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PlanetScale vs Neon
A detailed comparison to help you choose between PlanetScale and Neon.
| Feature | PlanetScale | Neon |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Model | Paid | Freemium |
| Free Tier | No | Yes |
| Monthly Cost (Solo) | $39 | $0 |
| Target Audience | developers, startups | solopreneurs, developers, startups |
| Verified | Yes | Yes |
| Solo-Friendly | Yes | Yes |
| Open Source | No | No |
| Editorial Rating | 4.3/5 | 4.3/5 |
| Categories | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Key Features | Serverless MySQL, Database branching, Schema migrations, Read replicas, Query insights | Serverless Postgres, Database branching, Autoscaling, Point-in-time restore, Connection pooling |
| Free Tier Quality | None | good |
Pricing Breakdown
PlanetScale
Scaler: $39/month (10GB, 1B reads). Scaler Pro: $99/month (50GB). Enterprise: custom. No free tier.
Neon
Free: 0.5GB storage, auto-suspend compute. Launch: $19/month (10GB, always-on). Scale: $69/month (read replicas). Business: $700/month. Enterprise: custom.
Integration Overlap
Shared Integrations (8)
Only in PlanetScale (2)
Only in Neon (2)
Use Case Fit
PlanetScale
- * Serverless MySQL database
- * Zero-downtime schema migrations
- * Database branching for development
- * High-availability MySQL hosting
- * Horizontal database scaling
Neon
- * Serverless PostgreSQL database
- * Development database branching
- * Cost-effective database hosting
- * Time Travel data recovery
- * Edge-compatible database queries
PlanetScale
Pros
- + Database branching is revolutionary
- + Built on proven Vitess technology
- + Excellent developer experience
- + Non-blocking schema changes
Cons
- - No free tier anymore
- - MySQL only (not Postgres)
- - More expensive than Supabase
Neon
Pros
- + Generous free tier (0.5 GB storage)
- + Database branching for dev workflows
- + Autoscaling to zero
- + Standard Postgres (no vendor lock-in)
Cons
- - Compute limits on free tier
- - Newer platform
- - Cold starts on free tier
Editorial Verdict
Neon takes the lead for solo founders — it offers better value and is explicitly solo-friendly. PlanetScale may still be the right pick if you need deep Developer Tools features or plan to scale to a larger team.
SaaSLens Editorial Team
Editorial Team