PlanetScale vs ScaleGrid
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of PlanetScale and ScaleGrid built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
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
Choose ScaleGrid if…
Teams that already have a favored database engine and cloud provider but want someone else operating it — the BYOC model bills infrastructure at cost and adds management on top, worth it if the operational burden is the actual problem.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- PlanetScale: You are prototyping. Pricing starts at a node rather than at zero, and there is no free tier documented on the pricing page.
- ScaleGrid: The workload fits a single-engine specialist with its own scale-to-zero or branching model — ScaleGrid's value is operating an engine you already chose, not offering a distinctive one.
4 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.
PlanetScale 0
ScaleGrid 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | PlanetScale | ScaleGrid |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | No | No |
| Pricing model | Priced by node size and storage rather than usage, with high-availability clusters sold as a primary plus two replicas | Two models: Dedicated Hosting, an all-inclusive plan covering machine, disk and network cost; or Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC), management-only pricing where the cloud provider is billed separately. |
| Infrastructure | ||
| Regions | 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. | Six cloud providers: AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, DigitalOcean, Oracle Cloud (OCI) and Akamai. Specific regional availability is not published on the pricing or product pages. |
| Data | ||
| Engine | PostgreSQL, and MySQL-compatible Vitess clusters with horizontal sharding | MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, RabbitMQ and SQL Server. |
| Backup 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. | Up to five backups per deployment on ScaleGrid's dedicated hosting plans. |
Where they differ.
Pricing model
- PlanetScale
- Priced by node size and storage rather than usage, with high-availability clusters sold as a primary plus two replicas
- ScaleGrid
- Two models: Dedicated Hosting, an all-inclusive plan covering machine, disk and network cost; or Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC), management-only pricing where the cloud provider is billed separately.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — PlanetScale ↗
“A primary and two included replica nodes ideal for high-availability workloads. 99.99% SLA.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official pricing
- ScaleGrid Pricing ↗
“Dedicated Hosting: All-inclusive plans covering machine, disk, and network costs. Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC): Management-only pricing; you pay cloud provider separately.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
Regions
- 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.
- ScaleGrid
- Six cloud providers: AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, DigitalOcean, Oracle Cloud (OCI) and Akamai. Specific regional availability is not published on the pricing or product pages.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- 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
- ScaleGrid MySQL Hosting ↗
“AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, DigitalOcean, Oracle Cloud (OCI), Akamai.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official site
Engine
- PlanetScale
- PostgreSQL, and MySQL-compatible Vitess clusters with horizontal sharding
- ScaleGrid
- MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, RabbitMQ and SQL Server.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — PlanetScale ↗
“MySQL-compatible with horizontal sharding for massive scale. Runs on network-attached storage or PlanetScale Metal.”
Read 2026-09-05 · official site
- ScaleGrid Pricing ↗
“MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, RabbitMQ, SQL Server.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
Backup 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.
- ScaleGrid
- Up to five backups per deployment on ScaleGrid's dedicated hosting plans.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- 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
- ScaleGrid Pricing ↗
“ScaleGrid offers up to five backups per deployment on ScaleGrid's dedicated hosting plans.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
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.
Should I choose PlanetScale or ScaleGrid?
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.
Pick ScaleGrid if Teams that already have a favored database engine and cloud provider but want someone else operating it — the BYOC model bills infrastructure at cost and adds management on top, worth it if the operational burden is the actual problem.