PostgreSQL 18 is now available on Scalingo. This release speeds up data reads, maintains good performance after a major upgrade, and brings several features developers have been waiting for, including native UUIDv7 support.

PostgreSQL 18 joins Scalingo’s Database-as-a-Service offering. You get a sovereign managed service that takes care of your database, from initial deployment to upgrades, backups, and support from our engineers in France and Europe.

Why PostgreSQL 18 on Scalingo?

• Faster reads with asynchronous I/O. PostgreSQL 18 can now issue several read requests in parallel instead of waiting for each one to finish. Sequential scans, bitmap heap scans, and vacuum operations benefit in particular, especially on large tables.
  
  

• Stable performance after a major upgrade. The statistics used by the query planner are now preserved during the upgrade. Your queries immediately benefit from suitable execution plans, without waiting for these statistics to be rebuilt.
  
  

• Native UUIDv7 support. The new uuidv7() function generates time-ordered UUIDs. They are better suited to indexes than random UUIDs and help maintain good insert performance as your tables grow.
  
  

• Smarter indexes. Multicolumn B-tree indexes can now be used even when a query does not filter on their first column, thanks to skip scans. This makes some queries faster without requiring a new index.
  
  

• Virtual generated columns. By default, generated columns are now computed when they are read. They take up no disk space and do not slow down writes.
  
  

The full list of changes is available in the PostgreSQL 18 release notes.

A simple and reliable upgrade process

Upgrading to PostgreSQL 18 works the same way as upgrading to previous major versions. Downtime is limited to a few minutes, whether you use a Starter, Business, or Enterprise plan.

1. Check the prerequisites. Your database must be running the latest minor version of PostgreSQL 17. If it is not, we will first offer the necessary intermediate upgrades to ensure compatibility with your database and its extensions.
   
   

2. Start the upgrade with one click. From your database dashboard, click the “Major upgrade” button. We take care of the rest.
   
   

3. Get your database back in a few minutes. Your database is available again within a few minutes of the upgrade. We continue to run ANALYZE in the background to refresh some statistics, but because PostgreSQL 18 preserves query planner statistics during the upgrade, performance returns to normal much faster.
   
   

To prepare for your upgrade, read our guide: Understanding the major upgrade process.

Up-to-date extensions

PostgreSQL 18 on Scalingo includes compatible versions of the supported extensions. Key updates include:

• TimescaleDB: 2.30.1

• PostGIS: 3.6.4

• pgvector: 0.8.6

• PostgreSQL Anonymizer: 3.1.3

• pg_repack: 1.5.3

Upgrade to PostgreSQL 18 today

PostgreSQL 18 is available now. Upgrading takes just a few minutes using the dedicated button in your dashboard, and our support team can help if needed.

Want to try PostgreSQL 18 on a managed platform? Start your free trial on Scalingo.