AWS RDS for PostgreSQL vs PlanetScale
AWS RDS for PostgreSQL and PlanetScale cannot be scored on the same axes — one of them does not publish a rate for everything managed databases bills on.
List prices checked
Rate cards side by side
Only the axes at least one of them bills on. A dash means that provider does not charge for it.
| Billing axis | AWS RDS for PostgreSQL | PlanetScale | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | $12.40/mo | $39.00/mo | 3.1× AWS RDS for PostgreSQL |
| Storage | $0.115/GB-mo | — | — |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | — |
Source: Amazon Web Services pricing (May 2026) · PlanetScale pricing (May 2026). Published list prices only — committed-use discounts, regional variation, and per-request charges are not included. Not yet independently re-checked against the vendor’s page.
Monthly cost for three real workloads
The rate cards applied to identical usage. This is where the winner changes.
| Workload | AWS RDS for PostgreSQL | PlanetScale | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side projectA personal site or small app with modest traffic, a few gigabytes of assets, and one small always-on process. | $15 | — | Not comparable |
| Growing SaaSA funded product serving a few thousand daily users, with an image-heavy frontend and two application servers. | $70 | — | Not comparable |
| Media-heavy siteA publisher or video product where delivery dominates the bill and compute is almost an afterthought. | $242 | — | Not comparable |
Workload definitions are identical on every comparison page, so figures here can be read against any other pair in the same category.
What each one is for
AWS RDS for PostgreSQL
by Amazon Web Services
Provisioned Postgres billed per instance-hour whether or not it serves a query, plus storage and backup. Predictable, and the most expensive way to run an idle database.
Free tier: 750 hours per month of a db.t-class instance for 12 months
PlanetScale
by PlanetScale
Managed MySQL on Vitess with schema branching and non-blocking migrations. Entry pricing is the highest in this category and targets production teams rather than side projects.
Free tier: None; the Hobby tier was retired in April 2024
Common questions
- Is AWS RDS for PostgreSQL or PlanetScale cheaper in 2026?
- Neither can be scored across all three workloads, because at least one of them does not publish a rate for every axis this category bills on.
- Which has the better free tier, AWS RDS for PostgreSQL or PlanetScale?
- Both publish one. AWS RDS for PostgreSQL: 750 hours per month of a db.t-class instance for 12 months. PlanetScale: None; the Hobby tier was retired in April 2024.
- What do these estimates not include?
- Committed-use and reserved discounts, regional price variation, per-request API charges, support plans, and minimum retention periods. All of those move real invoices, sometimes by a lot. These figures compare published list prices for the same workload, which is the comparison the rate cards alone cannot give you.