Virtually every "new" database company is building on PostgreSQL. This deep dive explores what that means for your tech stack, why it matters and why the original may still be your best choice.

PostgreSQL Is Quietly Winning

Recent acquisition headlines make it clear:

• Databricks: $2.4B for Neon (serverless PostgreSQL)
• Snowflake: Acquired Crunchy Data (enterprise PostgreSQL)

These moves signal PostgreSQL's growing dominance in the database landscape.

Everyone’s Building on the Same Foundation

From cloud providers to startups, PostgreSQL is everywhere.

Cloud Providers

• Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL – Better clustering built on PostgreSQL
• Google AlloyDB – Machine learning–enhanced PostgreSQL
• Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Managed PostgreSQL with enterprise integrations

Startups and Acquisitions

• Neon – Serverless architecture with database branching
• Crunchy Data – Enterprise features and security
• Citus Data – Distributed scaling
• Timescale – Time-series optimizations
• Supabase – Firebase alternative built on PostgreSQL

The pattern is consistent: take PostgreSQL, add a niche feature and build a business on top of it.

Why PostgreSQL Won: It’s Often More Than Enough

PostgreSQL solves a broad set of real-world problems, often without the need for a specialized database.

Built-in Capabilities:

• Document storage via JSONB
• Time-series support through partitioning
• Full-text search with native indexing
• Geospatial support via PostGIS
• Analytical workloads with window functions and columnar extensions

Operational Benefits:

• Reduced complexity, fewer technologies and systems to manage
• One well-understood system where teams can go deep

Technical Strength:

• More than 25 years of development
• Standards-compliant and vendor-neutral
• Extensible without forking
• Proven reliability across critical industries

The Hiring Disconnect

Despite PostgreSQL’s ubiquity, hiring practices often miss the mark.

Common Misconceptions:

• Asking for AlloyDB experience months after it launches
• Insisting on Aurora expertise when it’s simply PostgreSQL with clustering

What These Requests Often Mean:

• Cloud deployment knowledge
• Familiarity with monitoring or operational tooling
• Platform-specific skills that can be learned quickly

The core database skills: query writing, schema design, performance tuning are the same because it’s all PostgreSQL.

Why These Acquisitions Matter

Companies like Databricks and Snowflake didn’t just buy features, they bought PostgreSQL expertise. Rather than build deep PostgreSQL competency from scratch, they chose to acquire it. This underscores how mature and valuable the PostgreSQL talent pool has become.

The market recognizes that PostgreSQL is more than a tool; it's the foundation of modern data infrastructure.

Strategic Implications

For Developers:

PostgreSQL skills are broadly applicable and enduring. Learning PostgreSQL is learning the backbone of modern data systems.

For Companies:

Be cautious about vendor-specific PostgreSQL variants.

• Startups may not weather market downturns
• Acquisitions often lead to significant roadmap shifts
• Cloud variants can introduce lock-in via proprietary enhancements

Sticking with standard PostgreSQL ensures portability and long-term flexibility.

For Investors:

PostgreSQL represents a stable, foundational asset in enterprise software. Its growing ecosystem continues to command strong valuations.

The Fundamental Truth

"There are no copies without PostgreSQL, but there is PostgreSQL without the copies."

Every company building on PostgreSQL depends on it, but PostgreSQL remains independent of any one vendor.

Where the Real Innovation Happens:

Tooling, deployment strategies and integrations: not the core engine.

Community Benefit:

Optimizations from proprietary variants often feed back into the open-source core, strengthening the ecosystem for all.

The Bottom Line

The industry has chosen its foundation. PostgreSQL has transcended being just a database; it is now core infrastructure, as fundamental as Linux.

While many of its commercial variants will pivot, merge, or fade away core Postgres will remain: reliable, extensible, and free. Your skills in it will never become obsolete and your choice to build on it will grant you the ultimate strategic advantage: freedom.

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