1
Neon
Serverless Postgres with branching, autoscale, and a generous free tier.
Pros
- +True branch-per-PR DX
- +Scale to zero
- +pgvector built in
Cons
- -Cold starts at idle
- -Postgres-only
Best Serverless Databases
Serverless databases scale on demand, branch like Git, and bill by usage. They are a strong default for new web apps where you do not want to babysit a Postgres or MySQL instance.
2
PlanetScale
Vitess-backed serverless MySQL with branching and zero-downtime schema changes.
Pros
- +Massive scale
- +Branching workflow
- +Strong CLI
Cons
- -No foreign keys (default)
- -MySQL only
3
Turso
Distributed SQLite (libSQL) with edge replicas and per-tenant databases.
Pros
- +Edge-fast reads
- +Cheap per-tenant DBs
- +SQLite simplicity
Cons
- -SQLite write model constraints
- -Newer ecosystem
4
Supabase
Open-source Firebase alternative on Postgres with auth, storage, and realtime.
Pros
- +All-in-one BaaS
- +Open source
- +Great free tier
Cons
- -Tied to one Postgres instance per project
- -Realtime quirks at scale
5
Xata
Serverless Postgres with built-in search, file attachments, and a typed SDK.
Pros
- +Search and DB unified
- +Typed TS SDK
- +Branches
Cons
- -Smaller community
- -Pricing tiers shift
Related Terms
Concepts you will run into when working with serverless databases.
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