Leaving PlanetScale after the free tier ended? SQL alternatives
PlanetScale killed its free tier and restricts open-source MySQL features. Neon offers free serverless Postgres with branching, Supabase adds auth and storage.
At MG Software, we recommend Neon as a direct PlanetScale replacement for teams willing to migrate to PostgreSQL thanks to its branching functionality and generous free tier. For a complete platform we choose Supabase as an all-in-one solution with auth, storage and realtime included.
Why do people look for alternatives to PlanetScale is a serverless MySQL-compatible database built on Vitess that gained popularity through its developer-friendly branching workflow and generous free tier. It provides database branching, non-blocking schema changes, automatic connection pooling and horizontal scaling. However, in April 2024 PlanetScale removed the free Hobby plan entirely. The cheapest Scaler plan now costs $39 per month with 10 GB storage, 100 million row reads and 20 million row writes. The Scaler Pro plan starts at $99 per month. PlanetScale Boost adds query caching for faster reads. A key technical limitation is the lack of foreign key support due to the Vitess sharding architecture.?
After PlanetScale removed its free tier in 2024 and raised prices significantly, many teams are actively seeking affordable serverless database alternatives. The minimum cost of $39 per month for a single database makes PlanetScale impractical for hobby projects, staging environments and small production applications. PostgreSQL-based alternatives offer richer SQL features than MySQL, including JSONB, materialized views and native foreign keys that PlanetScale cannot provide. Teams running multiple databases for microservices find costs escalating rapidly under the per-database pricing model. Additionally, some teams prefer open-source options with self-hosting capability to avoid vendor lock-in and retain full control over their data.
Best alternatives
Neon
Neon is serverless PostgreSQL with scale-to-zero, database branching, automatic autoscaling and a generous free tier. The free plan offers 0.5 GB storage with branching included. The Launch plan starts at $19 per month with 10 GB storage and the Scale plan at $69 per month. Neon is designed for modern cloud applications with instant provisioning, copy-on-write branching and a read replica architecture that distributes read operations across multiple compute endpoints for better performance.
Pros
- +Scale-to-zero means you pay nothing during inactivity, ideal for dev environments and staging databases
- +Database branching comparable to PlanetScale but for PostgreSQL with efficient copy-on-write storage
- +Generous free tier with 0.5 GB storage, branching and 190 compute hours per month included
- +Instant provisioning: new databases and branches become available within seconds without waiting
Cons
- -PostgreSQL instead of MySQL: migration requires adjusting queries, data types and stored procedures
- -Cold starts from scale-to-zero can delay initial queries by 300 to 500 milliseconds after spin-up
- -Less mature platform than PlanetScale with a shorter track record in enterprise production environments
Supabase
Supabase is an open-source Backend-as-a-Service platform with managed PostgreSQL, realtime subscriptions via WebSockets, built-in authentication supporting over 20 providers, file storage and auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs. The free plan offers 500 MB database storage and 50,000 monthly active users for auth. The Pro plan costs $25 per month with 8 GB storage and 100,000 MAU. Supabase can also be fully self-hosted using Docker for complete data ownership.
Pros
- +More than just a database: complete backend platform with auth, storage, realtime and edge functions
- +PostgreSQL with full feature support including foreign keys, triggers and row-level security policies
- +Open-source with the option of self-hosting via Docker for full data ownership and compliance control
- +Auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs that significantly accelerate development speed for new projects
Cons
- -No true serverless scale-to-zero: dedicated compute remains active even during periods of inactivity
- -Database branching is not as streamlined as PlanetScale or Neon for schema migration workflows
- -Free tier pauses projects after one week of inactivity, requiring manual reactivation
CockroachDB
CockroachDB is a distributed SQL database with automatic sharding, multi-region replication and PostgreSQL wire compatibility. The Serverless tier provides 10 million free Request Units per month. The Standard plan starts at approximately $0.50 per hour per node with automatic scaling. CockroachDB guarantees serializable isolation and automatic failover when nodes fail. For teams that genuinely need distributed SQL, CockroachDB offers capabilities that PlanetScale cannot match in terms of global data distribution.
Pros
- +Automatic multi-region distribution without manual sharding or complex Vitess-style configuration
- +Serverless tier available with 10 million free Request Units per month suitable for development workloads
- +Serializable isolation by default providing the strongest consistency guarantees for concurrent transactions
- +Automatic failover without manual intervention when individual database nodes become unavailable
Cons
- -Higher complexity and costs for small workloads where distribution is not actually a requirement
- -PostgreSQL wire protocol instead of MySQL: migration from PlanetScale requires query adjustments
- -Per-query latency is higher than single-node databases due to the distributed consensus mechanism
TiDB
TiDB is an open-source distributed SQL database that maintains MySQL compatibility, making migration from PlanetScale simpler than switching to PostgreSQL-based alternatives. It offers horizontal scaling, an HTAP architecture for combined transactional and analytical workloads and TiDB Cloud Serverless with automatic scaling. The free serverless tier provides 25 GiB storage and 250 million Request Units per month. Unlike PlanetScale, TiDB supports foreign keys, addressing one of PlanetScale's most criticised limitations.
Pros
- +MySQL-compatible: minimal code changes when migrating from PlanetScale thanks to the same SQL dialect
- +HTAP architecture for combined transactional and analytical workloads within a single database
- +TiDB Cloud Serverless with a generous free tier offering 25 GiB storage and automatic scaling
- +Foreign key support that PlanetScale cannot provide due to Vitess architecture limitations
Cons
- -More complex architecture with multiple components: TiDB server, TiKV storage and PD scheduler
- -Less predictable latency for cross-shard queries compared to single-node MySQL database instances
- -Smaller community and fewer available tools and extensions than PostgreSQL-based alternatives
Railway Postgres
Railway offers managed PostgreSQL on its platform with simple provisioning through the dashboard, automatic daily backups with 7-day retention, connection pooling via PgBouncer and seamless integration with Railway application deployments. Pricing follows a transparent usage-based model: you pay for CPU, memory and storage without fixed monthly database charges. For teams already using Railway for application hosting, this is the simplest way to add a managed PostgreSQL database to their stack.
Pros
- +Simple setup: PostgreSQL is available within seconds via the Railway dashboard or command-line interface
- +Seamless integration with Railway app deployments through automatic environment variable injection
- +Transparent pay-per-use pricing model with no fixed database costs or unexpected billing surprises
- +Automatic daily backups with 7-day retention and point-in-time recovery capability for data safety
Cons
- -No database branching or scale-to-zero functionality like Neon or PlanetScale offer
- -More limited scalability compared to specialised database platforms for very large datasets
- -No multi-region replication or read replicas available for distributed read operations
Comparison at a glance
Neon offers serverless PostgreSQL with scale-to-zero and branching as the most direct replacement for PlanetScale. Supabase adds auth, storage and realtime as a complete backend platform. TiDB maintains MySQL compatibility with horizontal scaling and foreign key support. CockroachDB delivers distributed SQL with multi-region replication, and Railway provides the simplest managed PostgreSQL setup for teams already on the platform.
What to consider when switching?
- Determine whether you need MySQL compatibility or are willing to migrate to PostgreSQL for richer features
- Compare serverless capabilities per platform: scale-to-zero, branching, autoscaling and connection pooling
- Evaluate total costs including compute, storage, data transfer and the number of databases required
- Assess available integrations with your current deployment pipeline, ORM and monitoring tools
Which alternative does MG Software recommend?
At MG Software, we recommend Neon as a direct PlanetScale replacement for teams willing to migrate to PostgreSQL thanks to its branching functionality and generous free tier. For a complete platform we choose Supabase as an all-in-one solution with auth, storage and realtime included.
Frequently asked questions
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