When an RDS cluster is not upgraded in time, it can fall out of standard support and incur Extended Support charges. This often happens when upgrade cycles are delayed, blocked by compatibility issues, or deprioritized due to competing initiatives. Over time, these fees can add up significantly. Staying on an outdated version also increases operational risk and reduces access to engine improvements, performance enhancements, and security patches.
RDS instances are billed per hour based on instance type, size, and region, with additional charges for storage, I/O, and backups. If a cluster is running a database engine version that has reached the end of standard support, AWS applies Extended Support charges, which are billed per vCPU-hour. This fee applies in addition to standard RDS charges until the cluster is upgraded to a supported version.
Plan and execute a controlled upgrade to a supported engine version. Use AWS recommendations or internal version policies to determine the target version. Conduct application testing in staging environments before applying changes in production. Integrate engine version reviews into your standard infrastructure lifecycle to avoid future Extended Support charges.
