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PlanetScale vs Supabase
A detailed comparison to help you choose between PlanetScale and Supabase.
| Feature | PlanetScale | Supabase |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Model | Paid | Freemium |
| Free Tier | No | Yes |
| Monthly Cost (Solo) | $39 | $0 |
| Target Audience | developers, startups | solopreneurs, startups, developers |
| Verified | Yes | Yes |
| Solo-Friendly | Yes | Yes |
| Open Source | No | Yes |
| Editorial Rating | 4.3/5 | 4.6/5 |
| Categories | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Key Features | Serverless MySQL, Database branching, Schema migrations, Read replicas, Query insights | Full PostgreSQL database, Authentication & authorization, Real-time subscriptions, Edge Functions, File storage |
| Free Tier Quality | None | excellent |
Pricing Breakdown
PlanetScale
Scaler: $39/month (10GB, 1B reads). Scaler Pro: $99/month (50GB). Enterprise: custom. No free tier.
Supabase
Free: 500MB database, 1GB storage, 50K MAUs. Pro: $25/month (8GB database, 100GB bandwidth, daily backups). Team: $599/month (SOC 2, priority support). Enterprise: custom.
Integration Overlap
Shared Integrations (5)
Only in PlanetScale (5)
Only in Supabase (5)
Use Case Fit
PlanetScale
- * Serverless MySQL database
- * Zero-downtime schema migrations
- * Database branching for development
- * High-availability MySQL hosting
- * Horizontal database scaling
Supabase
- * Full-stack web application backend
- * Mobile app backend with real-time sync
- * Authentication and user management
- * File storage and image transformations
- * Serverless API development
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
Supabase
Pros
- + Open source — no vendor lock-in
- + Full PostgreSQL power with a managed experience
- + Generous free tier for side projects
- + Real-time and auth built in from day one
- + Excellent developer documentation
Cons
- - Fewer managed services compared to Firebase
- - Edge Functions still maturing
- - Self-hosting requires significant DevOps knowledge
- - Connection pooling can be tricky at scale
Editorial Verdict
Supabase 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.
Sarah Chen
Editor-in-Chief