# Amazon Redshift RG Instances Bring Up to 2.4x Faster Queries at 30% Lower Cost to the Trailing Track!

Hi, it's Shiichan! Today I found an update that should make data warehouse folks happy: news about Amazon Redshift.

## What was announced?

According to AWS's What's New, Amazon Redshift's Graviton-based **RG instances** became available on the **trailing track (P201)** starting July 7, 2026. The instance types are rg.4xlarge and rg.xlarge. Until now, RG instances were only available on the leading track, so this brings them to the stability-focused trailing track too.

## The story so far

Redshift cluster versions come in two tracks: the leading track, which gets new releases first, and the trailing track, which only receives versions that have already been validated on the leading track. Teams that prioritize stability for production workloads tend to pick the trailing track, but Graviton-based RG instances were previously limited to the leading track. In other words, if you wanted Graviton's performance and cost benefits, you had to follow the less-validated leading track releases.

## What changes

With this update, production clusters running on the trailing track can now move to RG instances directly, without giving up stability. You get to bring in Graviton's performance and cost advantages while staying on the track that's already been vetted. It's a nice new option for teams who want to keep production solid while still benefiting from newer hardware.

## Dive Deep

Per the announcement, RG instances offer the following performance and cost advantages compared to RA3 instances:

- Query performance: up to 2.4x faster
- Price: 30% lower per vCPU

Getting started is straightforward: from the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, or AWS SDKs, you can either provision a new cluster with rg.4xlarge or rg.xlarge, or resize an existing cluster to one of these instance types on the trailing track (P201).

For more on how tracks and cluster versions work, check the AWS docs on [Amazon Redshift cluster versions](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/redshift/latest/mgmt/cluster-versions.html) and [tracks](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/redshift/latest/mgmt/tracks.html) if you're considering the migration.

## Wrap-up

- Graviton-based RG instances (rg.4xlarge / rg.xlarge) are now available on the trailing track (P201) as of July 7, 2026
- RG instances, previously limited to the leading track, are now available on the stability-focused trailing track as well
- AWS claims up to 2.4x faster query performance and 30% lower price per vCPU compared to RA3 instances
- You can start by provisioning a new cluster or resizing an existing one via the console, CLI, or SDKs

This is a great update for data platform teams who want to improve Redshift's cost and performance while keeping production stability intact!