Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Amazon Aurora vs PlanetScale comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

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
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Database Management Systems (DBMS) (5th)
PlanetScale
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
17th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.3
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of Amazon Aurora is 2.8%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PlanetScale is 0.8%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Amazon Aurora2.8%
PlanetScale0.8%
Other96.4%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

SP
Digital Services & Engagement Senior Manager at AXA
High availability and operational efficiency achieved with reliable managed services
We have primarily used Amazon Aurora for handling our databases. We migrated from PostgreSQL to Amazon Aurora about a year ago. It serves as a customized PostgreSQL database that we utilize Amazon Aurora offers a 99.9% SLA compared to PostgreSQL. This ensures a high level of availability for our…
Arpita Bahedia - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Engineer at Bit & Binary
Database management becomes seamless with automatic command execution
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 can enter commands locally, connect with the database, and the changes will automatically be applied to the server, making debugging easier. Additionally, I use PlanetScale with Prisma, and it integrates well for my needs.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"My overall experience with Amazon Aurora is very positive. I rate it ten out of ten for its reliability and efficiency."
"The most valuable features of Amazon Aurora include the global instance with the global writer endpoint, which allows failovers and instance switches without requiring changes in my code, thanks to the default global Route 53 endpoint."
"Aurora is a key pillar for us, offering performance and availability."
"One of the most valuable features is storage scaling."
"We had better control over the parameters that we could tweak in terms of intermediate storage and better indexing capabilities."
"Aurora's features that I find the most beneficial include its database backup strategy, performance options, and input-output operations."
"One of the standout features of Amazon Aurora is that we do not need to maintain disaster recovery or manage availability zones."
"Amazon Aurora's best features are about scaling up and scaling down, which is perfect."
"The database is accessible 24/7, ensuring my project runs smoothly without interruptions."
"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 did not face any downtime when using the product."
"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."
"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

"Amazon Aurora should upgrade its base PostgreSQL versions more frequently and offer all PostgreSQL extensions."
"While Amazon Aurora meets your current scaling and storage needs, there is room for improvement in cryptography and scalability compared to other databases."
"The pricing could improve. It should be reduced."
"I would like to see more AI-related features in future releases."
"The product's distributed query process for MySQL needs improvement."
"There are tuning challenges."
"I don't use Amazon Aurora's global database feature; I just use the local feature."
"I would like to see performance insights on the database based on the queries. Currently, we use SolarWinds as the monitoring tool. I would like to leverage SolarWinds’ performance insights in AWS services. SolarWinds gives larger insights when we run performance issues."
"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."
"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."
"We encountered some initial issues during the product deployment, which required me to search for solutions on forums."
"The main thing I didn't like about PlanetScale was that we couldn't run analytical queries on it."
"I am not sure, but I think recently, the tool removed the free version."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being expensive."
"The price could be lower compared to its competitors."
"The tool’s pricing depends on the instance type. For cost optimization purposes, we use the result instance category."
"It is an expensive solution."
"It is quite expensive."
"There is no need to buy a license for the product. We can pay as per the use case."
"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."
"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."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Relational Databases Tools solutions are best for your needs.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon Aurora?
Aurora's compatibility with MySQL or PostgreSQL benefited our database management. The migration from on-premise MySQL to Aurora was similar, so we didn't need to change our source code.
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. ...
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...
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.
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...
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...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Dow Jones, Arizona State University, Verizon, Capital One, United Nations, Nielsen, Autodesk, Fanduel
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Aurora vs. PlanetScale and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.