PostgreSQL Limits

PostgreSQL is an open source, object-relational database built for extensibility, data integrity, and speed. Its concurrency support makes it fully ACID-compliant, and it supports dynamic loading and catalog-driven operations to let users customize its data types, functions, and more.


Managed Database Cluster Limits

  • By default, you are limited to 10 clusters per account or team. If you reach this limit but need to create more database clusters, you can submit a request for a higher limit by clicking “Request Increase” on the window that shows when you attempt to create another cluster.

  • You cannot resize cluster nodes to smaller sizes. To move from a bigger node to a smaller node, create a new cluster with the desired node size and import your data.

  • You cannot delete the default database and user.

  • Point-in-time-recovery (PITR) is limited to the last 7 days.

  • VPC networks are only available to resources, accounts, and teams in the same region as the VPC network.

  • You cannot currently add DigitalOcean Cloud Firewalls to a database cluster’s trusted sources.

  • By default, database clusters only support up to 100 IP addresses as trusted sources. Different types of resources add varying numbers of IP addresses to your cluster. For example, Droplets typically have two IP addresses, one public and one private, both of which count towards the 100-address maximum. To add more than 100 IP addresses, contact support.

  • You cannot migrate databases from clusters inside of DigitalOcean to other clusters inside of DigitalOcean using the online migration feature.

  • You currently cannot add IPv6 rules to a database cluster’s trusted sources.

  • When you restore from a backup, you must restore to a new node and re-add any read-only or standby nodes. See How to Restore from Backups for details.

PostgreSQL Limits

  • Each cluster is limited to 3 nodes.

  • We only support PostgreSQL v12, v13, v14, v15, and v16. See the following table for EOL (End of Life) dates:

    PostgreSQL Version EOL Date
    12 2024-11-14
    13 2025-11-13
    14 2026-11-12
    15 2027-11-12
    16 2028-11-09
  • We only support selected PostgreSQL extensions. See Supported PostgreSQL Extensions for a comprehensive list.

  • The number of available backend connections varies by plan size:

    Plan Size Available Backend Connections
    1 GiB RAM 22
    2 GiB RAM 47
    4 GiB RAM 97
    8 GiB RAM 197
    16 GiB RAM 397
    32 GiB RAM 797
    64 GiB RAM 997
    128 GiB RAM 997
    160 GiB RAM 997
    192 GiB RAM 997
    256 GiB RAM 997

    For databases with high connection requirements, we recommend using connection pooling, backed by PgBouncer. However, each database cluster only supports 21 PgBouncer pools and 100 connections. If you require more pools or connections than this, contact support.

  • To maintain cluster stability, users cannot access the superuser role.

  • We do not currently support migrating managed database clusters on DigitalOcean to other managed database clusters on DigitalOcean. For example, you cannot migrate a managed database cluster from one DigitalOcean account to another.

Known Issues

Managed Database Cluster Known Issues

  • You must use a third-party client to manage access control lists (ACLs). You can add users and databases from the DigitalOcean Control Panel.

  • You can’t use DigitalOcean’s Cloud Firewalls with managed databases. Until support is available, you can restrict access to nodes by their incoming IPv4 addresses.

  • Point-in-time-recovery (PITR) operations are limited to the last 7 days. The date picker doesn’t restrict you from choosing an earlier date; you will receive an error if you try to recover from a date outside of the 7-day window.

PostgreSQL Known Issues

  • Alerting on PostgreSQL metrics is not yet available.

  • Additional storage can cause slight performance degradation in database clusters.