Datadog vs PlanetScale — Pricing, Plans, and Verified Costs (2026)
Datadog starts at $18/mo. PlanetScale starts at $5/mo. PlanetScale is $13/mo cheaper on the entry tier than Datadog.
See price history: Datadog · 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.
- Datadog (Per Usage) — Datadog bills on usage — host on top of a paid plan starting at $18/mo. The plan includes an allowance; anything beyond it is metered.
- 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.
The dominant cloud observability platform (metrics, logs, traces, APM), publicly traded (DDOG), ~$45B market cap. Positioned as the alternative to New Relic + Splunk + PagerDuty stitched together. Distinctive for its notorious usage-based pricing that has surprised engineering teams with 6-figure monthly bills (Coinbase's leaked contract was ~$65M/year in 2022). Priced by seat + host + volume across 20+ meters. Popular with engineering teams; feared by finance teams.
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 | Datadog monthly | Datadog annual | PlanetScale monthly | PlanetScale annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free / starter | Free / Hobby | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Entry paid | Infrastructure Pro / $5 PlanetScale | $18 | $15 | $5 | $5 |
| Enterprise | Infrastructure Enterprise / Enterprise | $27 | $23 | 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
Datadog is worth it if… infrastructure teams (10+ engineers) that need APM + logs + metrics + synthetics + RUM in one platform — the observability default at mid-market and enterprise scale. Infrastructure covers hosts; APM, Logs, RUM, Synthetics, Database Monitoring each priced separately per module.
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 Datadog over PlanetScale if…
Choose Datadog if…
- You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, from $18/mo).
- You match the profile Datadog is built for: infrastructure teams (10+ engineers) that need APM + logs + metrics + synthetics + RUM in one platform — the observability default at mid-market and enterprise scale.
- 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
| Datadog | PlanetScale | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Entry price | $18/mo | $5/mo |
| Enterprise available | Yes | 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. Tracked daily.
Frequently asked questions
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Common questions about Datadog and PlanetScale
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- How often does Datadog change prices?
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- How much does PlanetScale cost in 2026?
- Does PlanetScale have a free plan?
- How often does PlanetScale change prices?
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