I spent 3 weeks building managed database add-ons nobody asked for — here's why I don't regret it
I spent 3 weeks building managed database add-ons nobody asked for — here's why I don't regret it
Every container hosting platform I looked at had the same gap: you deploy your app, then you're on your own for the database.
Sign up for RDS. Configure VPC peering. Manage credentials in two different dashboards. Copy-paste connection strings. Deal with separate billing.
I kept watching users hit the same wall. They'd deploy a Flask app in 5 minutes, then spend 30 minutes trying to connect a Postgres instance from somewhere else.
So I built database add-ons directly into the platform.
What I shipped
Four managed databases — PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, and MongoDB — all running inside the same dashboard as the containers.
The setup flow is intentionally simple:
- Pick a database engine
- Pick a tier (Mini at $24/mo, Standard at $44/mo, Pro at $84/mo)
- Click "Create Database"
- Wait 30-60 seconds
After provisioning, the connection string is automatically injected into the container's environment variables. No manual configuration. No secrets in code.
The browser UI is the real differentiator
Every database gets a built-in web interface. pgAdmin-style for Postgres, phpMyAdmin-style for MySQL/MariaDB, Compass-style for MongoDB.
Here's why this matters more than I expected: it's 11 PM, a user reports a bug, and you need to check one database row. Without a web UI, you're installing pgAdmin locally, configuring the connection, finding the right table. With the web UI, you click one button and run a query in under a minute.
For solo developers and small teams, this removes an entire category of friction.
The hard part wasn't the databases
The databases themselves are managed services under the hood. The hard engineering was the integration layer:
- Auto-injecting connection strings as environment variables
- Making the web interface authenticate through the same dashboard SSO
- Keeping pricing simple — same tiers for all four engines
- Making provisioning feel instant (30-60 seconds, not 5 minutes)
Each of those sounds simple. Each took longer than I expected.
What I learned building this
- Users don't want database choices, they want database defaults. Most people just need Postgres. The decision guide I wrote ("which database should you pick?") gets read, but 70% of add-ons created so far are PostgreSQL.
- A web interface matters more than CLI access. I almost skipped the browser UI to ship faster. Glad I didn't — it's the feature people mention most.
- Integrated beats best-of-breed for small teams. AWS RDS is objectively more powerful. But "one dashboard for containers and data" wins for the indie developer audience.
- Pricing simplicity is a feature. Same price for all four engines. No per-query billing, no IOPS charges, no data transfer fees. Just a flat monthly rate. People appreciate knowing exactly what they'll pay.
The numbers
- 4 database engines supported
- 3 pricing tiers: $24, $44, $84/month
- Provisioning time: 30-60 seconds
- Connection string injection: automatic
- Time to build: ~3 weeks of focused work
Was it worth it?
Too early to tell from a revenue perspective. But from a product completeness standpoint, it fills the biggest gap. "Deploy your app AND your database in one place" is a much stronger pitch than "deploy your app, then figure out your database elsewhere."
If you're building a platform and wondering whether to add adjacent infrastructure features — the answer is yes, if your users keep hitting the same wall.
Happy to share more details on the architecture or pricing decisions.
