Do I need backups if my database is managed?

Yes — you still need backups, even if your database is managed.

A managed database usually gives you automatic features like:

• regular snapshots/backups
• point-in-time recovery
• replication/high availability
• monitoring and maintenance

But those are not a complete substitute for having your own backup strategy.

Why managed doesn’t mean “no backups”

Managed services can still fail in ways that backups help with:

• accidental deletes or bad migrations
• application bugs that corrupt data
• credential or account mistakes
• region/provider outages
• backup retention limits (old backups get deleted)
• vendor-side issues or misconfigurations
• need to restore to a specific historical state

What you should do

Have backups that are:

• independent enough to recover from provider/account problems
• retained for the right period for your business
• tested regularly with actual restores
• protected against deletion/ransomware
• ideally stored in a separate account/region/provider for critical systems

Good rule of thumb

Use the managed service’s built-in backups, but also define your own backup policy based on:

• RPO: how much data you can afford to lose
• RTO: how fast you need to recover
• compliance/legal retention needs

Short answer

Yes. Managed databases reduce backup burden, but they do not eliminate the need for backups.

If you want, I can help you design a backup strategy for a specific managed database like Postgres on RDS, Cloud SQL, Azure SQL, MongoDB Atlas, etc.