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PlanetScale vs SAP IQ 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

PlanetScale
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
16th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.3
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAP IQ
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
26th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Data Warehouse (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of PlanetScale is 0.3%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP IQ is 1.0%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
PlanetScale0.3%
SAP IQ1.0%
Other98.7%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Arpita Bahedia - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Tejas Raj - PeerSpot reviewer
Columnar database, so pulling records is easy but there isn't enough documentation for installation
I've seen very few SAP IQ systems in recent years. So people are moving away from SAP IQ In the last three years, I've rarely encountered customers using it. Fewer systems with SAP IQ usage among our customers. Most of them have moved on to HANA. There are parallel products, and there are also viable alternatives from AWS, so many have migrated to those.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I did not face any downtime when using the product."
"The database is accessible 24/7, ensuring my project runs smoothly without interruptions."
"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 branching feature is also good for developer experience."
"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."
"IQ is a very high-performance and high-transaction database."
"The product is easy to learn."
"The column-based technologies (basically all the database for ITP) are used for SAP IQ. It is used as a column-based solution."
"Unbeatable speed and compression with a colummn-structured relational database."
"Valuable features for us include the compression, speed, fast response time, and easy object maintenance."
"The primary benefit of SAP IQ is its ability to limit the expansion of the costly SAP HANA database, which has limited storage capacity. This necessitates a form of data management that involves moving data from SAP HANA to SAP NLS, which is essentially archiving. This allows us to retain access to the data via a link whenever it is required."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The feature I appreciate the most about SAP IQ is the compression, which is very good; we cannot compare with any other type of EDW."
 

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."
"I am not sure, but I think recently, the tool removed the free version."
"The main thing I didn't like about PlanetScale was that we couldn't run analytical queries on it."
"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 downside I see is that it doesn't allow most integrated backups; many of the marketplace players such as NetBackup or Veritas, those software integrated backups are not available."
"Concurrency and functional error messaging."
"The room for improvement would be the marketing of the product, because this product is much better than advertised."
"The only negative aspect of IQ is the cost, which can be challenging for companies in Peru."
"There is very little documentation available."
"In my interaction with SAP IQ's technical support, the people we are talking to don't know this application very thoroughly."
"The organization who owns the product does not support it well and appears not to be doing significant development for the future."
"The solution works best when combined with other SAP solutions. If the environment has other systems other options might be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am currently using the product's free version, which has been sufficient for my portfolio project."
"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."
"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 only costs after standard licensing fees are for add-ons and upgrades."
"It's not that costly. So, the pricing is cheap."
"Negotiation is very important."
"The cost of implementation is about $3,000."
"Evaluate all options; check to see if you need expensive add-ons."
"Negotiate based on the features required."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
36%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP IQ?
IQ implementation costs about three thousand dollars. It's less expensive compared to alternatives like Teradata Base in terms of transactional efficiency.
What needs improvement with SAP IQ?
When it comes to SAP IQ, the areas that could be improved or enhanced include the error messaging and the locking capabilities, as that's where we often encounter problems. When there is an issue, ...
What is your primary use case for SAP IQ?
Our usual use cases for SAP IQ is that we have a Software-as-a-Service architecture where this database is the foundation for our SAP BusinessObjects platform. This is where it's getting its data f...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Sybase IQ
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
ASR Group, Citrix, State of Indiana, PocketCard Co. Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about PlanetScale vs. SAP IQ and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.