Neon vs PlanetScale
Two managed database options for database. When each fits, what it costs, who moves from one to the other, and what makers who chose it say.
Ask your AI about this, with this page as the source:ChatGPT ↗Claude ↗Perplexity ↗
Which fits you
Choose Neon if- Your traffic is bursty or you run many preview deploys, and idle hours shouldn't cost much
Use it whenYou want every pull request's preview deploy to get its own copy of the database.
Trade-offCold starts after idle periods add latency to the first query, and heavy always-on workloads can cost more than a fixed server.
Choose PlanetScale if- Apps that expect heavy scale and want zero-downtime schema changes.
Use it whenYour tables are big and busy enough that a locking migration would mean downtime.
Trade-offNo free tier.
At a glance
| Neon | PlanetScale | |
|---|---|---|
| Used by | 95 makers' products · 16 open-source projects | 29 makers' products · 9 open-source projects |
| Cost at default usagedatabase size 8 GB, data transfer 50 GB, document or row reads 10 million reads, document or row writes 2 million writes | $22/mo Launch | $7.40/mo Postgres PS-5 (single node) |
| Moved to it on GitHubpull requests since Oct 2024 | 4 from PlanetScale | fewer than 3 |
| Downloads | 3.7M/wk+35% vs npm | 265.6k/wk−35% vs npm |
| Pricing | Free tier; usage-based paid plans. · paid from $0.106 per CU-hour | Paid plans only, from $5/month for a single-node Postgres database. · paid from $5/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Open source | Yes · self-hostable | No |
| Incidents, 90 daysfrom its status page | no public status feed | 9 (5 major) |
Cost as you grow
At 0.5 GB PlanetScale costs less ($5.00 vs $20); and still does at 500 GB ($253 vs $457).
The numbers, plan by plan
| Database size | Neon | PlanetScale |
|---|---|---|
| 0.5 | $20 Launch | $5.00 Postgres PS-5 (single node) |
| 1 | $20 Launch | $5.00 Postgres PS-5 (single node) |
| 5 | $21 Launch | $6.28 Postgres PS-5 (single node) |
| 8 | $22 Launch | $7.40 Postgres PS-5 (single node) |
| 20 | $26 Launch | $13 Postgres PS-5 (single node) |
| 50 | $37 Launch | $28 Postgres PS-5 (single node) |
| 100 | $67 Launch | $53 Postgres PS-5 (single node) |
| 500 | $457 Launch | $253 Postgres PS-5 (single node) |
From each vendor's pricing page: Neon, PlanetScale.
Who moves from one to the other
Public pull requests on GitHub since Oct 2024 whose title says "Neon to PlanetScale" or the reverse — real code changes, by developers in general rather than makers only.
PlanetScale → Neon4 PRs- Migrate from PlanetScale MySQL to Neon Postgresuptonm/budget · 2026-07-18
- Migration db - from planetscale to neon and changing the orm to drizzle instead of using prismagudbhav/emoji-community-chat · 2026-05-30
- Migrate infra database provisioning from PlanetScale to Neoncill-i-am/ceird · 2026-05-16
- Finalise Planetscale to Neon DB Migrationarvindravi/arvind · 2024-11-25
Fewer than 3 pull requests move from Neon to PlanetScale.
What makers say
Makers on using it for database, from Product Hunt and Starter Story interviews, each linked to the source. Products with a page of their own and fuller notes first.
On NeonServerless Postgres with branching is a game changer for solo builders. Scale to zero means no idle costs, and the connection pooling just works. Perfect for an early-stage product.
Neon has been great for managing our database. The branching workflow and serverless Postgres made development smooth and allowed me to iterate quickly while building UseAgents.
We use Neon for Superset's Postgres database and database branches when developing schema changes. It is part of the shared backend behind our desktop and mobile apps.
On PlanetScaleA joy to work with. Branching, schema changes, and zero-downtime deploys make PlanetScale perfect for our evolving data models. Developer-friendly + production-safe = rare combo.
If you want really fast and reliable database technology this is the way to go. Not only does it allow us to have super fast performance of our service, their analytics help us make it even better.
As a NextJS and Rails app, Planetscale is the backbone of Campsite. Our database is incredibly fast, secure, and easy to manage. Deploy Requests are GOATed.
Loved and watch-outs
Themes that recur in makers' words and Hacker News comments, each linked to what it summarises.
NeonMost loved
- Postgres scales to zero when idle, so early products and staging databases cost almost nothing until traffic arrives. PHHN
- Branching copies the production database in seconds, so migrations and preview environments are tested against real data. PHPH 2HNHN 2
- The serverless HTTP and WebSocket driver fits Cloudflare Workers and Next.js routes without connection-pool trouble. PHHN
Watch-outs
On Product Hunt: 5.0★, 93 reviews · mentioned most: easy setup, serverless architecture, database branching · complaints: high pricing- Separating compute from storage costs latency and performance compared with Postgres on local NVMe. HNHN 2
- Parts of the stack, like autoscaling and some tooling, are not supported or openly licensed for self-hosting. HNHN 2
- With no built-in caching, crawler traffic can burn through the data transfer allowance quickly. HN
PlanetScaleMost loved
- Database branching, deploy requests and zero-downtime schema changes let teams change data models as fast as code. PHHN
- It stays fast and reliable from launch to billions of rows, often with a single engineer running it. PHPH 2HN
- Vitess-based sharding gives battle-tested write scaling that the big clouds' managed databases do not offer in the same package. HNHN 2HN 3
Watch-outs
On Product Hunt: 4.8★, 27 reviews · mentioned most: scalability, developer-friendly, database branching- Newer features like Neki sharding and TIN search are proprietary and cloud-only, raising vendor lock-in worries. HNHN 2HN 3HN 4
- Dropping the free tier forced hobby projects to move elsewhere and cost it goodwill with indie developers. HNHN 2
- Postgres databases cannot yet get in-place major version upgrades. HN
Who uses each
Central
Crawler.sh
Campsite
Graphy
Heima
Langtail
OctolensWhat makers pair each with
With NeonFrontend Framework
Neon + Next.js:
Anything
Aymo AI
BaseHub
BrandingStudio.ai®
bugstack
ClientJam
Crossnode
debate AIDemoStudio
Design Foundations
Floot
Git Pitcherand 35 more
AnythingAymo AIBaseHubBrandingStudio.ai®bugstackClientJamCrossnodedebate AIDemoStudioDesign FoundationsFlootGit Pitcherand 35 more
EmailTempleNeon + React:
inbox-zero
superset
inbox-zerosupersetTransactional Email
Fimo
Makers Page
cognee
Fillout
Retool
ReplitHosting
Neon + Cloudflare:
Comigo
Deepmark
DEV Communityinbox-zero
LaunchSafe
Marble
Recent.dev
Saturn
SendTidings
Skippr AI
SubtitleGeneratorsupersetand 9 more
ComigoDeepmarkDEV Communityinbox-zeroLaunchSafeMarbleRecent.devSaturnSendTidingsSkippr AISubtitleGeneratorsupersetand 9 more
Prized
Studio
Macaly
Incident/Ops
Ruby
Website Builder for Gumroad Products
Cure AI
Jina
Open Analytics
Storyville
Toolable.ai
Kodo
Unabyss
Shape
TaskShellWith PlanetScaleTransactional Email
PlanetScale + Resend:
Cushion
Eververse
Hoplite
MindFort
Reworkd
Supafax
Human Behavior
papermark
Context.dev
Superwall
Blacksmith
CushionEververseHopliteMindFortReworkdSupafaxHuman BehaviorpapermarkContext.devSuperwallBlacksmith
Sailhouse
LinearPlanetScale + SendGrid:
RunLLM
Trellis AI
Supademo
RunLLMTrellis AISupademoHosting
valvPlanetScale + Google Cloud Platform:RunLLM
SEO GetsContext.dev
RunLLMSEO GetsContext.devNeither quite right?
See the whole database decision →
SupabaseBackend platformPostgres plus auth, storage and realtime in one project.vs Neon →vs PlanetScale →
Convex
FirebaseBackend platformMobile apps that need offline sync and client-side SDKs.
Turso
MongoDBManaged databaseDocument-shaped data and teams already fluent in Mongo.
PostgreSQLRun it yourselfThe engine behind most of the hosted options above, run on your own server or container for full control and a flat cost.vs Neon →