Databricks: Always-On Pricing

Databricks introduces Always-On pricing for Lakehouse Postgres, offering a 25% discount on baseline capacity without long-term commitments.

May 28 at 1:32 AM7 min read

Databricks introduces Always-On pricing for automatic savings on its Lakehouse platform.

Visual TL;DR. Cloud DB Cost Dilemma leads to Databricks Lakehouse Postgres. Databricks Lakehouse Postgres introduces Always-On Pricing. Always-On Pricing provides 25% Baseline Discount. Disable Scale-to-Zero leads to Always-On Pricing. Define Autoscaling Range leads to Always-On Pricing. 24hr Continuous Use leads to 25% Baseline Discount. Always-On Pricing enables Eliminate Manual Optimization. Always-On Pricing allows No Long-Term Commitments.

Cloud DB Cost Dilemma: serverless flexibility vs. provisioned cost predictability tradeoff
Databricks Lakehouse Postgres: managed Postgres database for Databricks Lakehouse
Always-On Pricing: new pricing model for Databricks Lakehouse Postgres
25% Baseline Discount: offers a 25% reduction on baseline compute capacity
Disable Scale-to-Zero: activate by disabling the scale-to-zero feature
Define Autoscaling Range: define an autoscaling range for your Lakebase Postgres instance
24hr Continuous Use: qualifies for lower rate after 24 hours of continuous use
Eliminate Manual Optimization: aims to eliminate the need for manual optimization
No Long-Term Commitments: without long-term commitments for cost savings

Visual TL;DRQuickExplainDeeper

Databricks is aiming to simplify cloud database costs with its new Always-On pricing for Databricks Lakebase. The company is removing the traditional tradeoff between serverless flexibility and provisioned cost predictability.

The new Always-On pricing offers a 25% reduction on baseline compute capacity for its managed Postgres database. This aims to eliminate the need for manual optimization or lengthy commitments to achieve cost savings.

How Always-On Pricing Works

Users can activate Always-On pricing by disabling the scale-to-zero feature and defining an autoscaling range for their Lakebase Postgres instance. Once the minimum capacity is established as the baseline, it automatically qualifies for the lower Always-On rate after 24 hours of continuous use.

Any usage spikes above this baseline will continue to be billed at standard autoscaling rates, ensuring elasticity is maintained. This approach is designed for established production workloads with a consistent baseline activity.

For new or intermittent workloads, scale-to-zero remains the default to avoid overpaying for unused capacity. This feature is particularly beneficial for cloud database cost optimization.

Eliminating the Serverless vs. Provisioned Dilemma

Historically, managed PostgreSQL services have forced users into a difficult choice: pay a premium for serverless elasticity or commit to provisioned instances for a lower unit price, often leading to over-provisioning. Databricks claims its approach bridges this gap.

This move follows other enhancements to Databricks Lakehouse, such as native Postgres synchronization, as detailed in Databricks Lakehouse Gets Postgres Boost on Azure. The company emphasizes commitment-free pricing and a unified product experience.

High Availability replicas and larger instances, which do not scale to zero by design, automatically benefit from the lower Always-On rate without any configuration changes.

Databricks is also offering an additional 50% promotional discount on top of Always-On pricing until January 31, 2027.

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