Neo4j vs PlanetScale
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Neo4j and PlanetScale built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose Neo4j if…
Teams whose data is naturally relationships-first — recommendation engines, fraud detection, knowledge graphs — where the query itself is a graph traversal Cypher expresses directly and a relational join chain would not.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose PlanetScale if…
Production workloads that want replicas across availability zones as the default shape rather than an upgrade, and teams who need MySQL-compatible sharding that the Postgres-only services do not offer.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Neo4j: The data model is tabular and the graph shape is incidental — most CRUD apps fit a relational or document database better, and Neo4j's per-GB memory pricing is a worse fit for large flat datasets than a row-store.
- PlanetScale: You are prototyping. Pricing starts at a node rather than at zero, and there is no free tier documented on the pricing page.
7 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Neo4j 0
PlanetScale 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Neo4j | PlanetScale |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Entry paid plan | $65/GB/month (minimum 1GB cluster) on AuraDB Professional, or $0.09/hour ($65.70/month for 1GB) metered hourly. 14-day free trial available. | $5/month for a single-node Postgres database on network-attached storage; PlanetScale Metal with local NVMe starts at $50/month |
| Pricing model | Usage-based, metered per GB-hour of memory on the Professional tier. A paused database cuts cost by roughly 80%. | Priced by node size and storage rather than usage, with high-availability clusters sold as a primary plus two replicas |
| Infrastructure | ||
| Regions | AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, across more than 60 global cloud regions; also available through the AWS, Azure and Google Cloud marketplaces. | 19 regions — 12 on AWS (Tokyo, Mumbai, Singapore, Sydney, Montreal, Frankfurt, Dublin, London, São Paulo, N. Virginia, Ohio, Oregon) and 7 on GCP. A branch's region is fixed at creation and changing it means migrating. |
| Data | ||
| Engine | Neo4j, a native property graph database. | PostgreSQL, and MySQL-compatible Vitess clusters with horizontal sharding |
| Point-in-time recovery | Not included on the entry-paid (Professional) tier — point-in-time restore is a Business Critical feature, with hourly granularity and 30-day retention. | Point-in-time recovery through write-ahead log archiving. WAL is kept for as long as the oldest backup, so the default schedule gives a 2-day window and a longer retention extends it. |
| Read replicas | Supported | Supported |
| Backup retention | Daily backups, 7-day retention on the entry-paid (Professional) tier. Business Critical adds 30-day retention with hourly point-in-time restore; Virtual Dedicated Cloud gets hourly backups with 60-day retention. | Automatic backups every 12 hours on production and development branches, retained 2 days by default. Custom schedules and manual backups can set a longer period, and are charged for it. |
Where they differ.
Free tier
- Neo4j
- Yes
- PlanetScale
- No
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neo4j Pricing ↗
“No credit card or other payment method required. Start learning with access to all graph tools. [AuraDB Free] places limits on the number of nodes and relationships, suitable for small projects, learning, and prototyping.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
- PlanetScale pricing (machine-readable) ↗
“Postgres EBS non-HA (single node) | PS-5 | x86-64 | 1/16 | 512 MiB | $5 |”
Read 2026-09-07 · official pricing
Entry paid plan
- Neo4j
- $65/GB/month (minimum 1GB cluster) on AuraDB Professional, or $0.09/hour ($65.70/month for 1GB) metered hourly. 14-day free trial available.
- PlanetScale
- $5/month for a single-node Postgres database on network-attached storage; PlanetScale Metal with local NVMe starts at $50/month
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neo4j Pricing ↗
“$65/GB/month, minimum 1GB cluster. 14-day free trial available. 1GB costs $0.09/hour or $65.70/month.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
- Pricing — PlanetScale ↗
“PlanetScale Postgres [...] Single node — Starting at $5/month for development and low-traffic workloads Metal — Starting at $50/month with local NVMe storage for high-performance needs High Availability — 1 primary + 2 replicas across 3 availability zones”
Read 2026-09-05 · official pricing
Pricing model
- Neo4j
- Usage-based, metered per GB-hour of memory on the Professional tier. A paused database cuts cost by roughly 80%.
- PlanetScale
- Priced by node size and storage rather than usage, with high-availability clusters sold as a primary plus two replicas
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neo4j Pricing ↗
“Pause database, save 80% costs.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
- Pricing — PlanetScale ↗
“A primary and two included replica nodes ideal for high-availability workloads. 99.99% SLA.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official pricing
Regions
- Neo4j
- AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, across more than 60 global cloud regions; also available through the AWS, Azure and Google Cloud marketplaces.
- PlanetScale
- 19 regions — 12 on AWS (Tokyo, Mumbai, Singapore, Sydney, Montreal, Frankfurt, Dublin, London, São Paulo, N. Virginia, Ohio, Oregon) and 7 on GCP. A branch's region is fixed at creation and changing it means migrating.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neo4j Pricing ↗
“Available on Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. You can deploy AuraDB in over 60 global cloud regions.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
- Selecting a region — PlanetScale Docs ↗
“Currently, the following regions are supported, with their respective PlanetScale slugs: AWS ap-northeast-1 (Tokyo) [...] AWS us-west-2 (Oregon) [...] GCP us-central1 (Council Bluffs, Iowa) [...] GCP europe-west4 (Eemshaven, Netherlands) [...] Once you select a region for your default branch, it cannot be changed directly, but you can migrate to a new region if needed.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
Engine
- Neo4j
- Neo4j, a native property graph database.
- PlanetScale
- PostgreSQL, and MySQL-compatible Vitess clusters with horizontal sharding
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neo4j Aura documentation ↗
“Neo4j Aura is a fully automated graph platform offered as a cloud service.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official docs
- Pricing — PlanetScale ↗
“MySQL-compatible with horizontal sharding for massive scale. Runs on network-attached storage or PlanetScale Metal.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official site
Point-in-time recovery
- Neo4j
- Not included on the entry-paid (Professional) tier — point-in-time restore is a Business Critical feature, with hourly granularity and 30-day retention.
- PlanetScale
- Point-in-time recovery through write-ahead log archiving. WAL is kept for as long as the oldest backup, so the default schedule gives a 2-day window and a longer retention extends it.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neo4j Pricing ↗
“Business Critical: Daily backups with 30-day retention and hourly point-in-time restore.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
- Back up and restore — PlanetScale Docs ↗
“PlanetScale Postgres databases include comprehensive backup and restore capabilities to protect your data. The backup system provides both automated scheduled backups and manual on-demand backups, as well as point-in-time recovery (PITR) support through Write-Ahead Log (WAL) archiving. [...] WAL logs are retained for the same period as your oldest backup.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
Backup retention
- Neo4j
- Daily backups, 7-day retention on the entry-paid (Professional) tier. Business Critical adds 30-day retention with hourly point-in-time restore; Virtual Dedicated Cloud gets hourly backups with 60-day retention.
- PlanetScale
- Automatic backups every 12 hours on production and development branches, retained 2 days by default. Custom schedules and manual backups can set a longer period, and are charged for it.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Neo4j Pricing ↗
“Professional: Daily backups, 7-day retention. Business Critical: Daily backups with 30-day retention and hourly point-in-time restore. Virtual Dedicated Cloud: Hourly backups with 60-day retention.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
- Back up and restore — PlanetScale Docs ↗
“All PlanetScale Postgres databases include automatic scheduled backups that run every 12 hours for production and development branches. Default backups are created automatically and don't require any setup. There are no additional charges for these backups. [...] The default, included backup schedule retains backups for 2 days. You can set a custom retention period for custom backup schedules and manual one-off backups.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official docs
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: Neo4j or PlanetScale?
Neo4j: $65/GB/month (minimum 1GB cluster) on AuraDB Professional, or $0.09/hour ($65.70/month for 1GB) metered hourly. 14-day free trial available.
PlanetScale: $5/month for a single-node Postgres database on network-attached storage; PlanetScale Metal with local NVMe starts at $50/month
Free tier: Neo4j or PlanetScale?
Neo4j: Yes
PlanetScale: No
Should I choose Neo4j or PlanetScale?
Pick Neo4j if Teams whose data is naturally relationships-first — recommendation engines, fraud detection, knowledge graphs — where the query itself is a graph traversal Cypher expresses directly and a relational join chain would not.
Pick PlanetScale if Production workloads that want replicas across availability zones as the default shape rather than an upgrade, and teams who need MySQL-compatible sharding that the Postgres-only services do not offer.