PlanetScale vs Amazon DynamoDB Pricing (2026)
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PlanetScale vs Amazon DynamoDB

Database as a Service pricing comparison · 2026

PlanetScale costs $5–$50/mo, while Amazon DynamoDB has a free plan, then $0.625–$0.78. These products use different pricing models (Usage-based (pay per token/image/minute) vs Per-seat subscription), so a direct price comparison isn't meaningful — costs depend on usage volume and mix.

Visit
See pricing on each vendor's site
Above-the-fold path — each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit PlanetScale pricing
Discount programs →
Visit Amazon pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
Compare
2 products · Database as a Service
Side-by-side · live
PlanetScale
PlanetScale does not offer a free tier.
verified 1d ago
$25 $360
View pricing →
Amazon DynamoDB
Amazon DynamoDB is a fully managed, serverless NoSQL database with consumption-based prici
verified 5mo ago
$25 $360
View pricing →
Recorded annual contract medians
Amazon median is $335 less than PlanetScale · different customer contracts; not a quote
Cheapest $25
Spread 93%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Usage-based
Custom rates
see vendor pricing for volume tiers
Usage-based
Custom rates
see vendor pricing for volume tiers
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
Median annual
$360/yr
Vendr · n=9 · limited data
↓ Lowest median
Median annual
$25/yr
Vendr · n=4 · limited data
REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources 5 sourced facts
3 hidden-cost · 1 contract · Vendr median
Last verified 1d ago
Confidence Medium confidence
Sources 16 sourced facts
13 hidden-cost · 2 contract · Vendr median
Last verified 4mo ago
Confidence Limited confidence
REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker
Severity-ranked, sourced
2 documented
  • High storage costs compared to competitors
    $2.50/GB storage (vs $0.34-$1/GB competitors)
    1 source
  • Confusing row-based pricing model
    10-30% of license costs
    2 sources
5 documented
  • Batch Write Unit Misunderstanding
    $1,000-$10,000
    2 sources
  • On-Demand vs. Provisioned Pricing Gap
    50-600% of license costs
    2 sources
  • Per-Table Throughput Over-Provisioning
    15-50% of license costs
    1 source
  • Large Item Size Write Cost Multiplier
    10-50% of license costs
    1 source
  • Scan Operation Costs
    20-100% of license costs
    2 sources
REF · 04

Contract terms

The fine print, surfaced. Green = buyer-friendly. Each clause backed by a quoted source.

PlanetScale
Amazon
Auto-renewal
—
✓ No
Cancellation
prorated on current invoice (Base Plan)
No contract — usage-based billing, can stop usage at any time
Commitment
—
None for on-demand or standard provisioned mode; 1 year for reserved capacity
Price escalation
—
No published annual uplift schedule; AWS has historically reduced DynamoDB prices over time. Large-enterprise customers can negotiate custom pricing.
Can downgrade
—
✓ Yes
Based on 3 verified sources (Vendr · TrustRadius · BBB)
REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
No public ratings yet
Best for
Development and low-traffic production
Watch out
Confusing pricing model
No public ratings yet
Best for
Personal apps, prototypes, learning, and low-volume workloads using provisioned capacity on DynamoDB Standard table class
Watch out
Unexpected bills from misunderstanding per-item (not per-API-call) billing
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
Visit PlanetScale pricing
Discount programs →
Visit Amazon pricing
Free plan limits → Discount programs →
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
Database as a Service

PlanetScale

$5–$50
/mo
3 plans
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Database as a Service

Amazon DynamoDB

Free plan; paid $0.625–$0.78
3 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
⚖

Different Pricing Models

Direct price comparison isn't meaningful here — PlanetScale uses Usage-based (pay per token/image/minute) pricing while Amazon DynamoDB uses Per-seat subscription pricing. Your actual cost will depend on usage volume, team size, or both. Here's each product in its native unit.

Usage-based (pay per token/image/minute)

PlanetScale

$5–$50/mo
See full PlanetScale pricing →
vs
Per-seat subscription

Amazon DynamoDB

Free plan; paid $0.625–$0.78
See full Amazon DynamoDB pricing →

PlanetScale and Amazon DynamoDB both operate in the database as a service category. This page compares their list pricing.

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan PlanetScale Amazon DynamoDB
PlanetScale Postgres Single node $5 /month Free /monthly allowance
PlanetScale Postgres Metal $50 /month $0.63 /per million write request units; reads $0.125 per million RRUs; storage $0.25 per GB-month
Enterprise Custom $0.78 /per million write request units; reads $0.155 per million RRUs; storage $0.10 per GB-month

Market Intelligence

PlanetScale

Median annual cost
$360
Based on
9 deals

Amazon DynamoDB

Median annual cost
$25
Based on
4 deals

Hidden Costs

Beyond the sticker price — what catches buyers off guard.

PlanetScale 2 hidden costs

medium
High storage costs compared to competitors $2.50/GB storage (vs $0.34-$1/GB competitors)
medium
Confusing row-based pricing model 10-30% of license costs
See all PlanetScale hidden costs →

Amazon DynamoDB 8 hidden costs

critical
Batch Write Unit Misunderstanding $1,000-$10,000 (source dated Nov 2023)
high
On-Demand vs. Provisioned Pricing Gap 50-600% of license costs
high
Per-Table Throughput Over-Provisioning 15-50% of license costs
medium
Large Item Size Write Cost Multiplier 10-50% of license costs
high
Scan Operation Costs 20-100% of license costs
See all Amazon DynamoDB hidden costs →

Contract Terms

Term PlanetScale Amazon DynamoDB
Auto-renewal — No
Cancellation prorated on current invoice (Base Plan) No contract — usage-based billing, can stop usage at any time
Minimum commitment — None for on-demand or standard provisioned mode; 1 year for reserved capacity
Price escalation — No published annual uplift schedule; AWS has historically reduced DynamoDB prices over time. Large-enterprise customers can negotiate custom pricing.
Can downgrade — Yes

Continue researching

PlanetScale

Amazon DynamoDB

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