Use Planetscale if
Teams that value speed and simplicity
MySQL and Vitess remain a mismatch for teams standardizing on the Postgres-first modern web tooling stack.
Relational Databases
Planetscale vs Rds
Rds edges out Planetscale for the default recommendation.
Use Rds if
Enterprise and governance-heavy teams
AWS-native teams that need mature controls, VPC integration, and predictable production operations.
Head to head
| Tool | Branching | Free Tier | Serverless | Lockin Risk | Cost 100k Users | Postgres Compatible | Time To First Query | Operational Overhead | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planetscale | Medium | 39 | 3 | Low | |||||
| Rds | Low | 72 | 18 | High | Pick |
Cost at scale
The pricing picture after the free tier
| Tool | Starter | Growth | Enterprise-ish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planetscale | $39 | $329 | $658 |
| Rds | $13 | $412 | $824 |
Rds
Rds edges out Planetscale for the default recommendation.
Planetscale is still credible when its constraints matter more than the default path.