Grafana vs PlanetScale: Full Comparison (2026)
Pricing, features, scores, and a clear verdict on which one is right for you.
The bottom line
Grafana positions itself as "operational dashboards for everyone" while PlanetScale goes after "serverless mysql platform with branching" — so the right pick depends on which problem you're actually solving. They take different commercial approaches — Grafana uses a freemium approach and PlanetScale a subscription-based model, which affects how costs scale as your team grows. Grafana lets you start for free, which means you can validate the fit before committing budget. PlanetScale requires a paid commitment upfront, so make sure it matches your workflow before signing.
At a glance
| Grafana | PlanetScale | |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 88/100 | 73/100 |
| Starting price | Free | $39/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Best for | Operational dashboards for everyone | Serverless MySQL platform with branching |
Pricing comparison
Calculate your cost
Feature comparison
core
| Feature | Grafana | PlanetScale |
|---|---|---|
| Metrics dashboards | Yes | No |
| Alerting | Yes | No |
| Annotations | Yes | No |
| Plugins | Yes | No |
| Templating | Yes | No |
| MySQL compatible | No | Yes |
| Database branching | No | Yes |
| Non-blocking schema changes | No | Yes |
| Connection pooling | No | Yes |
| Auto-scaling | No | Yes |
advanced
| Feature | Grafana | PlanetScale |
|---|---|---|
| Loki (logs) | Yes | No |
| Tempo (traces) | Yes | No |
| Mimir (metrics) | Yes | No |
| Incident management | Yes | No |
| ML anomaly detection | Yes | No |
| Vitess-powered sharding | No | Yes |
| Rewind (time travel) | No | Yes |
| Query analytics | No | Yes |
| Read replicas | No | Enterprise |
| Private networking | No | Enterprise |
integrations
| Feature | Grafana | PlanetScale |
|---|---|---|
| Prometheus | Yes | No |
| Datadog | Yes | No |
| Elasticsearch | Yes | No |
| CloudWatch | Yes | No |
| InfluxDB | Yes | No |
| Prisma | No | Yes |
| Drizzle | No | Yes |
| Laravel | No | Yes |
| Rails | No | Yes |
| Vercel | No | Yes |
| Railway | No | Yes |
Ratings breakdown
What the data tells us
Key capabilities you'd miss
Choosing Grafana means going without MySQL compatible, Database branching, Non-blocking schema changes (which PlanetScale offers). Choosing PlanetScale means losing Metrics dashboards, Alerting, Annotations. These are the features that typically drive the final decision — check whether your workflow depends on any of them before committing.
What company size tells you
PlanetScale (51-200 employees) has the engineering bench to ship features across many fronts but may iterate slower on individual requests. Grafana (501-1000 employees) typically ships faster on its core product but may lag on peripheral features. Consider which matters more for your roadmap.
Choose Grafana if...
- You want a free tier to get started
- You value powerful features over simplicity
- Getting strong value for money is a priority
Choose PlanetScale if...
- You're ready to invest from $39/mo
- You value powerful features over simplicity
- You need enterprise-grade capabilities
Frequently asked questions
Is Grafana or PlanetScale better?
Grafana scores 88/100 compared to PlanetScale's 73/100 on VendorVS. However, the best choice depends on your needs — Grafana excels at ease of use (7/10) while PlanetScale scores 7/10.
How much does Grafana cost compared to PlanetScale?
Grafana starts at free (free tier available). PlanetScale starts at $39/mo. Grafana is the more affordable option.
Does Grafana or PlanetScale have a free plan?
Grafana offers a free tier. PlanetScale does not — its cheapest plan starts at $39/mo.
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