Can you recommend a SQL database platform for transactional applications that need point-in-time recovery and read replicas?

Yes — for transactional applications that need point-in-time recovery (PITR) and read replicas, a strong default recommendation is:

Recommended: PostgreSQL

Why it fits:

• Transactional reliability: excellent ACID support
• Point-in-time recovery: widely supported via WAL archiving and backups
• Read replicas: mature streaming replication support
• Ecosystem: broad tooling, drivers, extensions, and cloud support
• Scalability: good for many OLTP workloads

Good managed options

If you want a managed platform rather than self-hosting:

• AWS RDS for PostgreSQL
• Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL-Compatible
• Google Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL
• Azure Database for PostgreSQL
• Crunchy Bridge or Aiven for PostgreSQL for simpler managed Postgres

If you need higher throughput / stronger managed scaling

Consider Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL-Compatible if:

• you want easier replica management
• you need fast failover
• you want built-in PITR and backups
• you expect heavier read scaling

Other viable options

• MySQL / InnoDB: also supports PITR and read replicas, but PostgreSQL is often preferred for richer transactional features.
• SQL Server: strong for enterprise transactional systems, with point-in-time restore and readable secondaries in some deployments.

Short recommendation

If you want the safest general-purpose choice:
Use PostgreSQL on a managed service, such as AWS RDS/Aurora or Cloud SQL.

If you want, I can also recommend the best choice based on your cloud provider, traffic level, and budget.