Overview

Amazon DynamoDB is a cloud-based NoSQL database from Amazon Web Services, part of Amazon. AWS launched in 2006. It is fully managed and distributed, with single-digit millisecond performance at any scale. Because AWS manages the database servers, customers do not need to provision or patch them.

DynamoDB stores data on disk and supports values up to 0.4 MB. Its interfaces include HTTP(S), JSON, and PartiQL, and it supports time-to-live (TTL) and multi-Region operation. The service is aimed at workloads including mission-critical and internet-scale applications, agentic systems, modernization projects, and Internet of Things applications.

It is available through a free tier and capacity-based options. The main billing distinction is that on-demand capacity is charged by requests consumed, while provisioned capacity is charged on the capacity specified even when the application uses less.

Key features

Managed scaling and data access

DynamoDB can scale tables automatically, including scaling to zero in on-demand mode. That mode avoids capacity planning and charges for consumed requests. With provisioned capacity, customers specify read and write capacity and can opt into auto scaling, but pay for the provisioned amount.

Primary keys provide the main access path, while global and local secondary indexes allow queries using alternate keys. DynamoDB also offers native vector search for similarity search and agent memory use cases.

Multi-Region operation and recovery

Global tables support multi-Region, multi-active operation. AWS says they are designed for up to 99.999% availability. Point-in-time recovery makes continuous backups at per-second granularity and supports restoration within a configured window of 1 to 35 days.

Security and integrations

Customer data is encrypted in transit and at rest by default. IAM policies can control access down to specific items and attributes. Listed AWS integrations include KMS encryption, IAM access control, and VPC endpoints through AWS PrivateLink. AWS says its security controls and compliance standards address requirements for governments, global banks, and other organizations handling highly sensitive information.

Pricing

DynamoDB uses a freemium model, with a free plan and free trial. The listed free options are:

Free tier: 0.00 USD per free, billed Per Region, per-payer account basis; includes 25 WCUs, 25 RCUs, 25 GB storage, and 25 replicated WCUs.
DynamoDB Free Tier: 0.00 USD per free, billed Each month, per Region, per payer account; includes 25 WCUs, 25 RCUs, 25 rWCUs for global tables across two AWS Regions, 25 GB storage, 2.5 million stream read requests, and 1 GB data transfer out.

The free tier uses provisioned capacity and the Standard table class. Its request volume is described as about 200 million requests per month, depending on item size.

On-demand capacity: price not listed. Pay per read and write request, with automatic scaling and no capacity planning.
Provisioned capacity: price not listed. Specify read and write capacity; charged for provisioned capacity, with optional auto scaling.

Platforms

DynamoDB is a cloud-deployed service. Listed platforms are Android, API, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows.

Who it's for

DynamoDB is suited to teams building distributed applications that need managed database infrastructure, automatic scaling, and multi-Region operation. Its documented workload areas include mission-critical and internet-scale services, agentic applications, modernization, and IoT. Vector search and agent memory support may also be relevant to developers building similarity-search use cases.

Pros and cons

Pros

Server provisioning and patching are handled as part of the managed service.
On-demand mode scales automatically, can scale to zero, and bills by consumed requests.
Primary keys and secondary indexes provide multiple ways to query data.
Multi-Region, multi-active tables, point-in-time recovery, and default encryption are documented capabilities.

Cons

Provisioned capacity is billed as specified even when usage is lower.
Prices for the listed on-demand and provisioned plans are not provided here.
The free tier uses provisioned capacity and the Standard table class, so its limits should be considered when estimating fit.
Values are limited to 0.4 MB each.

Alternatives

For other database options, compare DynamoDB with Riak KV, Aerospike Database, Upstash Redis, RocksDB, Oracle Database, and Cloudflare Workers KV. Readers can also browse Key-Value Databases, Multimodel Databases, and Database Software.

Verdict

DynamoDB combines managed NoSQL infrastructure with automatic scaling, alternate-key indexes, multi-Region tables, vector search, and continuous point-in-time recovery. Its capacity model deserves close attention: on-demand billing follows consumed requests, while provisioned billing follows allocated capacity even when not fully used. The free tier gives a concrete starting allowance, but the listed plan prices for paid capacity options are not specified here.

	Amazon DynamoDB	CrateDB
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Free trial	Yes	No
Paid from	Free	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Android, api, iOS, Linux, macOS, Web, Windows	api, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, Web, Windows
Free plan	Yes	Yes

Amazon DynamoDB vs CrateDB

Amazon DynamoDB

CrateDB