supabase
Product teams that want Postgres plus auth, storage, realtime, and edge functions from one vendor.
You gain platform breadth but accept more vendor coupling and a less focused database-only cost model.
Relational Databases
Managed relational database platforms used for production web apps, SaaS products, and backend services.
Top pick
Top pick for Solo Dev
neon
Best zero-ops Postgres experience with branching and a genuinely usable free tier.
Neon combines native Postgres compatibility, fast setup, database branching, generous entry-level pricing, and strong serverless ergonomics without forcing teams into a broader platform commitment. It stays simple for solo builders, scales cleanly for startups, and avoids the lock-in tradeoffs that come with more opinionated platforms.
- DX Score
- 9.1
- Time to Hello World
- 2 min
- Free Tier
- Free
- Starts at
- $0
Comparison matrix
The shortlist at a glance
Comparison matrix
| Tool | Branching | Free Tier | Serverless | Lockin Risk | Cost 100k Users | Postgres Compatible | Time To First Query | Operational Overhead | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| neon | Low | 29 | 2 | Low | Pick | ||||
| supabase | Medium | 25 | 4 | Low | |||||
| planetscale | Medium | 39 | 3 | Low | |||||
| rds | Low | 72 | 18 | High | |||||
| cockroachdb | Medium | 85 | 7 | Medium |
Also great
Strong alternatives when your constraints shift
rds
AWS-native teams that need mature controls, VPC integration, and predictable production operations.
Excellent infrastructure fit, but slower iteration speed and meaningfully more operational work.
Avoid
Where we would push you elsewhere
planetscale
MySQL and Vitess remain a mismatch for teams standardizing on the Postgres-first modern web tooling stack.
Better alternatives: neon, supabase, rds
Methodology
How this recommendation gets made
Hands-on onboarding runs with the best-supported SDK path.
Pricing snapshots captured at publish time and reviewed on drift.
Benchmarks recorded in a repeatable environment with notes on tradeoffs.
Use this in your agent
npx @vetted/cli recommend relational-databases --context solo-dev
# or query from code
recommend({
category: "relational-databases",
context: "solo-dev"
})
Top pick
Top pick for Startup
neon
Best balance of developer speed, preview workflow support, and cost control.
Neon combines native Postgres compatibility, fast setup, database branching, generous entry-level pricing, and strong serverless ergonomics without forcing teams into a broader platform commitment. It stays simple for solo builders, scales cleanly for startups, and avoids the lock-in tradeoffs that come with more opinionated platforms.
- DX Score
- 9.1
- Time to Hello World
- 2 min
- Free Tier
- Free
- Starts at
- $0
Comparison matrix
The shortlist at a glance
Comparison matrix
| Tool | Branching | Free Tier | Serverless | Lockin Risk | Cost 100k Users | Postgres Compatible | Time To First Query | Operational Overhead | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| neon | Low | 29 | 2 | Low | Pick | ||||
| supabase | Medium | 25 | 4 | Low | |||||
| planetscale | Medium | 39 | 3 | Low | |||||
| rds | Low | 72 | 18 | High | |||||
| cockroachdb | Medium | 85 | 7 | Medium |
Also great
Strong alternatives when your constraints shift
supabase
Product teams that want Postgres plus auth, storage, realtime, and edge functions from one vendor.
You gain platform breadth but accept more vendor coupling and a less focused database-only cost model.
rds
AWS-native teams that need mature controls, VPC integration, and predictable production operations.
Excellent infrastructure fit, but slower iteration speed and meaningfully more operational work.
Avoid
Where we would push you elsewhere
planetscale
MySQL and Vitess remain a mismatch for teams standardizing on the Postgres-first modern web tooling stack.
Better alternatives: neon, supabase, rds
Methodology
How this recommendation gets made
Hands-on onboarding runs with the best-supported SDK path.
Pricing snapshots captured at publish time and reviewed on drift.
Benchmarks recorded in a repeatable environment with notes on tradeoffs.
Use this in your agent
npx @vetted/cli recommend relational-databases --context startup
# or query from code
recommend({
category: "relational-databases",
context: "startup"
})
Top pick
Top pick for Scale Up
supabase
Best when you want database, auth, storage, and realtime under one operational surface.
Best when you want database, auth, storage, and realtime under one operational surface. Product teams that want Postgres plus auth, storage, realtime, and edge functions from one vendor. You gain platform breadth but accept more vendor coupling and a less focused database-only cost model.
- DX Score
- 9.2
- Time to Hello World
- 4 min
- Free Tier
- Free
- Starts at
- $0
Comparison matrix
The shortlist at a glance
Comparison matrix
| Tool | Branching | Free Tier | Serverless | Lockin Risk | Cost 100k Users | Postgres Compatible | Time To First Query | Operational Overhead | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| neon | Low | 29 | 2 | Low | |||||
| supabase | Medium | 25 | 4 | Low | Pick | ||||
| planetscale | Medium | 39 | 3 | Low | |||||
| rds | Low | 72 | 18 | High | |||||
| cockroachdb | Medium | 85 | 7 | Medium |
Also great
Strong alternatives when your constraints shift
rds
AWS-native teams that need mature controls, VPC integration, and predictable production operations.
Excellent infrastructure fit, but slower iteration speed and meaningfully more operational work.
Avoid
Where we would push you elsewhere
planetscale
MySQL and Vitess remain a mismatch for teams standardizing on the Postgres-first modern web tooling stack.
Better alternatives: neon, supabase, rds
Methodology
How this recommendation gets made
Hands-on onboarding runs with the best-supported SDK path.
Pricing snapshots captured at publish time and reviewed on drift.
Benchmarks recorded in a repeatable environment with notes on tradeoffs.
Use this in your agent
npx @vetted/cli recommend relational-databases --context scale-up
# or query from code
recommend({
category: "relational-databases",
context: "scale-up"
})
Top pick
Top pick for Enterprise
rds
Best fit for teams already standardized on AWS networking, compliance, and operational controls.
Best fit for teams already standardized on AWS networking, compliance, and operational controls. AWS-native teams that need mature controls, VPC integration, and predictable production operations. Excellent infrastructure fit, but slower iteration speed and meaningfully more operational work.
- DX Score
- 7.8
- Time to Hello World
- 18 min
- Free Tier
- None
- Starts at
- $13
Comparison matrix
The shortlist at a glance
Comparison matrix
| Tool | Branching | Free Tier | Serverless | Lockin Risk | Cost 100k Users | Postgres Compatible | Time To First Query | Operational Overhead | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| neon | Low | 29 | 2 | Low | |||||
| supabase | Medium | 25 | 4 | Low | |||||
| planetscale | Medium | 39 | 3 | Low | |||||
| rds | Low | 72 | 18 | High | Pick | ||||
| cockroachdb | Medium | 85 | 7 | Medium |
Also great
Strong alternatives when your constraints shift
supabase
Product teams that want Postgres plus auth, storage, realtime, and edge functions from one vendor.
You gain platform breadth but accept more vendor coupling and a less focused database-only cost model.
Avoid
Where we would push you elsewhere
planetscale
MySQL and Vitess remain a mismatch for teams standardizing on the Postgres-first modern web tooling stack.
Better alternatives: neon, supabase, rds
Methodology
How this recommendation gets made
Hands-on onboarding runs with the best-supported SDK path.
Pricing snapshots captured at publish time and reviewed on drift.
Benchmarks recorded in a repeatable environment with notes on tradeoffs.
Use this in your agent
npx @vetted/cli recommend relational-databases --context enterprise
# or query from code
recommend({
category: "relational-databases",
context: "enterprise"
})