# Outdated Cloud SQL Versions Triggering Extended Support Charges Canonical: https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/outdated-cloud-sql-versions-triggering-extended-support-charges Cloud SQL automatically enrolls every instance running a community end-of-life major version of MySQL or PostgreSQL in extended support, and has... By: PointFive Updated: 2026-09-28 [Cloud Efficiency Hub](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub) The short version Cloud SQL automatically enrolls every instance running a community end-of-life major version of MySQL or PostgreSQL in extended support, and has charged for it since May 1, 2025. PointFive Research Cloud cost research at PointFive GCP service [GCP Cloud SQL](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/cloud-services/gcp-cloud-sql) Category [Databases](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/service-category/databases) Reference CER-0476 Type Outdated Version ## Explanation Why the waste happens and who it affects. The surcharge is added on top of normal instance pricing for every second the instance runs. Instances on MySQL 5.6 and 5.7 and PostgreSQL 9.6 through 12 have been in extended support since February 1, 2025, and PostgreSQL 13 since February 1, 2026. MySQL 8.0 enters extended support on January 1, 2027 and PostgreSQL 14 on February 1, 2027. Because enrollment needs no action, the charge often goes unnoticed until it shows up on the bill, and it applies equally to production, replicas, dev and test instances that nobody plans to upgrade. The surcharge also rises over time: the published extended support rate for year 3 is double the rate for years 1 and 2. When extended support ends (February 1, 2028 for MySQL 5.6 and 5.7 and PostgreSQL 9.6 to 12), Cloud SQL deprecates the version and upgrades remaining instances to the default major version automatically, so delaying the upgrade only means paying more before an unplanned upgrade. ## Billing model The pricing dimensions that drive this cost. Extended support is charged in addition to regular instance pricing and varies by region. Dedicated-core extended support Priced per vCPU per hour and charged for every second the instance runs Shared-core extended support Priced per instance per hour for db-f1-micro and db-g1-small HA and read replicas HA instances pay the HA extended support rate, and read replicas are charged at the same rate as stand-alone instances Year 3 rate The published year 3 extended support price is twice the year 1 and year 2 price No CUD coverage Committed use discounts do not apply to extended support prices ## How to detect 4 checks to find it in your estate. - Use the Type filter on the Cloud SQL Instances page to select EOL versions, or Database Center with EOL versions selected under Products and versions for an organization-wide view - List databaseVersion for all instances (gcloud sql instances list) and compare against the Cloud SQL database version policies, including upcoming dates for MySQL 8.0 (January 1, 2027) and PostgreSQL 14 (February 1, 2027) - Look for extended support SKUs in the Cloud Billing export to BigQuery and attribute them to instances and projects - Prioritize by vCPU count and HA configuration, since the surcharge scales with vCPUs and HA doubles it ## How to fix 5 ways to remove the waste. - Upgrade in place with gcloud sql instances patch INSTANCE --database-version=VERSION; Cloud SQL takes pre-upgrade and post-upgrade backups automatically, and the instance is unavailable during the upgrade (typically under 10 minutes, longer for large instances) - Upgrade read replicas before the primary, or include them with --include-replicas-for-major-version-upgrade - Test the upgrade on a clone or in non-production first to catch incompatible SQL, extensions or client drivers - Delete or consolidate idle and non-production instances on EOL versions instead of upgrading them - Plan MySQL 8.0 and PostgreSQL 14 upgrades now so they finish before their extended support start dates ## Documentation Vendor references for pricing and configuration. - [Extended support for Cloud SQL docs.cloud.google.com](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sql/docs/mysql/extended-support) - [Database version policies docs.cloud.google.com](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sql/docs/db-versions) - [Cloud SQL pricing cloud.google.com](https://cloud.google.com/sql/pricing) - [Upgrade the database major version in-place docs.cloud.google.com](https://docs.cloud.google.com/sql/docs/mysql/upgrade-major-db-version-inplace) ## Related inefficiencies [Browse the library](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub) - GCP Cloud SQL CER-0279 ### [Excessive Automated Backup Retention in Cloud SQL](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/excessive-automated-backup-retention-in-cloud-sql) Automated Cloud SQL backups are retained longer than required by recovery objectives or governance needs. Because backups accumulate over the retention window (and can grow quickly for high-change databases), excessive retention drives... Databases - GCP Cloud SQL CER-0183 ### [Underutilized Cloud SQL Instance](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/underutilized-cloud-sql-instance) Cloud SQL instances are often over-provisioned or left running despite low utilization. Since billing is based on allocated vCPUs, memory, and storage - not usage - any misalignment between actual workload needs and provisioned capacity... Databases - GCP Cloud SQL CER-0475 ### [Idle Cloud SQL Instance](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/idle-cloud-sql-instance) An idle Cloud SQL instance is one that is still running but no longer serves any workload: no meaningful connections, queries or data changes. Common sources are databases left behind after a migration, instances created for a test or... Databases --- Source: the public page above. 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