Neon vs PlanetScale — Pricing, Plans, and Verified Costs (2026)
Neon starts at Free. PlanetScale starts at $5/mo. Neon is $5/mo cheaper on the entry tier than PlanetScale.
See price history: Neon · 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.
- Neon (Per Usage) — Neon bills purely on usage — Free 100 CU-hr/mo + 0.5GB, then $0.106-$0.222/CU-hour + $0.35/GB-month. 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.
Serverless Postgres, valued $2B private. Positioned as the alternative to AWS RDS for developers who want true scale-to-zero + database branching (like git branches for your data). Launch tier from $19/mo, then usage-based on compute + storage + egress. Free tier includes real production Postgres. Popular with modern JavaScript stacks (Next.js, Vercel, Cloudflare) and Series A-B startups. Acquired by Databricks in 2025 for $1B.
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 | Neon monthly | Neon annual | PlanetScale monthly | PlanetScale annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free / starter | Free / Hobby | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Entry paid | — / $5 PlanetScale | — | — | $5 | $5 |
| Enterprise | Enterprise | Custom | Custom | 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
Neon is worth it if… developers building serverless apps that want Postgres with scale-to-zero pricing — particularly if your workload is bursty and you don't want to pay for idle compute. 5GB storage; Launch is pure usage-based; Scale adds multi-AZ HA; Enterprise custom.
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 Neon over PlanetScale if…
Choose Neon if…
- You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, a free entry tier).
- You match the profile Neon is built for: developers building serverless apps that want Postgres with scale-to-zero pricing — particularly if your workload is bursty and you don't want to pay for idle compute.
- 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
| Neon | PlanetScale | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Entry price | Free | $5/mo |
| Enterprise available | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | Per Usage | — |
| Last verified | September 15, 2026 | September 11, 2026 |
| Full pricing | View full pricing | View full pricing |
Pricing last verified September 15, 2026. Tracked daily.