applications.
  • Dependency on External Service
    Reliance on an external service means that any downtime or service disruption on Upstash's part could directly impact your applications.

DynamoDB features and specs

  • Scalability
    DynamoDB automatically scales up and down to handle your application's needs, with no intervention required. This allows for easy handling of traffic spikes and growth over time.
  • Performance
    With its fast, predictable performance at any scale, DynamoDB ensures low-latency responses, even with large volumes of data.
  • Fully Managed
    As a fully managed service, DynamoDB handles hardware provisioning, setup, configuration, replication, software patching, and backups, letting you focus on your application.
  • Flexible Data Model
    DynamoDB supports both document and key-value store models, providing flexibility in how you structure your data.
  • Security
    DynamoDB integrates with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) to provide fine-grained access control and encrypts data at rest and in transit.
  • Global Tables
    You can create multi-region, fully replicated tables for high availability and globally distributed apps with low latency reads and writes.
  • Event-Driven Architecture
    DynamoDB integrates with AWS Lambda for automatic triggering and the creation of event-driven architectures.

Possible disadvantages of DynamoDB

  • Pricing Complexity
    DynamoDB's pricing model, which charges based on read and write capacity units, storage, and data transfer, can be complex and difficult to predict.
  • Limited Query Capabilities
    DynamoDB does not support complex queries as well as traditional SQL databases. Querying capabilities are limited primarily to primary key attributes.
  • Secondary Indexes
    While DynamoDB supports secondary indexes, their use can be limited and complex to manage effectively compared to relational databases.
  • Consistency
    DynamoDB offers eventual consistency by default. While strongly consistent reads are available, they can be more expensive and slower.
  • Data Size Limitations
    Each item in a DynamoDB table must be 400KB or less, limiting the amount of data you can store in a single item.
  • Vendor Lock-In
    Using DynamoDB heavily ties your application to AWS, which can be a downside if you want to maintain flexibility in your cloud infrastructure choices.

Analysis of DynamoDB

Overall verdict

  • DynamoDB is a highly recommended NoSQL database option, especially for applications and services built on the AWS ecosystem. Its ability to handle large-scale applications with minimal manual configuration and strong performance metrics makes it an excellent choice for developers seeking a reliable and efficient database solution.

Why this product is good

  • DynamoDB is praised for its fully managed nature, allowing developers to focus on application development rather than complex infrastructure management. It offers high scalability with seamless data partitioning, replicates data across multiple availability zones, and provides built-in security features. DynamoDB is particularly effective for applications requiring rapid background processing of large data sets, with quick read and write performance due to its low-latency nature. Its serverless architecture ensures automatic scaling, so it adjusts easily to accommodate changing workloads without any manual intervention.

Recommended for

  • Applications requiring high availability and scalability
  • Real-time analytics and caching
  • Web applications with unpredictable workload patterns
  • Mobile backends and serverless applications
  • IoT applications needing fast and frequent data access

Upstash videos

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DynamoDB videos

#13 - Amazon DynamoDB Basics In Under 5 Minutes [Tutorial For Beginners]

More videos:

  • Review - AWS re:Invent 2018: Amazon DynamoDB Deep Dive: Advanced Design Patterns for DynamoDB (DAT401)
  • Review - What is Amazon DynamoDB?

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Upstash and DynamoDB)
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Databases
19 19%
81% 81
NoSQL Databases
0 0%
100% 100
Data
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Upstash and DynamoDB

Upstash Reviews

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DynamoDB Reviews

Top 5 Dynobase alternatives you should know about - March 2025 Review
Dynomate offers a comprehensive solution with native AWS SSO support, advanced multi-tab functionality, and Git-based collaboration features. NoSQL Workbench is a valuable free tool from AWS, excellent for designing and visualizing data models. The JetBrains DynamoDB Plugin brings DynamoDB into your IDE with helpful autocomplete and query-saving features.
Source: www.dynomate.io
9 Best MongoDB alternatives in 2019
Amazon DynamoDB is a nonrelational database. This database system provides consistent latency and offers built-in security, and in-memory caching. DynamoDB is a serverless database which scales automatically and backs up your data for protection
Source: www.guru99.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, DynamoDB should be more popular than Upstash. It has been mentiond 122 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Upstash mentions (26)

  • Build a Collaborative App with Real-Time Comments & @Mentions Using Velt, Clerk Auth, Prisma & Radix UI⛵
    You can also use Upstash Redis for caching, but that’s optional. - Source: dev.to / 2 days ago
  • 🧠🥷How to make Remote MCP 2 (AWS Lambda + Next.js + Cline and Cursor)
    To keep the data, I used Upstash Redis. ↓ Https://upstash.com/ This time, I just wanted to keep a short text data for Meme, so Upstash Redis was enough. If you need to keep complicated and large things, DynamoDB or S3 would also be a good choice. - Source: dev.to / 3 days ago
  • Suna AI: Open-Source General Software: Cost and Deployment Tutorial🔥
    - [Upstash Redis](https://upstash.com/) (recommended for cloud deployment) Local installation: - [Mac](https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/redis): `brew install redis` - [Linux](https://redis.io/docs/getting-started/installation/install-redis-on-linux/): Follow distribution-specific instructions - [Windows](https://redis.io/docs/getting-started/installation/install-redis-on-windows/): Use WSL2 or Docker. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Managed Redis Services: 22 Service Compared
    Create an account at Upstash Redis and deploy a Redis instance via the web interface or API. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Introducing keyv-upstash: Seamless Key-Value Storage for Serverless Redis
    Keyv-upstash is a storage adapter for Keyv that connects it to Upstash Redis, a serverless Redis platform. With this adapter, you get a simple, efficient, and flexible solution for key-value storage in serverless applications. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
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DynamoDB mentions (122)

  • MCP Client: Building a Smart and Robust Integration to DynamoDB with DynamoDB-Toolbox
    However, integrating them with a database like DynamoDB can be challenging. DynamoDB’s schema-less design makes schema discovery and querying difficult, and its strict reliance on well-defined access patterns means that even a small misstep can break your application. - Source: dev.to / 9 days ago
  • Serverless Backend: A New Era for Developers
    Database: It helps storing, managing and retriving data in a structured manner (e.g. NeonDB, PlanetScale, DynamoDB). - Source: dev.to / 15 days ago
  • Quarkus 3 application on AWS Lambda- Part 1 Introduction to the sample application and first Lambda performance measurements
    In this application, we will create products and retrieve them by their ID and use Amazon DynamoDB as a NoSQL database for the persistence layer. We use Amazon API Gateway which makes it easy for developers to create, publish, maintain, monitor and secure APIs and AWS Lambda to execute code without the need to provision or manage servers. We also use AWS SAM, which provides a short syntax optimised for defining... - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Deploy AWS Lambda Functions and Amazon DynamoDB with AWS CDK on LocalStack
    In this example, we need to set up two AWS Lambda, AWS Secrets Manager and Amazon DynamoDB resources. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Query Optimization and Performance in DynamoDB: Partition Key and Sort Key
    Amazon DynamoDB revolutionized the NoSQL database world with its flexible data model and high performance. At the core of its architecture, we find two fundamental concepts: Partition Key (PK) and Sort Key (SK). This article explores how these elements not only structure data but also significantly impact application performance and scalability. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Upstash and DynamoDB, you can also consider the following products

PlanetScale - The last database you'll ever need. Go from idea to IPO.

AWS Lambda - Automatic, event-driven compute service

Unbounded - Serverless NoSQL database you query with JavaScript

MongoDB - MongoDB (from "humongous") is a scalable, high-performance NoSQL database.

Vercel - Vercel is the platform for frontend developers, providing the speed and reliability innovators need to create at the moment of inspiration.

Amazon S3 - Amazon S3 is an object storage where users can store data from their business on a safe, cloud-based platform. Amazon S3 operates in 54 availability zones within 18 graphic regions and 1 local region.