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AppWrite VS PlanetScale

Compare AppWrite VS PlanetScale and see what are their differences

AppWrite

Appwrite provides web and mobile developers with a set of easy-to-use and integrate REST APIs to manage their core backend needs.

Rating
5.0 · 1 review
Pricing
Open source
Alternatives Is it good?
PlanetScale

The last database you'll ever need. Go from idea to IPO.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source Freemium Free trial $29 / Monthly (250GB)
Alternatives Is it good?
AeroDataBox
Aviation and flight API tailored for SMBs and individual developers, offering flight status, schedules, aircraft and airport data, statistics, historical data and more. Seamless REST/web hook integration via API marketplaces at affordable rates. sponsored
Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, AppWrite should be more popular than PlanetScale. It has been mentioned 178 times since March 2021.

social mentions
178 vs 105
Developer Tools popularity
77% vs 23%
alternatives listed
240+ vs 217

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

AppWrite
PlanetScale
Website appwrite.io planetscale.com
Pricing
Open source
Open source Freemium Free trial $29 / Monthly (250GB) Official pricing
Company Startup from Israel —
Listed in
Developer Tools Backend As A Service REST API Realtime Backend / API +1
Vitess Databases Relational Databases Cloud Storage APIs DevOps Tools MySQL Tools MySQL GUI +5

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

AppWrite 5 features
PlanetScale 8 features
  • Open Source
    Appwrite is an open-source platform, allowing developers to inspect, modify, and contribute to the code base, ensuring transparency and flexibility.
  • Self-Hosted
    Being self-hosted, Appwrite gives developers complete control over their data and server environment, enhancing security and customization options.
  • Comprehensive Backend
    Appwrite offers a wide range of backend services out-of-the-box, including authentication, database management, storage, and serverless functions, reducing the need for additional third-party services.
  • Multi-Language Support
    Appwrite supports various programming languages, which makes it versatile and developer-friendly, allowing the integration with different tech stacks.
  • Community and Documentation
    Appwrite has an active community and well-documented guides, tutorials, and API references, which are essential for learning and troubleshooting.
  • Scalability
    PlanetScale is designed for massive scale, leveraging the Vitess engine that powers YouTube. This makes it suitable for applications requiring high scalability for both read and write operations.
  • Global Distribution
    Offers multi-region deployment, ensuring low-latency access and higher availability, beneficial for globally distributed applications.
  • Serverless Approach
    The platform takes a serverless approach to database management, which means automatic scaling, less infrastructure to manage, and potential cost savings.
  • Branching and Sharding
    Supports database branching for isolated environments like development, testing, and production. It also supports sharding, which helps in distributing data across multiple nodes for better performance and reliability.
  • High Availability
    PlanetScale provides high availability with automated failover mechanisms, ensuring minimal downtime.
  • Strong Data Integrity
    Uses Vitess’s strong consistency models to ensure data integrity across distributed systems.
  • Developer Friendly
    Includes tools and features that make it easier for developers to manage, such as automatic migrations and simplified schema management.
  • Integration
    Can be easily integrated with various cloud service providers, making it flexible for different deployment environments.

Possible disadvantages

  • Learning Curve
    The platform comes with a learning curve, especially for teams unfamiliar with Vitess or managing distributed databases.
  • Cost
    While it can offer cost savings in some areas, the pricing for large-scale deployments and multi-region setups can be relatively high.
  • Complexity of Advanced Features
    Advanced features like sharding and branching can add complexity to the database management operations.
  • Limited Ecosystem
    Compared to more established databases, the ecosystem and community around PlanetScale might be smaller, which can affect the availability of third-party tools and community support.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Using a proprietary platform can lead to vendor lock-in, making it harder to switch to other database services if needed.
  • Early-stage Platform
    While promising, PlanetScale is relatively new compared to some other established database services, which means it may lack some maturity or have bugs that older platforms have ironed out.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

AppWrite
PlanetScale

Overall verdict

  • AppWrite is a solid option for developers looking for an open-source backend solution with robust features. Its well-documented APIs and active community support make it a viable choice for both small projects and growing applications.

Why this product is good

  • AppWrite is considered a good choice, particularly for its comprehensive backend-as-a-service (BaaS) features that cater to web and mobile developers. It provides a suite of services such as user authentication, databases, file storage, and serverless functions, allowing developers to streamline their development process. Its open-source nature means developers have access to the full code base and the community-drive contributions, ensuring transparency and continuous improvements. AppWrite also emphasizes developer experience, offering easy integration with client-side SDKs and providing extensive documentation.

Recommended for

    AppWrite is recommended for developers building applications who require a scalable backend solution without the overhead of managing infrastructure. It is particularly suited for developers who prefer open-source platforms and those who want to avoid vendor lock-in. AppWrite's features make it a good fit for startups, hobby projects, and even educational purposes where full control over the backend is desirable.

Overall verdict

  • PlanetScale is a strong choice for developers and companies looking for a scalable, reliable, and developer-friendly database solution. Its foundations on proven technology and modern features make it a good option for various use cases.

Why this product is good

  • PlanetScale is known for its serverless database platform designed to be simple, scalable, and efficient. It is built on Vitess, which powers companies like YouTube and Slack, offering great performance at scale. PlanetScale provides features such as branching, sharding, and horizontal scaling without downtime, appealing to developers who need robust infrastructure. Additionally, it's designed to integrate seamlessly with developer workflows, providing tools like a CLI and a web console for easy database management.

Recommended for

  • Developers building cloud-native applications
  • Teams needing scalable databases with no downtime
  • Organizations requiring seamless integration with existing development workflows
  • Startups and tech companies looking for robust infrastructure

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

AppWrite 1 video + Add
PlanetScale 3 videos + Add

Appwrite quickstart tutorial

PlanetScale Beta - Release Radar

More videos

  • - Using PlanetScale (MySQL) with Next.js and Vercel!
  • - PlanetScale and Prisma: building in the cloud - Nick Van Wiggeren | Prisma Day 2021

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
AppWrite
PlanetScale
77% 77%
Developer Tools
23% 23%
0% 0%
Databases
100% 100%
100% 100%
Backend As A Service
0% 0%
100% 100%
Realtime Backend / API
0% 0%

User comments

Share your experience with using AppWrite and PlanetScale. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

AppWrite 5.0 · 1 review
PlanetScale no reviews yet

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Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

AppWrite 178 mentions
PlanetScale 105 mentions
  • Creating a Chatbot that actually Stands Out! (vibe coded version)🦖
    Initially, I was using the Supabase free tier, but I was hitting the limits, and my app was becoming stale. Then I switched to Appwrite. Both are totally different; one is SQL, while the latter one is NoSQL. Although use node-appwrite... - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • The future of coding: Cursor, AI, and the rise of backend automation with Appwrite
    Appwrite is an open-source platform that simplifies backend setup by providing authentication, databases, storage, functions, and hosting all in one place. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • How to Use Appwrite in Android Jetpack Compose
    I love Appwrite. My first hackathon was actually from Appwrite (using Appwrite) 2 years ago, and I've been using it ever since. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago

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  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (June 2026)
    PlanetScale | https://planetscale.com/ | Software Engineer - PlanetScale Postgres | Remote (AMER, LATAM & EMEA) | Base range: $120,000 - $290,000 USD I'm the hiring manager for this position. Come build the best Postgres product on the... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • PlanetScale announces Postgres is GA
    i'll take the opposite side. I was very impressed with their website. The very first line: > The world’s fastest and most scalable cloud databases the second line: > PlanetScale brings you the fastest databases available in the cloud.... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Serverless Backend: A New Era for Developers
    Database: It helps storing, managing and retriving data in a structured manner (e.g. NeonDB, PlanetScale, DynamoDB). - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago

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Alternatives to AppWrite and PlanetScale

When comparing AppWrite and PlanetScale, you can also consider the following products.

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