Simple but powerful and hands-off
August 04, 2025

Simple but powerful and hands-off

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Google Cloud SQL

We use Google Cloud SQL to run 2 postgresql databases that store all our user data as well as core business data. Using Google Cloud SQL allows us to easily run postgres instances without having to worry about managing the underlying infrastructure much. We are a small team and cant afford to waste time managing our db infra.

Pros

  • Enables easy scaling of instances
  • Clear insight into vital metrics showing database health
  • Super easy backups and restore

Cons

  • Limited horizontal scaling
  • Some UI annoyances with the query insights feature
  • Installing custom extensions isn't supported
  • Reduced time engineers spent worrying about managing the db
  • Increased throughput via 1-click pg-bouncer setup
  • Time savings from being able to quickly scale our dbs by just adjusting a few settings (huge for us!)
Generally Google Cloud SQL is one of Google Clouds better products that is well documented and has a simple, intuitive UI. The lack of 10 is due to Google Cloud itself sometimes being a little complicated to use or the UI having a few very minor annoyances (such as you click something from a search result and then when you click back suddenly it clears the search)
If you are using other Google cloud products like cloud run or VMs then it integrates really well as you can use the Google Cloud SQL proxy and stuff 'just works'. I haven't integrated it with other non-google stuff so cant speak to that. however, the setup in our codebase to communicate with Google Cloud SQL is very simple and works well
I've used Supabase and can say that Google Cloud SQL is a lot more hands off. They just run an instance for you and don't do much more than that. Which is exactly what we wanted. If you want something that is truly fully managed and abstracted then I guess that would be a better option. I would advise Google Cloud SQL if you want more control though.

Do you think Google Cloud SQL delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Google Cloud SQL's feature set?

Yes

Did Google Cloud SQL live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Google Cloud SQL go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Google Cloud SQL again?

Yes

I would say its very well suited for when you need to run anything from a small to large single instance postgres database and don't want to have to worry about the underlying infrastructure or you don't need any very specific needs (such as needing a custom extension - as that isn't supported). I think most use cases would be well served unless you were a massive company needing something really fancy.

Google Cloud SQL Feature Ratings

Database-as-a-Service
8.8
Database scalability
7
Automated backups
10
Database security provisions
8
Monitoring and metrics
10

Comments

More Reviews of Google Cloud SQL

  1. Home
  2. Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS)
  3. Google Cloud SQL Reviews
  4. User Review of Google Cloud SQL