PlanetScale Vitess vs DigitalOcean
A detailed comparison to help you choose between PlanetScale Vitess and DigitalOcean.
Quick Verdict
4.8/5
PlanetScale Vitess
205 reviews
4.1/5
DigitalOcean
413 reviews
PlanetScale Vitess is rated higher (4.8 vs 4.1). PlanetScale is built on Vitess, the database scaling technology developed at YouTube and used to serve billions of queries. Horizontal sharding, schema migrations via Pull Requests, and serverless scaling. Cloud VPS and managed services platform offering droplets, databases, and app hosting. Built for developers who want straightforward pricing and documentation without enterprise complexity.
PlanetScale Vitess MySQL-compatible serverless — Vitess under the hood | DigitalOcean Simple, predictable cloud infrastructure for developers | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.8 (205 reviews)✓ | 4.1 (413 reviews) |
| Pricing model | free | paid |
| Starting price | Free✓ | From €6/mo |
| Best for | Database engineers wanting to understand or self-host the Vitess technology underlying PlanetScale | Startups and solo developers building web applications, APIs, and small-scale infrastructure who prioritize simplicity and documentation over enterprise features. |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | — | 1 vCPU |
| RAM | — | 1 GB |
| Storage | — | 25 GB |
| Bandwidth | — | 1 TB/mo |
| SLA uptime | — | 99.99% |
| Data-center count | — | 15 |
| €/vCPU/mo | — | €6.00 |
| €/GB RAM/mo | — | €6.00 |
| Performance | ||
| CPU score (sysbench) | — | 2,200 |
| Disk read (fio) | — | 560 MB/s |
| Disk IOPS (4K random) | — | 8,400 |
| Network out | — | 0.5 Gbps |
| Latency (TTFB) | — | 32 ms |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ✓ | |
| DDoS protection | ✓ | |
| Automated backups | ✓ | |
| Snapshots | ✓ | |
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ✓ | |
| Free tier | ✓ | |
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | — | United StatesNetherlandsSingaporeUnited KingdomGermanyCanada+2 |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tieropen sourceself hostableapi access | free tierhourly billingnvme storageipv6ddos protectionbackups includedsnapshotsmanaged options3 compatibleeu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterterraform providerkubernetes supportprivate networkingapi access |
| Visit PlanetScale Vitess → | Visit DigitalOcean → | |
PlanetScale Vitess
Pros
- + Open-source Vitess powering PlanetScale
- + YouTube-scale tested
- + Horizontal sharding for MySQL
Cons
- - Complex to self-host
- - No foreign key support in Vitess
DigitalOcean
Pros
- + Deploy Droplets in under one minute with streamlined console
- + Access extensive community documentation and tutorials
- + Get transparent, predictable pricing with no surprise fees
- + Manage infrastructure via API, CLI, or web dashboard
Cons
- - Limited geographic presence compared to AWS or Google Cloud
- - Smaller ecosystem of third-party integrations and tools
- - Scaling to enterprise requirements may require migration elsewhere
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