Dash0 vs PlanetScale — Pricing, Plans, and Verified Costs (2026)
PlanetScale starts at $5/mo. Dash0 uses custom pricing — request a quote to compare.
See price history: Dash0 · PlanetScale
How pricing works
These two tools don't price the same way, so the headline numbers below aren't directly comparable until you plug in your own volume.
- Dash0 (Per Usage) — Dash0 bills purely on usage — $0.20/M metrics + $0.60/M spans/logs/events (no monthly base). There is no fixed per-seat fee, so the monthly cost depends entirely on how much you consume.
- PlanetScale (Unknown model) — PlanetScale bills on a fixed plan from $5/mo, so the listed price is what you pay regardless of volume.
Per-minute, per-credit and per-token rates exclude any downstream model, speech or telephony costs unless the vendor states otherwise.
Dash0 is a consumption-based OpenTelemetry-native observability platform with zero monthly base fee — pay only for data ingested. Rates: $0.20 per million metric data points (13-month retention), $0.60 per million spans/log records/web events (30-day retention), $0.20 per thousand synthetic API check runs (13-month retention), $0.60 per Agent0 AI credit, $10/user for AI Coding Insights. 14-day unlimited free trial, no credit card. Recently acquired Polar Signals.
Serverless MySQL platform built on Vitess (YouTube's original scaling infra). Positioned as the alternative to Amazon Aurora for teams that need horizontal scale with zero downtime schema changes. PS-5 cluster starts at $39/mo, HA clusters from $59/mo. Distinctive for branching + deploy requests (git-like workflow for schema changes). Killed its free tier in April 2024 — controversial move that drove users to Neon + Turso.
All plans compared
| Tier role | Plan | Dash0 monthly | Dash0 annual | PlanetScale monthly | PlanetScale annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free / starter | Pay-as-you-go / Hobby | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Entry paid | — / $5 PlanetScale | — | — | $5 | $5 |
| Enterprise | — / Enterprise | — | — | Custom | Custom |
Tier names differ across vendors. Rows are aligned by tier role, not name. Full tier structures on each tool's page.
What each is best for
Dash0 is worth it if… Dash0 is ideal for teams tired of predicting observability spend against per-host commits. Best if telemetry volume is bursty and you want granular per-signal cost visibility instead of tier-based billing.
PlanetScale is worth it if… developers who want serverless MySQL with branching (Git-like schema changes) and read replicas — particularly for high-traffic apps that outgrow shared Postgres. New $5/mo tier launched 2026 undercutting AWS RDS on entry pricing; Scaler adds more resources; Enterprise custom.
Bottom line: Similar positioning, closer to a preference call than a strategic one.
Choose Dash0 over PlanetScale if…
Choose Dash0 if…
- You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, a free entry tier).
- You match the profile Dash0 is built for: ideal for teams tired of predicting observability spend against per-host commits.
- You need a general-purpose developer & infrastructure option rather than a vertical-specific one.
Choose PlanetScale if…
- You're comfortable with PlanetScale's from $5/mo entry point.
- You match the profile PlanetScale is built for: developers who want serverless MySQL with branching (Git-like schema changes) and read replicas — particularly for high-traffic apps that outgrow shared Postgres.
- You need a general-purpose developer & infrastructure option rather than a vertical-specific one.
At a glance
| Dash0 | PlanetScale | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Entry price | Pricing not published | $5/mo |
| Enterprise available | No | Yes |
| Pricing model | Per Usage | — |
| Verification | Pricing under review | Checked October 3, 2026 |
| Full pricing | View full pricing | View full pricing |
Pricing last verified October 3, 2026. Verification cadence varies by tool; check each tool page.