Amazon Aurora vs PlanetScale comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and PlanetScale are both solutions in the Relational Databases Tools category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.6, while PlanetScale is ranked #17 with an average rating of 8.2. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 3.2% mindshare in SQL, compared to PlanetScale’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of PlanetScale users who would recommend it.

Amazon Aurora

Read 21 Amazon Aurora reviews

2,543 Views
2,416 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

PlanetScale

Read 6 PlanetScale reviews

814 Views
806 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Amazon Aurora

PlanetScale

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Amazon Aurora and PlanetScale compete in the cloud database market. Amazon Aurora has a robust architecture tailored for enterprise-level scalability and seamless AWS integration, while PlanetScale offers a serverless, developer-friendly approach.

Features: Amazon Aurora provides automatic scaling, fault-tolerant architecture, and seamless integration with AWS, which ensures high availability and reliability. It offers features like continuous backups, automated failover, and advanced security measures. PlanetScale features a serverless database option, enabling horizontal scaling with minimal configuration. It offers version control for database changes and a simplified deployment process, enhancing developer flexibility.

Room for Improvement: Amazon Aurora could improve its pricing transparency and complexity, reducing costs for smaller deployments. Some users find the learning curve steep due to the extensive AWS ecosystem. Additionally, Aurora's cross-region replication could be more user-friendly. PlanetScale could enhance its support for larger enterprise requirements, offer more detailed documentation for complex use cases, and provide better insights into performance metrics for larger data volumes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Amazon Aurora benefits from extensive AWS support and comprehensive documentation, which aids deployments for AWS-experienced users. However, its integration process can be complex for those unfamiliar with AWS. PlanetScale offers an intuitive deployment process with an easy-to-navigate interface, and reliable customer support facilitates quick iteration, making it appealing to teams prioritizing rapid development cycles.

Pricing and ROI: Amazon Aurora uses a pay-as-you-go model, appealing to enterprises needing scalability with potential for enterprise discounts. Its ROI is optimized for large-scale deployments, thanks to predictable cost management. PlanetScale offers a transparent, developer-friendly pricing model with a free tier that supports smaller teams and startups, allowing for practical budget management and quick ROI, especially valuable for innovators focusing on flexibility and cost-efficiency.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon Aurora vs. PlanetScale Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon Aurora vs. PlanetScale

April 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Amazon Aurora

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

6th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Database Management Systems (DBMS) (6th)

PlanetScale

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

17th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

8.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of Amazon Aurora is 3.2%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PlanetScale is 1.1%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Amazon Aurora	3.2%
PlanetScale	1.1%
Other	95.7%

Relational Databases Tools

Featured Reviews

SivashankarRajaram

Principal Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Cloud database has delivered high performance and cost savings for data recovery and growth

Amazon can make better access levels and reduce costs for Amazon Aurora. A cost reduction would support multiple teams to adopt this solution since the cost is currently higher. Comparatively, we have the feature of scaling and everything we need. If you launch PostgreSQL on-premises, you need to have a separate DBA for maintenance and everything. If Amazon reduces the cost of Amazon Aurora, it would support large team adoption. A great feature to see in the next version of Amazon Aurora would be improvements in vectorization. In our PostgreSQL, we have pg_vector that helps with vectorizing many of the tables and that is used for data science projects. If Amazon improves this vectorization, it would be much more useful for data science and AI projects.

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Neeraj Sameer Allu

Founder at Tuft

Manages databases in serverless environments and easy to get started with

The main thing I didn't like about PlanetScale was that we couldn't run analytical queries on it. They bill based on the number of rows read, so even a simple count query could easily use up our allocated resources. Apart from that, I actually loved it. It's based on MySQL, so it doesn't have foreign key constraints or cascades. We have to delete manually or use an ORM. As it's based on MySQL, we can use log posters for complex queries, but it only supports MySQL. I feel like Postgres is more useful for custom or complex queries.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"One of the most valuable features is storage scaling."

"Amazon Aurora is built on community databases and AWS has added additional features to it, allowing customers to have enterprise-level features at a lower cost."

"The main benefits my company receives from Amazon Aurora are performance and cost."

"Aurora is a key pillar for us, offering performance and availability."

"Another advantage is that with AWS handling administration, responsibilities like database provisioning and maintenance are significantly reduced."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to do multiple-read and single-write. These are the kinds of features that we were interested in, and Aurora takes care of that natively."

"The most valuable feature of Amazon Aurora is SQL standardization, it doesn't have its own syntax which is good. It has a lot of hands-off self-management type of activities, such as log rolling and auto-scaling."

"My overall experience with Amazon Aurora is very positive. I rate it ten out of ten for its reliability and efficiency."

More Amazon Aurora pros

"The branching feature is also good for developer experience."

"The solution is beginner-friendly. Like any new platform, it can be a bit confusing at first. But after spending about an hour with it, you can get a clear idea of what everything is for. It's not very confusing; I think they've improved it recently."

"The database is accessible 24/7, ensuring my project runs smoothly without interruptions."

"I recommend using PlanetScale as it provides ease of access and control over database changes using commands from the local terminal."

"I did not face any downtime when using the product."

"One feature I appreciate about PlanetScale is its ability to handle migrations and commands without the need to run them manually in the database."

"I like the solution's developer experience. When you deploy changes to the database in the portal, you can use different deployment strategies and see how things work. You can put changes into different branches, like deployment and staging. This is built into the product, allowing you to navigate changes through different branches."

Cons

"In my experience, I didn't see the claimed speed, and when you factor in the cost, or the extra cost of Aurora compared to a normal database, it didn't justify the cost from a performance standpoint, but it did justify the cost because we didn't have to have multiple instances, Redis caches, and other things like that."

"Sometimes mistakes can be easily made, and people can waste money by mistake if they do not know what they are doing."

"It would have been helpful if they had provided some benchmarking numbers."

"The product's distributed query process for MySQL needs improvement."

"One of the most valuable features is storage scaling."

"There is improvement needed to have more developer focus. Additionally, it would be helpful to have a stand-alone solution outside of Amazon. Amazon has a tendency to favor developing web-based clients, which may not always provide the fastest or most responsive solution as desired."

"While Amazon Aurora meets your current scaling and storage needs, there is room for improvement in cryptography and scalability compared to other databases."

"AWS RDS doesn't provide an option to apply one-off patches, which can be critical for business due to unexpected product bugs."

More Amazon Aurora cons

"I used PlanetScale for hobby projects, so my perspective differs from someone using it commercially. Unfortunately, they've removed the free tier in recent months and pivoted to a business-to-business model. This is sad for hobby developers like me because it's a great product, but I understand they have costs to cover."

"The main thing I didn't like about PlanetScale was that we couldn't run analytical queries on it."

"I would like PlanetScale to have a feature where the database can be accessed in the cloud with a link, allowing for a more user-friendly interface compared to the terminal."

"I am not sure, but I think recently, the tool removed the free version."

"We encountered some initial issues during the product deployment, which required me to search for solutions on forums."

"When I tried to integrate the solution with Firebase for authentication, I faced some interruptions. Also, when using it with Next.js and NextAuth.js for Google and social logins, I had some troubles."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is no need to buy a license for the product. We can pay as per the use case."

"The price could be lower compared to its competitors."

"It is an expensive solution."

"The tool’s pricing depends on the instance type. For cost optimization purposes, we use the result instance category."

"It is quite expensive."

"I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being expensive."

"The solution is expensive for beginners. That's why I wasn't motivated to use it more. But they were already providing many features for free for beginners, which was great."

"I am currently using the product's free version, which has been sufficient for my portfolio project."

"Last time, when I wanted to use the tool in a project, I could see it was only paid, so I didn't use the service."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

University

10%

Computer Software Company

Retailer

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	14

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Large Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon Aurora?

The pricing for Amazon Aurora is different from DocumentDB because DocumentDB is cheaper. However, when you manage the administration more closely, you can control costs better with Amazon Aurora. ...

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What needs improvement with Amazon Aurora?

I would like to see some tutorials from Amazon for Aurora because I'm too new to it. I believe Amazon can make more tutorials for the product since there's a lot of reading required, and a short tu...

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What is your primary use case for Amazon Aurora?

The migration process to Amazon Aurora is the best part; it's one of its key strengths, as we hardly had any hiccups during migration, which was very smooth and pretty straightforward given our dat...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PlanetScale?

I am currently using the product's free version, which has been sufficient for my portfolio project. The paid version ranges from $39 to $1,000, depending on the features and scale required.

See all answers

What needs improvement with PlanetScale?

I would like PlanetScale to have a feature where the database can be accessed in the cloud with a link, allowing for a more user-friendly interface compared to the terminal. This would make it easi...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for PlanetScale?

I have used PlanetScale as it is an advanced version of MySQL. It functions as a platform where MySQL is live, similar to AWS. I use PlanetScale to store data in a live environment where queries ca...

See all answers

Comparisons

YugabyteDB vs Amazon Aurora

Compared 14% of the time

Oracle Database vs Amazon Aurora

Compared 13% of the time

SQL Server vs Amazon Aurora

Compared 10% of the time

Oracle Database Cloud Service vs Amazon Aurora

Compared 9% of the time

CockroachDB vs Amazon Aurora

Compared 8% of the time

More Amazon Aurora Competitors

Amazon Aurora Serverless vs PlanetScale

Compared 58% of the time

Citus Data vs PlanetScale

Compared 19% of the time

SQL Server vs PlanetScale

Compared 6% of the time

Google Cloud SQL vs PlanetScale

Compared 6% of the time

SAP SQL Anywhere vs PlanetScale

Compared 5% of the time

More PlanetScale Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon Aurora

May 2026

Download Amazon Aurora product report

Buyer's Guide

Relational Databases Tools

April 2026

Download PlanetScale product report

Overview

Amazon Aurora offers a relational database service with high availability and compatibility with MySQL and PostgreSQL. It is designed for efficient scalability and seamless integration within AWS, making it optimal for applications requiring robust performance and reliability.

Amazon Aurora distinguishes itself through its managed maintenance, ensuring high operational efficiency. It provides users with the ability to auto-scale their database resources, allowing businesses to maintain cost efficiency without sacrificing performance. The service includes robust disaster recovery options and supports up to sixteen read replicas, which are critical for mission-critical applications. Users benefit from smooth, cross-region replication and integration capabilities with other AWS services, enhancing data reliability and accessibility.

What are the most important features of Amazon Aurora?

Multiple-read and single-write capabilities: Offers versatile data handling for improved performance.
Seamless SQL standardization: Ensures compatibility with existing systems.
Auto-scaling: Adjusts resources dynamically based on workload demands.
High performance: Provides efficient data processing and fast response times.
Integration with AWS services: Enhances functionality through a secure ecosystem.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Cost management: Efficient scaling reduces unnecessary expenditure.
Reliability: Fault tolerance and replication ensure data availability.
Operational efficiency: Managed maintenance lowers administrative overhead.
Scalability: Supports seamless service adaptation to changing business needs.

Amazon Aurora is extensively used across various industries such as finance, e-commerce, and healthcare, supporting internal applications with its relational database prowess. Many organizations leverage its serverless capabilities and cost-effective scalability for developing business intelligence and payment processing solutions. The seamless migration assistance from Oracle databases further underscores its appeal for enterprises looking to optimize database performance and reduce operational costs.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

PlanetScale offers seamless database management with features tailored for modern development environments, enabling enhanced project operations through efficient integration and ease of use.

PlanetScale is designed to support modern developer workflows through features like automated connection pooling and constant availability, making it ideal for serverless applications. Its integration with tools like GitHub and Prisma enhances the developer experience, allowing fast setup and effortless database interactions. However, users note challenges with analytical queries due to row-based billing and the absence of foreign key constraints. Integration with platforms such as Firebase and Next.js presents additional hurdles. Recent changes, such as the removal of the free tier, have impacted adoption by hobby developers, highlighting a need for more accessible pricing plans.

What are the most important features of PlanetScale?

Automated Connection Pooling: Optimizes database connections for serverless environments.
Constant Availability: Ensures uninterrupted operations and workflow efficiency.
Developer-Friendly: Integrates seamlessly with GitHub and Prisma for enhanced project management.
Quick Setup: Simplifies setup processes in corporate environments, allowing immediate use.

What benefits should users consider when evaluating PlanetScale?

Uninterrupted Project Operations: Facilitates constant availability for high-performance applications.
Enhanced Developer Experience: Offers intuitive integrations and project management capabilities.
Ease of Integration: Works well with popular tools like Prisma and MySQL for efficient workflows.

PlanetScale finds significant use in hosting databases for portfolios, company websites, and academic projects. Its compatibility with Prisma facilitates seamless MySQL database management online. Users leverage its capabilities for analytical queries and manage data environments effectively. Teams value the platform for specialized tasks such as URL shortening and social media automation, which are crucial in rapidly evolving digital industries.

PlanetScale

Sample Customers

Dow Jones, Arizona State University, Verizon, Capital One, United Nations, Nielsen, Autodesk, Fanduel

Block, Intercom, Convex, MyFitnessPal

Buyer's Guide

Amazon Aurora vs. PlanetScale

April 2026

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