PostgreSQL 18 has launched, introducing significant performance improvements and flexibility enhancements. Aiven, the first managed PostgreSQL provider to support this version, highlights contributions from three of its team members to this release. One of the standout features is the new asynchronous I/O (AIO) subsystem, which allows the database to handle multiple read requests simultaneously. This can lead to performance boosts of up to three times for read-heavy workloads, making it particularly valuable for tasks like sequential scans and vacuums. The query planner has also been optimized, improving JOIN and GROUP BY operations while reducing memory consumption. Another key enhancement is the ability to create GIN indexes in parallel, significantly speeding up index creation on large tables. Schema management has become more flexible with the introduction of unenforced CHECK and foreign key constraints, allowing for a more controlled approach to data validation during migrations. PostgreSQL 18 also improves B-tree indexes with skip scans, which can help reduce full table scans and enhance query efficiency. Locking performance has been enhanced to reduce contention in high-traffic databases, benefiting scenarios with many concurrent read operations. Virtual generated columns are now the default, which saves disk space by computing values at runtime, although this does come with trade-offs in computation time. Aiven encourages users to explore the new features, especially if they are upgrading from older versions, and offers a free 30-day trial for interested users.