Database & Backend Platform · decision tool

Neon vs PlanetScale — serverless Postgres or Vitess MySQL?

Serverless Postgres (Neon) or Vitess-scaled MySQL (PlanetScale)? Set your users, data and budget; the verdict and monthly cost update live from verified pricing.

Prices verified 2026-07-15 against official pricing pages · fit weights are our estimates (see methodology) · share the URL to share your configuration

As of Jul 2026, with 5,000 monthly active users, 5 GB database size, 40 GB monthly egress, 1,000 db operations per user / month, 24 compute active hours / day, a $50 budget for this slot, Neon ranks first for these inputs at 89% fit and a StackSays-estimated $21.08/month (PlanetScale: 78% fit, $15.00/month). Fit weights are our estimates; prices trace to official pages. Change any input below and the verdict recomputes.

Your situation

The verdict updates as you move these.

Monthly active userspeople actually hitting the app each monthDatabase size (GB)rows + indexes; a typical early SaaS is 1–10GBMonthly egress (GB)data served out of the DB/API to clientsCompute active hours / daybills ONLY serverless-compute DBs (Neon); always-on (Supabase/PlanetScale/Mongo) and per-operation (Firestore/Turso) DBs ignore itBudget for this slot ($/mo)what you'd accept paying for the database layerTeam size1 = solo; bundled platforms save glue time for small teams

Clear pick for your inputs

Neonfit 89% · est $21.08/mo

Serverless Postgres with branching; compute suspends when idle

vs PlanetScale: fit 89% against 78%, est $21.08 against $15.00+ per month

Neonfit 89%

$21.08/mo

PlanetScalefit 78%

$15.00+/mo

Comparing 2 tools head-to-head. Open the full field (7 options) →

The decision, in plain words

For a solo builder at 5,000 monthly active users and a $50.00/mo budget for the database slot, Neon leads at 89% fit and $21.08/mo. The two rules doing the work: budget fit (~$21.08/mo is 42% of your $50/mo budget); ecosystem maturity (established — our estimate from ecosystem age, docs and hiring pool).

The gap to PlanetScale (78% fit) is wide at these inputs — you'd need to change your requirements, not your taste, to flip it.

Generated from the calculation above — every number traces to the sourced data; nothing here is written by an AI making things up.

Why Neon scores 89%

Budget fit (weight 30, our estimate) — ~$21.08/mo is 42% of your $50/mo budget+30

Batteries included (weight 12, our estimate) — Bundles auth — fewer services to glue at team size 1+4

Exit cost (weight 4, our estimate) — Standard Postgres — dump and restore anywhere+4

Ecosystem maturity (weight 8, our estimate) — established — our estimate from ecosystem age, docs and hiring pool+8

Free-tier runway (weight 10, our estimate) — Free tier exists (0.5GB storage + 100 compute-hours per project, 5GB egress, 60K auth MAU) — a cheap staging/dev lane even after you outgrow it+4

Total (lines sum exactly)50

Possible range −64…+64 (sum of active rule weights) · fit % = (total + max) / (2 × max)(50 + 64) / 128 = 89%

How the $21.08/mo estimate is calculated

Compute overage — 182.4 CU-h over 0 CU-h included × $0.106/ CU-h$19.33

Database storage overage — 5GB over 0GB included × $0.35/GB$1.75

Note — Compute billed per CU-hour ($0.106); suspended compute costs $0; storage $0.35/GB-month$0

Monthly total (lines sum exactly)$21.08

What could change this verdict

Cost risk

Estimated now (StackSays estimate, not your final bill)$21.08/mo · Launch (pay-as-you-go)

Free-tier statusFree tier exceeded (database storage 5GB > 0.5GB cap)

Next known billing thresholdat 500GB egress, overage starts ($0.1/GB)

Official prices verified 2026-07-15; calculation is deterministic code over those prices.

At a glance

Tool	Free tier	Paid entry	Verified
Neon	0.5GB storage + 100 compute-hours per project, 5GB egress, 60K auth MAU	Pay-as-you-go — Compute billed per CU-hour ($0.106); suspended compute costs $0; storage $0.35/GB-month	2026-07-15
PlanetScale	No free tier	PS-5 HA cluster $15/mo	2026-07-15

Where did you land?anonymous, one click

Data sources

Tool	Source	Verified
Neon	Neon pricing page	2026-07-15
PlanetScale	PlanetScale pricing page	2026-07-15

A monitor re-checks these pages for changes; when a vendor moves a price, the date updates and every verdict recomputes.

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