Choose Supabase if you want one platform for your whole app backend on Postgres, with auth, storage, functions and realtime included. Choose PlanetScale if the database itself is the hard part and you expect to need sharding or very high query volume, on MySQL or Postgres. They overlap on Postgres, but they do different jobs.
For years the shorthand went like this: one is the Postgres option, the other is the MySQL option, pick whichever engine you prefer. That rule of thumb doesn't hold any more. The sharding specialist now lists Postgres clusters and Neki, a sharded Postgres product, right next to its Vitess MySQL offer. So if you're choosing on engine alone, you'll miss what really separates them, which is how much of your app each one wants to own.
The verdict for busy builders
If you're building a product and want the database, login, file storage and server functions sorted in one place, the backend platform is the natural pick. If you already have a backend and your worry is the database falling over as traffic grows, the sharding specialist is built for exactly that problem. Very few teams need both at the start, so work out which of those two worries keeps you up at night.
Backend in a box, or a database and nothing else
The backend platform gives each project a dedicated Postgres database and wraps a lot around it: Auth, Data APIs, Edge Functions, Realtime, Storage and Vector, plus cron and queues. Its site calls itself a Postgres development platform, and the vendor says it's 100% portable Postgres with no vendor lock-in. The pitch is speed: build in a weekend, scale to millions.
The sharding specialist doesn't try to be your backend. Its pages talk about clusters, sharding, branching, deploy requests and query insights, and almost nothing else. There's no login service or file storage on offer. You'd bring those from elsewhere, or you'd already have them. That narrow focus is the point, not a gap, but it does mean the two aren't really substitutes for each other.
Six points of difference at a glance
| Area | Supabase | PlanetScale |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | Database, authentication, storage, edge functions, realtime, vectors, cron and queues | Database only: clusters, sharding, branching, deploy requests and query insights |
| Database engine | Postgres only | Vitess for MySQL, Neki for sharded Postgres, and PostgreSQL clusters |
| Scaling story | Build in a weekend, scale to millions | Horizontal scaling through explicit sharding, online schema changes and no-downtime upgrades |
| Security and deployment | Row Level Security in the database for user data | Deployment options including bring your own cloud |
| Who the pages speak to | Quickstarts, templates and an AI chatbot example for app builders | Large customers such as Cursor, with Slack, GitHub and Etsy named as Vitess users |
| AI and agent tooling | Vector toolkit for embeddings with OpenAI and Hugging Face | Docs list MCP, Stripe Projects, Cloudflare and a Terraform provider |
| Getting started | Free plan stated | Not stated |
Which engines are on the menu
The backend platform is Postgres and only Postgres. If your team knows Postgres, or you want extensions and Row Level Security baked into the database, that's a comfortable place to be.
The sharding specialist now offers three routes. Vitess handles sharded MySQL, and the vendor notes it was developed at YouTube by its founders. Neki is its sharded Postgres product. And there are plain PostgreSQL clusters, which the vendor says run on locally attached NVMe drives with unlimited IOPS. That's the vendor's claim rather than a measured result, but it tells you where its attention goes: raw database performance. If you're comparing managed Postgres services more widely, our guide to the best Postgres hosting options covers more ground.
Growing from a weekend project to serious traffic
Here's where the two stories split hardest. The backend platform's promise is that you can start small and keep going, with the same project growing as your user numbers grow. It doesn't spell out a sharding plan on its home page, and this page won't guess how far one dedicated database stretches for your workload.
The sharding specialist starts from the other end. Its whole pitch is horizontal scaling through explicit sharding, with online schema changes and upgrades that don't take the database down. It names large customers such as Cursor, and lists Slack, GitHub and Etsy as Vitess users. That's a signal about who it's built for: teams whose workloads have outgrown a single node, or who know they will.
If you're a founder with an idea and no users yet, that second story is probably more than you need today. If you run a product that's already straining its database, it's the story you want to hear.
Security, hosting and hooks for AI agents
Security looks different on each side. The backend platform leans on Row Level Security, so rules about who can read which rows live inside the database itself, next to its built-in Auth. The sharding specialist talks more about where the database runs, including a bring-your-own-cloud option through its managed offer, which can matter if your company wants data inside its own cloud account.
For AI work, the backend platform has a vector toolkit for storing embeddings, with OpenAI and Hugging Face named. The sharding specialist's docs list MCP, Stripe Projects, Cloudflare and a Terraform provider, which is more about wiring the database into agent and infrastructure tooling than about storing vectors.
Other backends and databases to consider
Not sold on either? These four come at the same problems from different angles. You can also browse other backend platforms like Supabase if it's the all-in-one approach you're after.
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Neon
Best for: Serverless Postgres with branching, functions and auth, built on storage-compute separation and autoscaling.
Firebase
Best for: Google's app platform with Firestore, Realtime Database, Authentication and hosting, plus SQL Connect and Firebase AI Logic.
Appwrite
Best for: An open-source backend with Auth, databases, storage, functions, messaging and hosting, with MCP included.
CockroachDB
Best for: A distributed cloud database for teams needing distributed SQL, now with Continuum, an agentic database cloud.
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Frequently asked questions
Is PlanetScale still MySQL only?
No. It lists Vitess for sharded MySQL, Neki for sharded Postgres and PostgreSQL clusters, so the old MySQL-only label is out of date.
Does Supabase include authentication?
Yes. It includes built-in Auth alongside Row Level Security, Storage, Edge Functions, Realtime and Data APIs.
Can I use both together?
Nothing stops you, but they overlap on the database. Most teams pick the backend platform for an all-in-one start, or the sharding specialist when the database is the bottleneck.
Which one is better for a small startup?
The backend platform is pitched at building fast, with quickstarts, templates and a free plan stated. The sharding specialist's pages speak mostly to teams with heavy database workloads.
Can I run either in my own cloud account?
The sharding specialist lists a bring-your-own-cloud deployment option. The backend platform's pages focus on its own hosted projects and portable Postgres.
