PlanetScale vs DynamoDB for Solo Developers

Quick Comparison

PlanetScale Overview

PlanetScale wraps MySQL in a modern developer experience. Built on Vitess (the technology that scaled YouTube's databases), it gives you database branching, non-blocking schema changes, and a workflow that treats database migrations like pull requests. You branch, test, merge. No more crossing your fingers during production ALTER TABLE statements.

The DX is genuinely good. The CLI works well, the web dashboard is clean, and everything feels designed for developers rather than database administrators. When I've needed MySQL for a project, PlanetScale's workflow made schema management much less stressful than raw MySQL administration.

The catch is pricing. With no free tier, you're starting at $39/mo. For a solo developer running multiple side projects, that cost adds up fast. And the foreign key limitation (disabled by default because Vitess doesn't handle them well) means you're giving up a fundamental SQL feature.

DynamoDB Overview

DynamoDB is AWS's fully managed NoSQL database. It delivers single-digit millisecond response times at any scale, and it truly means any scale. Netflix, Lyft, and Airbnb all run on DynamoDB. It handles millions of requests per second without breaking a sweat.

But scale is DynamoDB's pitch, and it comes with a brutal learning curve. Data modeling in DynamoDB is nothing like SQL. You design your tables around your access patterns, not your data relationships. Single-table design, partition keys, sort keys, GSIs, LSIs. It's an entirely different way of thinking about data.

I've built small projects on DynamoDB's free tier and it works, but the mental overhead is constant. Every new feature requires rethinking your access patterns. Every query needs an index planned in advance. For a solo developer who just wants to store and retrieve data, this is way too much friction.

Key Differences

SQL vs NoSQL is the fundamental divide. PlanetScale gives you MySQL with relational tables, joins, and structured queries. DynamoDB gives you key-value and document storage where you trade query flexibility for performance at scale. If your data is relational (users have orders, orders have items), PlanetScale is the natural fit. If it's key-value (session data, user profiles, event logs), DynamoDB can work.

Data modeling complexity is night and day. With PlanetScale, you design your schema, write SQL, and the ORM handles the rest. With DynamoDB, you must understand your query patterns before you write a single line of data. Adding a new query pattern later might require restructuring your entire table or adding a new Global Secondary Index. For solo developers iterating quickly, this is a serious constraint.

Pricing models differ completely. PlanetScale charges a flat $39/mo minimum. DynamoDB offers pay-per-request pricing where you pay for actual reads and writes, plus a 25GB free tier. For low-traffic projects, DynamoDB can be nearly free. For moderate traffic, it can get expensive quickly without provisioned capacity planning.

Vendor lock-in is real with DynamoDB. PlanetScale uses standard MySQL, so you can migrate to any MySQL host. DynamoDB's API is proprietary to AWS. Once you build on DynamoDB, moving off AWS means rewriting your entire data layer. PlanetScale gives you an exit path. DynamoDB does not.

Tooling and local development. PlanetScale works with any MySQL client, any ORM, any SQL tool you already know. DynamoDB requires the AWS SDK, DynamoDB Local for testing, and specialized knowledge. Your existing SQL skills don't transfer.

When to Choose PlanetScale

• You want a relational database with modern developer workflow
• Your data has relationships (users, orders, products, etc.)
• You value the ability to migrate away from your database provider
• You prefer SQL and ORM-based development
• You can afford the $39/mo starting cost

When to Choose DynamoDB

• You're already deep in the AWS ecosystem
• Your access patterns are simple and well-defined (key-value lookups)
• You need extreme scale and don't want to manage infrastructure
• You're building serverless with Lambda and API Gateway
• Your data model is genuinely document or key-value oriented

The Verdict

PlanetScale is the better choice for most solo developers choosing between these two. Relational data models are more flexible, SQL skills are more transferable, and you don't need to become a DynamoDB data modeling expert just to ship a feature.

But honestly? Neither is ideal. PlanetScale's $39/mo with no free tier and no foreign keys is hard to justify when Neon gives you free serverless Postgres. And DynamoDB's learning curve is overkill unless you're already living in AWS. For solo developers, start with Supabase or Neon. You'll ship faster and pay less.