PlanetScale vs Turso

Side-by-side — pricing, strengths, tradeoffs, and fit.

PlanetScale

MySQL-compatible serverless database that scales without limits

Turso

SQLite for the edge — low latency, multi-tenant, globally distributed

At a glance

Open Source
● Established·From $5/mo
Open SourceFree Tier
● Established·From Freemium

Overview

One-liner

MySQL-compatible serverless database that scales without limits

One-liner

SQLite for the edge — low latency, multi-tenant, globally distributed

Maturity

Established

Maturity

Established

Open source

✓ Yes

Open source

✓ Yes

Pricing

Free tier

✕ None

Free tier

✓ Available

Starts at

$5/mo

Starts at

Freemium

Model

Usage-based

Model

Hybrid

Enterprise

✕ None

Enterprise

✕ None

Best for

✓ Best for

Growth-stage startups and scale-ups who need MySQL compatibility with horizontal scaling and zero-downtime schema changes
Enterprise teams running high-traffic applications that have outgrown single-node MySQL
Agency and consultant teams managing multiple production databases who need reliable branching workflows

✓ Best for

Solo developers and startup founders building multi-tenant apps who want a per-user database model with SQLite simplicity
Developers building edge or serverless apps who need ultra-low-latency reads
Indie hackers and side projects that want embedded SQLite with remote sync

Not ideal for

✕ Not for

Hobby developers or solo developers on a tight budget since the free tier was removed
Teams requiring Postgres instead of MySQL

✕ Not for

Applications requiring complex joins across a massive shared dataset
Teams needing Postgres-specific features or extensions

Strengths

↑ Strengths

MySQL-compatible
Vitess-powered sharding
Non-blocking schema migrations
Database branching

↑ Strengths

libSQL (SQLite fork)
Edge deployment
Multi-database per account
Embedded replicas

Weaknesses

↓ Weaknesses

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↓ Weaknesses

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Full PlanetScale profile →Full Turso profile →