ScaleGrid vs Turso
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of ScaleGrid and Turso built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
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
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…
- 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.
- 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.
3 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.
ScaleGrid 0
Turso 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | ScaleGrid | Turso |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Pricing model | 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. | 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. |
| Data | ||
| Engine | MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, RabbitMQ and SQL Server. | 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. |
Where they differ.
Free tier
- ScaleGrid
- No
- Turso
- Yes
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- ScaleGrid Pricing ↗
“Experience ScaleGrid for 7 days, no credit card required. [A time-limited trial, not an ongoing free plan.]”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
- Pricing — Turso ↗
“Free $0 Sign up [...] Databases Free 100 [...] Storage Free 5GB [...] Monthly Rows Read Free 500 Million [...] Monthly Rows Written Free 10 Million”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Pricing model
- 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.
- 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) →Sources ↓
- 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
- 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
Engine
- ScaleGrid
- MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, RabbitMQ and SQL Server.
- 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) →Sources ↓
- ScaleGrid Pricing ↗
“MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, RabbitMQ, SQL Server.”
Read 2026-09-11 · official pricing
- Pricing — Turso ↗
“Embedded Replicas Database Branching Backups & Recovery Platform API Turso Database Quickstart”
Read 2026-09-06 · official site
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.
Free tier: ScaleGrid or Turso?
ScaleGrid: No
Turso: Yes
Should I choose ScaleGrid or Turso?
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.
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.