Backend platforms · Comparison
Neon vs Turso vs PlanetScale vs MongoDB Atlas
Four services that run a database for you rather than a whole backend. The first question is which engine you want: PostgreSQL, SQLite, MySQL or MongoDB.
4 options · 7 questions side by side · updated
| Compare | Neon | Turso | PlanetScale | MongoDB Atlas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Database | PostgreSQL | SQLite-compatible (Rust rewrite) | MySQL (Vitess) or PostgreSQL | MongoDB |
| Standout feature | Branching and scale to zero | Many cheap databases, local sync | Schema changes without downtime | Built-in full-text and vector search |
| Free plan | Yes, 0.5 GB per project | Yes, 5 GB across 100 databases | No | Yes, one 512 MB cluster |
| Paid from | Usage based, typically about $15 a month | About $6 a month | About $5 a month (single-node Postgres) | Flex from about $8 a month |
| Scales to | Large, with autoscaling compute | Thousands of small databases | Very large, with sharding | Very large, with sharding |
| Watch out for | Cold starts after idle periods | Young engine, fewer integrations | Cost of highly available setups | Dedicated clusters get expensive |
| Best for | Serverless Postgres apps and previews | Per-user or per-tenant data | High-traffic production workloads | Document data with search |
How to choose between Neon, Turso, PlanetScale and MongoDB Atlas
- Pick Neon for serverless Postgres with a branch for every preview or test.
- Pick Turso for many small SQLite databases, such as one per customer.
- Pick PlanetScale for busy production MySQL or Postgres where migrations must not cause downtime.
- Pick MongoDB Atlas when the data is document-shaped and you want managed search beside it.
The options
- NeonA hosted PostgreSQL service that separates storage from compute, so databases can sleep when idle, wake on demand and be copied into branches in seconds.
- TursoA SQLite-compatible database and cloud service built for running many small databases, such as one per user or customer, locally, in the cloud or both.
- PlanetScaleA managed database service for high-traffic apps, offering MySQL through Vitess and, since 2025, PostgreSQL, with branch-based schema changes that do not lock tables.
- MongoDB AtlasMongoDB's own cloud service, which runs and scales MongoDB databases on AWS, Google Cloud or Azure, with search and vector search built in.
More comparisons
- Supabase vs FirebaseThe two backend platforms most often weighed against each other. Both give you a database, sign-in, storage and functions; the difference starts with the database: PostgreSQL tables against Firestore documents.
- Supabase vs Appwrite vs PocketBaseThree open-source backends that bundle a database, sign-in, storage and live updates. They differ mainly in the database underneath and in how much there is to run yourself.
- SQLite vs PostgreSQLBoth are relational and both speak SQL. The real difference is where they run: SQLite is a file inside your app, PostgreSQL is a server your app connects to.
- PostgreSQL vs MySQLThe two most popular open-source relational databases. Either will run a typical web app well; the differences show up at the edges.
- SQL vs NoSQL: PostgreSQL vs MongoDB vs FirestoreTables or documents is a choice that shapes how you model everything. Here is a SQL database next to the two document databases it is most often weighed against.
- PostgreSQL vs ClickHousePostgreSQL is built for running an app (many small reads and writes); ClickHouse is built for analysing one (a few enormous reads). Plenty of products use both.
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