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PlanetScale alternatives: 5 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Oct 25, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rank

Common reasons people leave PlanetScale: no free tier, and database only, with no auth, storage or API layer. We ranked 5 alternatives by how directly each one replaces PlanetScale, then by reviews, real visits and how recently each app's facts were checked against its own website. Neon currently ranks first.

Quick comparison

#AppPricingOpen sourcePlatformsVerified factsScore
1Neon logoNeonFree plan + paidNoWeb4 of 466.5
2CockroachDB logoCockroachDBPaidNoWeb, Self-hosted4 of 462.6
3Aiven logoAivenFree plan + paidNoWeb3 of 359.6
4Amazon RDS logoAmazon RDSPaidNoWeb4 of 457.2
5Supabase logoSupabaseFree plan + paidYesWeb, Self-hosted4 of 455.3
  1. Neon logo

    1. NeonTop pick

    Best for: Developers who want cheap, branchable Postgres for serverless apps and preview environments

    Free plan + paidWeb

    66.5

    score / 100

    Why switch from PlanetScale

    Serverless Postgres with a free tier and branching for smaller projects.

    Pros

    • Instant database branches for previews and testing
    • Scales to zero, so idle projects cost little
    • Free plan with no time limit and no card

    Cons

    • Cold starts after scale-to-zero add latency
    • Usage-based billing needs monitoring
    • Direction now depends on Databricks priorities
    Visit Neon Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.3100
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Neon a good PlanetScale alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Free plan
    $0, no time limit
    Checked Oct 25, 2026neon.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Compute price (Launch)
    $0.106 per CU-hour
    Checked Oct 25, 2026neon.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Owner
    Databricks
    Checked Oct 25, 2026neon.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Branching
    Yes
    Checked Oct 25, 2026neon.com(opens source in a new tab)
  2. CockroachDB logo

    2. CockroachDB

    Best for: Teams running critical, multi-region workloads that need consistent SQL and high availability

    PaidSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    62.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from PlanetScale

    Distributed SQL with multi-region writes if global consistency matters.

    Pros

    • Survives node, zone and region failures
    • Postgres wire compatibility for drivers and ORMs
    • Fine-grained control over where data lives

    Cons

    • Not every Postgres feature or extension is supported
    • Higher write latency than single-node databases
    • Costly compared with simple managed Postgres for small apps
    Visit CockroachDB Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.387
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is CockroachDB a good PlanetScale alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Free trial
    30 days with $400 credit
    Checked Oct 25, 2026cockroachlabs.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Standard tier
    $0.092 per vCPU-hour
    Checked Oct 25, 2026cockroachlabs.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Postgres compatibility
    Yes
    Checked Oct 25, 2026cockroachlabs.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Advanced tier SLA
    99.999% on AWS, GCP and Azure
    Checked Oct 25, 2026cockroachlabs.com(opens source in a new tab)
  3. Aiven logo

    3. Aiven

    Best for: Teams that want managed open-source databases on the cloud and region of their choice

    Free plan + paidWeb

    59.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from PlanetScale

    Managed MySQL and Postgres across clouds with a free entry tier.

    Pros

    • Many open-source data services in one console
    • Runs on AWS, Google Cloud, Azure and others
    • Free tier for Postgres, MySQL and Valkey

    Cons

    • Free tier is a single small node with no integrations
    • Costs add up when running many services
    • No built-in backend features such as auth or APIs
    Visit Aiven Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.377
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Aiven a good PlanetScale alternative?

    Verified facts

    3 of 3 verified
    Free plan
    $0/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026aiven.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Developer plan
    $5/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026aiven.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Hobbyist plan
    From $12/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026aiven.io(opens source in a new tab)
  4. Amazon RDS logo

    4. Amazon RDS

    Best for: AWS-based teams that want standard SQL databases with managed backups and failover

    PaidWeb

    57.2

    score / 100

    Why switch from PlanetScale

    Run managed MySQL or Postgres directly inside your own AWS account.

    Pros

    • Choice of six relational engines plus Aurora
    • Automated backups, replicas and Multi-AZ failover
    • Fits into AWS networking and IAM

    Cons

    • Configuring networking and security on AWS is complex
    • More expensive than smaller Postgres hosts for small apps
    • Database only, with no backend layer
    Visit Amazon RDS Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.369
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Amazon RDS a good PlanetScale alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Pricing
    Pay for what you use, no minimum fees
    Checked Oct 25, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Purchase options
    On-Demand or Reserved Instances
    Checked Oct 25, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free tier engines
    MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQL Server Express
    Checked Oct 25, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Multi-AZ replication transfer
    Free
    Checked Oct 25, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
  5. Supabase logo

    5. Supabase

    Best for: Developers who want Postgres plus auth, storage and realtime without running servers

    Free plan + paidOpen sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    55.3

    score / 100

    Why switch from PlanetScale

    Postgres with a full backend layer when you also need auth and storage.

    Pros

    • Real Postgres underneath, so SQL, extensions and standard tooling all work
    • Auth, storage, realtime and functions in one dashboard
    • Open source and self-hostable with Docker
    • Large community and many framework guides

    Cons

    • Free projects pause after a week of inactivity
    • Usage charges for compute and egress can be hard to predict
    • Self-hosting the full stack takes real operations work
    Visit Supabase Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.363
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Supabase a good PlanetScale alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Free plan
    $0/month, 2 active projects
    Checked Oct 25, 2026supabase.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Pro plan
    From $25/month
    Checked Oct 25, 2026supabase.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free project pausing
    After 1 week of inactivity
    Checked Oct 25, 2026supabase.com(opens source in a new tab)
    License
    Apache-2.0
    Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)

The best PlanetScale alternative for…

The highest-ranked app in this list for each need.

Neon logo

Best PlanetScale alternative for most people

Neon

Serverless Postgres with a free tier and branching for smaller projects.

Aiven logo

Best PlanetScale alternative for a free plan you can upgrade

Aiven

Managed MySQL and Postgres across clouds with a free entry tier.

Supabase logo

Best PlanetScale alternative for open source

Supabase

Postgres with a full backend layer when you also need auth and storage.

CockroachDB logo

Best PlanetScale alternative for self-hosting

CockroachDB

Distributed SQL with multi-region writes if global consistency matters.

Amazon RDS logo

Best PlanetScale alternative for working in the browser

Amazon RDS

Run managed MySQL or Postgres directly inside your own AWS account.

PlanetScale alternatives: common questions

What is the best alternative to PlanetScale?

Neon ranks first right now. Serverless Postgres with a free tier and branching for smaller projects. CockroachDB and Aiven follow it in our ranking.

Is there a free alternative to PlanetScale?

Yes. Neon (free plan + paid), Aiven (free plan + paid) and Supabase (free plan + paid) have a free option. Check each app's verified facts for current plan limits.

Is there an open-source alternative to PlanetScale?

Yes: Supabase. Supabase can also be self-hosted.

Why do people switch from PlanetScale?

The complaints we hear most: no free tier; database only, with no auth, storage or API layer; sharding features are overkill for small apps.

How is this list ranked?

Every app is scored with the same published formula: how directly it replaces PlanetScale, reviews (weighted by verification), visits from AppBreakup, how recently its facts were checked against its own website, and reader votes.