Managed databases

Neon vs PlanetScale

Choose Neon when the database is often idle and you would rather pay $0.106 per CU-hour on Launch than a fixed size. Choose PlanetScale when you want a fixed monthly cluster price and you are ready to skip a free tier.

Neon

Serverless Postgres that can scale to zero

$0.106/CU-hour on Launch

Strengths

  • You pay for compute hours, not a always-on box
  • Branching is built in

Limits

  • A busy database does not stay on the free allowance
  • Scale plan compute costs more than Launch

Vendor pricing Alternatives

PlanetScale

Managed Postgres and Vitess clusters sized by SKU

Paid clusters

Strengths

  • Cluster price is a monthly SKU, easier to budget
  • Schema changes can ship through branching

Limits

  • There is no permanent free cluster
  • You pick a size instead of paying only for idle time

Vendor pricing Alternatives