Supabase vs PlanetScale for Solo Developers

Quick Comparison

Supabase Overview

Supabase gives you a PostgreSQL database bundled with auth, file storage, edge functions, real-time subscriptions, and auto-generated REST APIs. It's a complete backend-as-a-service that happens to run on the most reliable database engine in the industry. You can go from zero to a functioning backend in under ten minutes.

The free tier is genuinely useful. 500MB of database storage, 1GB of file storage, 50,000 monthly active auth users, and enough bandwidth for side projects and MVPs. I've built and launched products on Supabase's free tier without hitting limits until real paying customers showed up.

Row-level security is the feature that makes Supabase work as a direct frontend-to-database platform. Define access policies at the database level, and your frontend can query the database directly through the auto-generated API. No backend server needed for basic operations. For a solo developer, that's an enormous amount of code you don't have to write.

PlanetScale Overview

PlanetScale is serverless MySQL built on Vitess, the same technology that powers YouTube's database layer. The standout feature is database branching. Like git branches for your schema, you can create a branch, make schema changes, and merge them back into production with zero downtime. No locking tables, no maintenance windows.

PlanetScale used to have a free tier, but they removed it. The Scaler plan starts at $39/month. For a solo developer evaluating tools, that's a meaningful cost difference compared to Supabase's free tier. You're paying from day one, even for side projects and experiments.

The non-blocking schema change workflow is genuinely impressive. Traditional MySQL migrations lock tables during alterations. PlanetScale applies schema changes without any downtime. For production databases with heavy traffic, this is a real benefit. Whether a solo developer needs it is another question.

Key Differences

Database engine. Supabase runs PostgreSQL. PlanetScale runs MySQL. If you prefer Postgres (and most developers do in 2026), Supabase aligns with that preference. PlanetScale ties you to MySQL, which has a weaker feature set for things like JSONB, array columns, and advanced query capabilities.

Free tier. Supabase has one. PlanetScale doesn't. For solo developers experimenting, prototyping, or running side projects, this is a significant factor. Supabase lets you build for free until your project proves itself. PlanetScale costs $39/month from the start.

Scope of service. Supabase is a platform. Database, auth, file storage, real-time, edge functions. PlanetScale is purely a database. If you need auth or file storage alongside PlanetScale, you're adding separate services and paying for each one. Supabase bundles everything together.

Schema changes. PlanetScale's branching and non-blocking schema changes are best-in-class for MySQL. Supabase handles migrations through standard PostgreSQL tools (or their built-in migration system). For solo developers, Supabase's approach is simpler. PlanetScale's workflow is more powerful but adds complexity that most small projects don't need.

Foreign keys. PlanetScale historically didn't support foreign key constraints (due to Vitess limitations). They've since added support, but it's worth noting. Supabase and PostgreSQL have had full foreign key support forever. If referential integrity matters to you, Supabase never had this caveat.

Pricing trajectory. Supabase Pro is $25/month and includes auth, storage, and a larger database. PlanetScale Scaler is $39/month for just the database. If you need the features Supabase bundles, the price gap widens further once you add auth and storage services to PlanetScale.

When to Choose Supabase

• You want a complete backend without writing backend code
• You need auth, file storage, and real-time alongside your database
• You want to start for free and only pay when your project has traction
• You prefer PostgreSQL over MySQL
• You're building a frontend-heavy app that talks directly to the database

When to Choose PlanetScale

• You're committed to MySQL for your project
• You need non-blocking schema changes for a high-traffic production database
• Database branching for schema development is important to your workflow
• You're already using Vitess or have MySQL expertise
• You don't need auth, storage, or real-time from your database provider

The Verdict

For solo developers, Supabase wins this comparison convincingly. The rating gap (10/10 vs 6/10) tells the story.

Supabase gives you more features, a lower starting price, a free tier for experimentation, and runs on PostgreSQL. PlanetScale gives you MySQL with excellent branching and schema change tooling, but at a higher price and without the bundled services that solo developers benefit from.

PlanetScale's strengths (non-blocking schema changes, Vitess-powered scaling) solve problems that large teams and high-traffic applications face. Solo developers rarely need zero-downtime schema migrations because they can deploy during low-traffic periods. The branching is nice, but Neon offers similar branching on PostgreSQL with a free tier.

My recommendation: choose Supabase. You get a better database engine, more features, a generous free tier, and a lower paid tier. The only reason to choose PlanetScale is if your project specifically requires MySQL compatibility. For everything else, Supabase is the smarter pick for solo developers.