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Nile vs Turso

SEPT 2026 audit

A comparison of Nile and Turso built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.

Reviewed by Palash BagchiUpdated 27 criteria comparedSources last checked

The short answer

Choose Nile if…

Multi-tenant SaaS where every customer wants isolation — Nile makes a database per tenant the default shape rather than something you build on top of Postgres.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved

Choose Turso if…

Applications that want a database per tenant or per user — 100 databases on the free plan and unlimited above it make that a shape you can actually build.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved

Consider something else if…

  • Nile: Several of the features on its own pricing table are marked Coming soon, including branching, backups and provisioned compute, so what is bought today is narrower than the table suggests.
  • Turso: It is SQLite, not Postgres: the metered units are rows read and written rather than compute, and the extension ecosystem you may be relying on is not there.

Neither quite fits? Every other option, ranked by iScore: Nile alternatives · Turso alternatives

12 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.

Visit Nile documentationVisit Turso documentation

No affiliate links, sponsored placements or paid rankings appear on this site. Ordering follows the sourced data and the stated criteria.

01.

At a glance.

CriterionNileTurso
Pricing
Free tierYes — Ongoing $0 Free plan: 50M query tokens, 1 GB storage, 500 connections, no pauses.Yes
Kind of free offerFree tierFree tier
Entry paid plan
$15/month for Pro, which carries a production SLA. Scale is $350/month.
$4.99/month for Developer, the cheapest paid plan. Scaler is $24.92 and Pro $416.58.
Pricing modelPriced on queries rather than instances, with a $15 base for Pro. Nile's own framing is "Pay for queries, not for instances", and additional tokens are $0.05 per million.Per database, metered on rows rather than compute time: 500 million rows read and 10 million written a month on the free plan, 2.5 billion and 25 million on Developer, with overage at $1 per billion rows read and $1 per million written.
Limits
Storage (entry plan)
5 GB on Pro, then $1.00 per additional GB.
9 GB on Developer, then $0.75 per GB. The free plan includes 5 GB; Scaler is 24 GB at $0.50 and Pro 50 GB at $0.45.
Infrastructure
Regions
Two regions selectable for a new database: AWS_US_WEST_2 (AWS US West, Oregon) and AWS_EU_CENTRAL_1 (AWS Europe, Frankfurt). The separate list-available-regions endpoint enumerates a third value, AZURE_EASTUS.
Six AWS locations in the Platform API's location list: Tokyo (ap-northeast-1), Mumbai (ap-south-1), Ireland (eu-west-1), N. Virginia (us-east-1), Ohio (us-east-2) and Oregon (us-west-2). Read from the documented GET /v1/locations sample response; the same six AWS regions are offered for PrivateLink.
Data
EnginePostgreSQL, with tenant isolation as a first-class concept — databases, tenant databases and vector embeddings are all described as unlimited.SQLite, via libSQL — Turso's own fork. Not Postgres or MySQL, so the query surface and the client libraries differ from every other database on this site.
When idleNo cold start on Pro — Nile lists it as a plan feature rather than a behaviour to configure.Databases are archived after 10 days of inactivity on the free plan; an unarchive call through the CLI or Platform API brings the group back. Turso publishes no archival window for paid plans.
Database branching
Not supported — Pricing marks Branching 'Coming soon': one branch Free, 50 Pro, unlimited Scale.
Supported
Backup retentionThree backups taken daily; restore is request-based through support and available on paid tiers only. No retention window is published.Continuous rather than scheduled: backups are taken at every COMMIT and kept for the plan's restore window — 24 hours on Free, 10 days on Developer, 30 on Scaler, 90 on Pro. Turso publishes no separate backup retention setting.
Compliance
SOC 2Listed on the pricing plan comparison as 'Coming soon'; the Free and Pro columns show '-' for SOC 2.Volume-level encryption at rest is described as part of Turso's SOC 2 standards; the docs point to Turso's trust center for details.
GDPR / data residency
Region choice covers residency: a database can be provisioned in eu-central-1 (Frankfurt), which Nile presents as easing EU data-residency rules. From Nile's 2024-04-10 regions announcement; the live API region enum still lists AWS_EU_CENTRAL_1.
A database confined to EU locations never leaves the EU; the exception is backups, which are stored in S3 in the us-east-2 region.
Encryption at rest
Stated for Nile Auth: all communication is encrypted using TLS and all stored data is encrypted at rest. Read in the Nile Auth FAQ; Nile publishes no platform-wide security page.
All databases in Turso Cloud are encrypted at rest at the volume level, which Turso describes as part of its SOC 2 standards.
Dedicated infrastructureProvisioned compute is dedicated to a single Nile customer; tenants can be placed on either serverless or provisioned compute. The pricing page separately marks Provisioned Compute 'Coming soon' (upto 4 VCPU on Pro).Pro and Enterprise can use their own S3 / S3-Express buckets so data lives in their infrastructure; compute in your own account is roadmap, not shipped.

Only criteria both providers publish appear here; a tinted cell marks a real difference. Criteria only one of them documents are listed below, and an absence there means we found no source — not that the feature is missing. How we source this.

The small bar above a value is inetGeek's own lean toward that side — computed from the same facts shown, never a number the provider published. See the picker below "The short answer" to weigh only the criteria you care about.

02.

Where they differ.

Entry paid plan

Nile
$15/month for Pro, which carries a production SLA. Scale is $350/month.
Turso
$4.99/month for Developer, the cheapest paid plan. Scaler is $24.92 and Pro $416.58.
Sources (2) →
  • Pricing — Nile ↗

    “Pro For launching production workloads. With production SLA $ 15 / month [...] Scale For scale, more security and global presence $ 350 / month”

    Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing · Report a correction

  • Pricing — Turso ↗

    “Developer $ 4.99 /month Get Developer Scaler $ 24.92 /month Get Scaler Pro $ 416.58 /month”

    Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing · Report a correction

Pricing model

Nile
Priced on queries rather than instances, with a $15 base for Pro. Nile's own framing is "Pay for queries, not for instances", and additional tokens are $0.05 per million.
Turso
Per database, metered on rows rather than compute time: 500 million rows read and 10 million written a month on the free plan, 2.5 billion and 25 million on Developer, with overage at $1 per billion rows read and $1 per million written.
Sources (2) →
  • Pricing — Nile ↗

    “Pay for queries Not for instances [...] 0.05 per million additional tokens Storage 5 GB $1.00 per additional GB”

    Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing · Report a correction

  • Pricing — Turso ↗

    “Monthly Rows Read Free 500 Million Developer 2.5 Billion + $1 / Billion Scaler 100 Billion + $0.80 / Billion [...] Monthly Rows Written Free 10 Million Developer 25 Million + $1 / Million”

    Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing · Report a correction

Storage (entry plan)

Nile

5 GB on Pro, then $1.00 per additional GB.

Turso

9 GB on Developer, then $0.75 per GB. The free plan includes 5 GB; Scaler is 24 GB at $0.50 and Pro 50 GB at $0.45.

Sources (2) →

Regions

Nile

Two regions selectable for a new database: AWS_US_WEST_2 (AWS US West, Oregon) and AWS_EU_CENTRAL_1 (AWS Europe, Frankfurt). The separate list-available-regions endpoint enumerates a third value, AZURE_EASTUS.

Turso

Six AWS locations in the Platform API's location list: Tokyo (ap-northeast-1), Mumbai (ap-south-1), Ireland (eu-west-1), N. Virginia (us-east-1), Ohio (us-east-2) and Oregon (us-west-2). Read from the documented GET /v1/locations sample response; the same six AWS regions are offered for PrivateLink.

Sources (2) →
  • Nile API reference - Create a database ↗

    “The region where the database will be hosted. Nile currently supports the following values: AWS_US_WEST_2 - AWS in US West (Oregon) AWS_EU_CENTRAL_1 - AWS in Europe (Frankfurt)”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

  • List Locations - Turso Platform API ↗

    “"aws-ap-northeast-1" : "AWS AP NorthEast (Tokyo)" , "aws-ap-south-1" : "AWS AP South (Mumbai)" , "aws-eu-west-1" : "AWS EU West (Ireland)" , "aws-us-east-1" : "AWS US East (Virginia)" , "aws-us-east-2" : "AWS US East (Ohio)" , "aws-us-west-2" : "AWS US West (Oregon)"”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

Engine

Nile
PostgreSQL, with tenant isolation as a first-class concept — databases, tenant databases and vector embeddings are all described as unlimited.
Turso
SQLite, via libSQL — Turso's own fork. Not Postgres or MySQL, so the query surface and the client libraries differ from every other database on this site.
Sources (2) →
  • Pricing — Nile ↗

    “multi-tenant applications with Nile's Postgres Unlimited Databases Unlimited Tenants Pay for queries Not for instances Limitless vector embeddings”

    Read 2026-09-06 · official site · Report a correction

  • Pricing — Turso ↗

    “Embedded Replicas Database Branching Backups & Recovery Platform API Turso Database Quickstart”

    Read 2026-09-06 · official site · Report a correction

When idle

Nile
No cold start on Pro — Nile lists it as a plan feature rather than a behaviour to configure.
Turso
Databases are archived after 10 days of inactivity on the free plan; an unarchive call through the CLI or Platform API brings the group back. Turso publishes no archival window for paid plans.
Sources (2) →

Database branching

Nile
Not supported — Pricing marks Branching 'Coming soon': one branch Free, 50 Pro, unlimited Scale.
Turso
Supported
Sources (2) →

Backup retention

Nile
Three backups taken daily; restore is request-based through support and available on paid tiers only. No retention window is published.
Turso
Continuous rather than scheduled: backups are taken at every COMMIT and kept for the plan's restore window — 24 hours on Free, 10 days on Developer, 30 on Scaler, 90 on Pro. Turso publishes no separate backup retention setting.
Sources (2) →

SOC 2

Nile
Listed on the pricing plan comparison as 'Coming soon'; the Free and Pro columns show '-' for SOC 2.
Turso
Volume-level encryption at rest is described as part of Turso's SOC 2 standards; the docs point to Turso's trust center for details.
Sources (2) →

GDPR / data residency

Nile
Region choice covers residency: a database can be provisioned in eu-central-1 (Frankfurt), which Nile presents as easing EU data-residency rules. From Nile's 2024-04-10 regions announcement; the live API region enum still lists AWS_EU_CENTRAL_1.
Turso
A database confined to EU locations never leaves the EU; the exception is backups, which are stored in S3 in the us-east-2 region.
Sources (2) →
  • Introducing: SaaS Anywhere on Postgres - for Speed and Compliance ↗

    “We started with us-west-2 (Oregon) and you now have the option to also provision a database in eu-central-1 (Frankfurt). [...] There are many regions with strict data residency regulations: EU, UK, parts of Canada, Japan, Australia [...] Having databases in the relevant regions make this a lot simpler and safer.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official site · Report a correction

  • Turso's Trust Center - FAQ ↗

    “By creating a database that only spans locations in the European Union, your data will never leave the European Union. The exception are backups. Backups are stored in S3, in the us-east-2 region.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official site · Report a correction

Encryption at rest

Nile
Stated for Nile Auth: all communication is encrypted using TLS and all stored data is encrypted at rest. Read in the Nile Auth FAQ; Nile publishes no platform-wide security page.
Turso
All databases in Turso Cloud are encrypted at rest at the volume level, which Turso describes as part of its SOC 2 standards.
Sources (2) →

Dedicated infrastructure

Nile
Provisioned compute is dedicated to a single Nile customer; tenants can be placed on either serverless or provisioned compute. The pricing page separately marks Provisioned Compute 'Coming soon' (upto 4 VCPU on Pro).
Turso
Pro and Enterprise can use their own S3 / S3-Express buckets so data lives in their infrastructure; compute in your own account is roadmap, not shipped.
Sources (2) →
  • Architecture of Nile Postgres ↗

    “Serverless compute is built with true multitenancy, while provisioned compute is dedicated to a single Nile customer. [...] Tenants can be placed on either serverless or provisioned compute.”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

  • Durability Guarantees - Turso Documentation ↗

    “Pro and Enterprise customers can use their own S3 / S3-express buckets, guaranteeing that data lives inside their infrastructure. In our future roadmap, compute will also be runnable inside your account, for a full BYOC solution”

    Read 2026-09-13 · official docs · Report a correction

When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.

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03.

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 — except where we say we read the other provider's own page on a given date and it does not state it. Those rows lean, and the provider can correct them with a link.

Credit card to startTurso: No
Memory (entry plan)Nile: No memory figure published: serverless compute is billed in query tokens, abstract units of CPU and memory, 50 million included on the Free plan.
Managed connection poolingNile: Supported
Connection limitNile: 10,000 connections on Pro, with connection pooling included.
Point-in-time recoveryTurso: 10 days on Developer. 1 day on the free plan, 30 days on Scaler and 90 days on Pro.
Read replicasTurso: Limited — Embedded replicas run inside your app; managed multi-region Data Edge replica locations are deprecated for new users.
Rewind in placeTurso: Not supported — PITR restores forward into a fresh database; the existing database cannot be rewound in place.
Max vector dimensionsTurso: 65536 dimensions maximum per vector, listed under "Vector Limitations" for libSQL native vector search on Turso Cloud
Support on entry paid planTurso: Community support on Free and on Developer ($4.99/month), the entry paid plan. Priority email support starts at Pro ($416.58/month); Enterprise adds 24x7.
HIPAATurso: Turso states it is HIPAA compliant and will provide a HIPAA compliance BAA letter to Pro plan and Enterprise users on request.
Customer-managed keysTurso: BYOK on Pro and Enterprise: each database can be encrypted with a key you supply, and Turso never sees or stores the keys.
Role-based access controlTurso: Organization members hold one of three roles - admin, member or viewer - and only an admin or owner can change a member's role.
Private networking / VPCTurso: AWS PrivateLink VPC endpoints keep traffic to Turso databases inside AWS's private network; offered in six AWS regions.
04.

Questions this comparison answers.

Entry paid plan: Nile or Turso?

Nile: $15/month for Pro, which carries a production SLA. Scale is $350/month.

Turso: $4.99/month for Developer, the cheapest paid plan. Scaler is $24.92 and Pro $416.58.

Storage (entry plan): Nile or Turso?

Nile: 5 GB on Pro, then $1.00 per additional GB.

Turso: 9 GB on Developer, then $0.75 per GB. The free plan includes 5 GB; Scaler is 24 GB at $0.50 and Pro 50 GB at $0.45.

Should I choose Nile or Turso?

Pick Nile if Multi-tenant SaaS where every customer wants isolation — Nile makes a database per tenant the default shape rather than something you build on top of Postgres.

Pick Turso if Applications that want a database per tenant or per user — 100 databases on the free plan and unlimited above it make that a shape you can actually build.

Provider pages

NilePostgres reshaped around tenants, with per-tenant databases and vector embeddings included rather than metered separately.TursoManaged SQLite built on libSQL, priced per database with rows read and written as the metered units.

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Comments

Every page here is sourced and dated.