diff --git a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Observability/DatabaseInfrastructureSection.tsx b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Observability/DatabaseInfrastructureSection.tsx
index 61f6dbfca12..9c92aac9781 100644
--- a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Observability/DatabaseInfrastructureSection.tsx
+++ b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Observability/DatabaseInfrastructureSection.tsx
@@ -169,8 +169,8 @@ export const DatabaseInfrastructureSection = ({
         <Link href={databaseReportUrl} className="block group">
           <MetricCard isLoading={infraLoading}>
             <MetricCardHeader href={databaseReportUrl} linkTooltip="Go to database report">
-              <MetricCardLabel tooltip="Active database connections (current/max). Monitor to avoid connection exhaustion">
-                Connections
+              <MetricCardLabel tooltip="Highest concurrent database connections observed in the selected window, against the connection limit. Monitor to avoid connection exhaustion.">
+                Peak Connections
               </MetricCardLabel>
             </MetricCardHeader>
             <MetricCardContent>
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ export const DatabaseInfrastructureSection = ({
                 <div className="text-xs text-destructive wrap-break-word">{errorMessage}</div>
               ) : connections.max > 0 ? (
                 <MetricCardValue>
-                  {connections.current}/{connections.max}
+                  {connections.peak}/{connections.max}
                 </MetricCardValue>
               ) : (
                 <MetricCardValue>--</MetricCardValue>
diff --git a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Observability/DatabaseInfrastructureSection.utils.test.ts b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Observability/DatabaseInfrastructureSection.utils.test.ts
index de1bdbaf819..75e97896df7 100644
--- a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Observability/DatabaseInfrastructureSection.utils.test.ts
+++ b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Observability/DatabaseInfrastructureSection.utils.test.ts
@@ -192,103 +192,114 @@ describe('parseInfrastructureMetrics', () => {
 })
 
 describe('parseConnectionsData', () => {
+  const buildResponse = (
+    values: Array<string | number | undefined>
+  ): InfraMonitoringMultiResponse => ({
+    data: values.map((v, i) => ({
+      period_start: `2026-05-22T00:0${i}:00.000Z`,
+      values: { pg_stat_database_num_backends: v as string | undefined },
+    })),
+    series: {
+      pg_stat_database_num_backends: {
+        format: 'number',
+        total: 0,
+        totalAverage: 0,
+        yAxisLimit: 100,
+      },
+    },
+  })
+
   it('returns zeros when data is undefined', () => {
-    expect(parseConnectionsData(undefined, undefined)).toEqual({ current: 0, max: 0 })
+    expect(parseConnectionsData(undefined, undefined)).toEqual({ peak: 0, max: 0 })
     expect(parseConnectionsData(undefined, { maxConnections: 100 })).toEqual({
-      current: 0,
-      max: 0,
+      peak: 0,
+      max: 100,
     })
   })
 
-  it('parses connections data correctly', () => {
-    const mockInfraData: InfraMonitoringMultiResponse = {
-      data: [],
-      series: {
-        pg_stat_database_num_backends: {
-          format: 'number',
-          total: 150,
-          totalAverage: 25.5,
-          yAxisLimit: 100,
-        },
-      },
-    }
+  it('returns the peak value across the window, not totalAverage', () => {
+    const mockInfraData = buildResponse([4, 4, 6, 4, 5, 4])
+    // totalAverage in series is intentionally stale to ensure we ignore it
+    mockInfraData.series.pg_stat_database_num_backends.totalAverage = 25
 
-    const mockMaxData = { maxConnections: 100 }
+    const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, { maxConnections: 100 })
 
-    const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, mockMaxData)
-
-    expect(result).toEqual({ current: 26, max: 100 }) // 25.5 rounded to 26
+    expect(result).toEqual({ peak: 6, max: 100 })
   })
 
-  it('handles string values for connections', () => {
-    const mockInfraData: InfraMonitoringMultiResponse = {
-      data: [],
-      series: {
-        pg_stat_database_num_backends: {
-          format: 'number',
-          total: 150,
-          totalAverage: '30.7',
-          yAxisLimit: 100,
-        },
-      },
-    }
+  it('rounds the peak value', () => {
+    const mockInfraData = buildResponse([3, 5.6, 4])
 
-    const mockMaxData = { maxConnections: 100 }
+    const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, { maxConnections: 100 })
 
-    const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, mockMaxData)
-
-    expect(result).toEqual({ current: 31, max: 100 }) // 30.7 rounded to 31
+    expect(result).toEqual({ peak: 6, max: 100 })
   })
 
-  it('returns current connections even when maxConnectionsData is undefined', () => {
-    const mockInfraData: InfraMonitoringMultiResponse = {
-      data: [],
-      series: {
-        pg_stat_database_num_backends: {
-          format: 'number',
-          total: 150,
-          totalAverage: 25,
-          yAxisLimit: 100,
-        },
-      },
-    }
+  it('handles string values when computing peak', () => {
+    const mockInfraData = buildResponse(['4', '7', '5.4'])
+
+    const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, { maxConnections: 100 })
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({ peak: 7, max: 100 })
+  })
+
+  it('skips missing values when computing peak', () => {
+    const mockInfraData = buildResponse([5, undefined, 7, undefined])
+
+    const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, { maxConnections: 100 })
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({ peak: 7, max: 100 })
+  })
+
+  it('skips empty-string values when computing peak', () => {
+    const mockInfraData = buildResponse(['5', '', '7', ''])
+
+    const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, { maxConnections: 100 })
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({ peak: 7, max: 100 })
+  })
+
+  it('returns peak connections even when maxConnectionsData is undefined', () => {
+    const mockInfraData = buildResponse([4, 9, 6])
 
     const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, undefined)
 
-    expect(result).toEqual({ current: 25, max: 0 })
+    expect(result).toEqual({ peak: 9, max: 0 })
   })
 
   it('returns 0 max when maxConnections is missing from data object', () => {
-    const mockInfraData: InfraMonitoringMultiResponse = {
-      data: [],
-      series: {
-        pg_stat_database_num_backends: {
-          format: 'number',
-          total: 150,
-          totalAverage: 25,
-          yAxisLimit: 100,
-        },
-      },
-    }
+    const mockInfraData = buildResponse([4])
 
-    const mockMaxData = {}
+    const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, {})
 
-    const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, mockMaxData)
-
-    expect(result).toEqual({ current: 25, max: 0 })
+    expect(result).toEqual({ peak: 4, max: 0 })
   })
 
-  it('returns 0 current when connections metric is missing', () => {
+  it('returns 0 peak when data array is empty', () => {
     const mockInfraData: InfraMonitoringMultiResponse = {
       data: [],
       series: {},
     }
 
-    const mockMaxData = { maxConnections: 100 }
+    const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, { maxConnections: 100 })
 
-    const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, mockMaxData)
+    expect(result).toEqual({ peak: 0, max: 100 })
+  })
 
-    expect(result).toEqual({ current: 0, max: 100 })
+  it('returns 0 peak when connections metric is missing from data points', () => {
+    const mockInfraData: InfraMonitoringMultiResponse = {
+      data: [
+        {
+          period_start: '2026-05-22T00:00:00.000Z',
+          values: { avg_cpu_usage: '50' },
+        },
+      ],
+      series: {},
+    }
+
+    const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, { maxConnections: 100 })
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({ peak: 0, max: 100 })
   })
 
   it('handles single-response format (legacy)', () => {
@@ -300,10 +311,8 @@ describe('parseConnectionsData', () => {
       yAxisLimit: 100,
     }
 
-    const mockMaxData = { maxConnections: 100 }
+    const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, { maxConnections: 100 })
 
-    const result = parseConnectionsData(mockInfraData, mockMaxData)
-
-    expect(result).toEqual({ current: 0, max: 100 })
+    expect(result).toEqual({ peak: 0, max: 100 })
   })
 })
diff --git a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Observability/DatabaseInfrastructureSection.utils.ts b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Observability/DatabaseInfrastructureSection.utils.ts
index 03cf8e4ebbc..85ae7b5f058 100644
--- a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Observability/DatabaseInfrastructureSection.utils.ts
+++ b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Observability/DatabaseInfrastructureSection.utils.ts
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ export function parseInfrastructureMetrics(
 }
 
 type ConnectionsData = {
-  current: number
+  peak: number
   max: number
 }
 
@@ -76,15 +76,21 @@ export function parseConnectionsData(
   infraData: InfraMonitoringResponse | undefined,
   maxConnectionsData: MaxConnectionsData | undefined
 ): ConnectionsData {
-  if (!infraData) {
-    return { current: 0, max: 0 }
+  const max = maxConnectionsData?.maxConnections ?? 0
+
+  if (!infraData || !('series' in infraData)) {
+    return { peak: 0, max }
   }
 
-  const series = 'series' in infraData ? infraData.series : {}
+  // Show the highest connection count observed in the selected window rather
+  // than the window's totalAverage. The average varies with bucket granularity
+  // (e.g. 1h vs 1m) and is hard to reason about; peak is interval-stable and
+  // the more actionable signal for headroom against the connection limit.
+  let peak = 0
+  for (const point of infraData.data ?? []) {
+    const n = parseNumericValue(point?.values?.pg_stat_database_num_backends)
+    if (n > peak) peak = n
+  }
 
-  const currentVal = series.pg_stat_database_num_backends?.totalAverage
-  const current = Math.round(parseNumericValue(currentVal))
-  const max = maxConnectionsData?.maxConnections || 0
-
-  return { current, max }
+  return { peak: Math.round(peak), max }
 }
diff --git a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Settings/Infrastructure/InfrastructureConfiguration/InstanceNode.tsx b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Settings/Infrastructure/InfrastructureConfiguration/InstanceNode.tsx
index 203ecbb0b12..f6a3427ba7c 100644
--- a/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Settings/Infrastructure/InfrastructureConfiguration/InstanceNode.tsx
+++ b/apps/studio/components/interfaces/Settings/Infrastructure/InfrastructureConfiguration/InstanceNode.tsx
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ export const PrimaryNode = ({ data }: NodeProps<Node<PrimaryNodeData>>) => {
                     <>
                       <span className="text-foreground-lighter">·</span>
                       <span className="text-foreground-light">
-                        {connections.current}/{connections.max} conns
+                        {connections.peak}/{connections.max} conns
                       </span>
                     </>
                   )}
diff --git a/apps/studio/hooks/analytics/useComputeMetrics.ts b/apps/studio/hooks/analytics/useComputeMetrics.ts
index 37b84320451..6ca5e0e42e6 100644
--- a/apps/studio/hooks/analytics/useComputeMetrics.ts
+++ b/apps/studio/hooks/analytics/useComputeMetrics.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ export type ComputeMetrics = {
   cpu: number
   disk: number
   memory: number
-  connections: { current: number; max: number }
+  connections: { peak: number; max: number }
   isLoading: boolean
   isError: boolean
 }