Updated October 25, 2026
· ~2 min read
SQL Server licences are often the largest software line in a Windows estate, and end of support for 2016 (July 14, 2026) and 2017 (October 12, 2027) forces a decision anyway. On AWS there are four realistic destinations, and the licence question shapes the choice as much as the technology.
License Included is the simplest and, for Standard Edition, often competitive. Enterprise Edition is where the cost is, and many databases on Enterprise use no Enterprise-only features. Check before you migrate; moving to Standard can save more than any infrastructure change. Bringing your own licences depends on Software Assurance. With active SA, SQL Server licences have License Mobility and can run on shared EC2 tenancy. Without it, Microsoft's October 2019 rules limit BYOL to dedicated hosts and to licences bought, and versions released, before that date. Windows and SQL Server licence charges are not discounted by Database Savings Plans; only the instance price is.
Question 1 of 2
Does a vendor require SQL Server for support?
**RDS for SQL Server:** the default when the database must stay SQL Server. AWS handles patching, backups and Multi-AZ failover; License Included puts the licence in the hourly price. **SQL Server on EC2:** when you need features, versions or configurations RDS does not support, or BYOL with License Mobility. **Aurora PostgreSQL with Babelfish:** in-house applications that want to drop SQL Server licences with minimal code change, where the T-SQL in use is supported. **Aurora PostgreSQL, fully converted:** applications being modernized anyway, where you want native PostgreSQL long-term. AWS Transform reduces the conversion work considerably.
Windows Server, SQL Server and .NET End-of-Support Migration
Get every Windows Server 2012/2016, SQL Server 2016/2017 and .NET Framework or .NET 8 workload onto a supported version before the deadlines, with the licence savings found along the way. Inventory, retire, upgrade or modernize, decided application by application.
AWS Cost Optimization & FinOps Sprint
Reduce your AWS bill by 20–60% while improving performance and reliability.
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As of October 25, 2026. Provided as is, for general information, and accurate to the best of our knowledge on the date shown. Not legal, compliance, tax, financial or other professional advice. Prices, limits and vendor services change; check current vendor documentation before relying on anything here. Terms of use.