Neon vs PlanetScale
Agent-native side-by-side. Scores are curated estimates on a 0–10 scale. Lock-in: higher = worse. Prefer JTBD picks via /api/decide when choosing for a job.
| Dimension | Neon | PlanetScale |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 8.6 | 8.2 |
| Capability fit | 8.6 | 8.6 |
| Price / performance | 8.8 | 7.4 |
| Latency / reliability | 8.6 | 8.8 |
| Developer & agent DX | 9.4 | 9.2 |
| Privacy / data retention | 8.2 | 8.0 |
| Lock-in risk (higher = worse) | 3.0 | 4.8 |
| Maturity / track record | 8.5 | 8.8 |
| Pricing | Serverless Postgres with branching; pgvector supported; usage-based compute/storage. | As of 2026-09-14 (planetscale.com/pricing.md, AWS us-east-1): Postgres single-node from **$5/mo** (PS-5); HA 3-node from **$15/mo** (PS-5); PS-160 ARM HA $286; Vitess HA PS-10 $39+. Metal NVMe SKUs from ~$50–$60 (M-10). … |
| Tagline | Excellent serverless Postgres for agent apps that want branching + pgvector without Supabase's full BaaS. | Serverless DB peer when branching DX matters. Prefer Neon/Supabase for default Postgres+pgvector agents… |
Neon
Excellent serverless Postgres for agent apps that want branching + pgvector without Supabase's full BaaS. Strengths: Serverless Postgres DX; Branching for previews/agents; pgvector without managing Postgres.
Strengths
- Serverless Postgres DX
- Branching for previews/agents
- pgvector without managing Postgres
Weaknesses
- Not a dedicated vector DB
- Cold starts on free compute
- Scale limits vs dedicated vector engines
PlanetScale
Serverless DB peer when branching DX matters. Prefer Neon/Supabase for default Postgres+pgvector agents; PlanetScale when Vitess/MySQL or schema-branch workflows dominate. Strengths: Best-in-class database branching / nonblocking schema deploy DX; Horizontal MySQL heritage + Postgres path; Good fit for agents that migr
Strengths
- Best-in-class database branching / nonblocking schema deploy DX
- Horizontal MySQL heritage + Postgres path
- Good fit for agents that migrate schemas often
Weaknesses
- SKU matrix large (Postgres/Vitess/Neki/Metal) — always query pricing.md/SQL catalog
- Not a dedicated vector DB
- Can be pricier than Neon/Supabase for simple Postgres
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