Documentation Table of Contents

5. Databases & Add-ons

Most applications need more than just code running on a dyno—they need databases, caches, email delivery, monitoring, and dozens of other services. Build's add-on ecosystem, Addons.io, gives you one-click access to managed services that integrate directly with your apps.

This section covers Addons.io’s database offerings and how to find, provision, and manage add-ons from the marketplace.

5.1 Managed PostgreSQL / MySQL

Build offers fully managed relational databases through our in-house developed add-ons: SchemaToGo for PostgreSQL and AveToGo for MySQL. Both handle the operational burden of running a production database—provisioning, patching, backups, and failover—so you can focus on your application.

SchemaToGo (PostgreSQL)

SchemaToGo provides fully managed PostgreSQL instances running on dedicated infrastructure. Each database is provisioned with sensible production defaults, encrypted connections, and automated daily backups.

To provision a SchemaToGo database, head to the Resources tab of an App, and, under the Addons section, click Add an addon:

From the list of available addons presented to you, choose SchemaToGo, which is our PostgreSQL addon:

The next page you see will be a list of all the available SchemaToGo plans. SchemaToGo plans range from shared instances suitable for development and staging, to dedicated instances with configurable resources for production workloads. All plans include encrypted connections, automated backups, and access to standard PostgreSQL extensions.Choose an appropriate one:

Finally, customize the provision, or accept the defaults as they are for the recommended setup, clicking Add this Addon as the final step:

When you provision a SchemaToGo database, a DATABASE_URL config var is automatically added to your app. Most frameworks (Rails, Django, Express, etc.) detect this variable and configure themselves accordingly—no manual connection setup required.

AveToGo (MySQL)

AveToGo provides managed MySQL instances with the same operational model as SchemaToGo. Provisioning works identically—attach the add-on and a DATABASE_URL is set automatically.

Choosing Between PostgreSQL and MySQL

Both are production-grade options. Choose based on what your application and team already use. If you're starting fresh and don't have a strong preference, PostgreSQL is the more common choice on Build.io and tends to have a broader set of features out of the box.

5.2 Managed Redis

Redis is available as a managed add-on, called CacheToGo, through the Addons.io marketplace or directly from within the Build UI. A managed Redis instance gives your application fast in-memory storage for caching, session management, background job queues, and real-time features like pub/sub.

Common Use Cases

Caching — Store frequently accessed data (database query results, rendered fragments, API responses) to reduce load on your primary database and speed up response times.

Session Storage — Use Redis as a session backend for fast, shared session access across multiple dynos. This is essential if you're running more than one web dyno, since file-based sessions won't be shared across instances.

Background Jobs — Libraries like Sidekiq (Ruby), Celery (Python), and BullMQ (Node.js) use Redis as their job broker. Your workers pick up jobs from the Redis queue and process them independently of your web dynos.

Real-time Features — Redis pub/sub supports features like live notifications and chat. If you're using Action Cable (Rails) or Socket.IO (Node.js), Redis acts as the message broker between your dyno instances.

To provision a CacheToGo redis instance, head to the Resources tab of an App, and, under the Addons section, click Add an addon:

From the list of available addons presented to you, choose CacheToGo, which is our redis addon:

The next page you see will be a list of all the available CacheToGo plans. Choose an appropriate one:

Finally, customize the provision, or accept the defaults as they are for the recommended setup, clicking Add this Addon as the final step:

5.3 Add-on marketplace

Addons.io is Build's marketplace for third-party and first-party managed services. It provides a single place to discover, provision, and manage the services your application depends on—databases, caches, monitoring, logging, email, search, and more.

Finding Add-ons

Browse available add-ons from the Resources tab of any app in the dashboard, or visit Addons.io directly. Each add-on listing includes a description, available plans and pricing, and documentation for getting started.

How Add-ons Work

Every add-on follows the same integration pattern:

1. You provision the add-on and attach it to your app.
2. The add-on provider creates the resource (a database, a monitoring agent, an email service account, etc.).
3. One or more config vars are set on your app with the credentials or connection details your code needs.
4. Your app restarts with the new config vars available.

This model means your code never hard-codes service credentials. If you swap providers or upgrade plans, the config vars update and your app picks up the new values on the next restart.

Plans and Pricing

Most add-ons offer multiple plans, from free tiers suitable for development to production plans with dedicated resources, higher limits, and SLA guarantees. You can change plans at any time—upgrades and downgrades take effect immediately.

5.4 Managing Provisioned Addons and Backups

All Addons can be managed by clicking the Open Dashboard option from within the details page of a provisioned Addon:

The Addon dashboard hosts a range of useful information and configuration options which help to show you the state of your Addon and serve as a the main place to come for Addon customization:

Further down the page you will see a list of all the backups that have been made of this Addon, and you have the option to download one, or, create a new instant ad hoc backup. Managed databases on Build.io include automated backups so you can recover from data loss, roll back a bad migration, or clone your production data into a staging environment.:

At the bottom of the page there is a rich selection of advanced customization options for further customization giving you the depth of advanced performance/security tweaking if needed: