# Google Cloud Spanner vs PlanetScale

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** PlanetScale

| Attribute | Google Cloud Spanner | PlanetScale |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 54.9 (38% (low)) | 65.7 (70% (medium)) |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Google Cloud's globally distributed, multi-model database supporting relational, graph, key-value, and search capabilities with native PostgreSQL interface and Gemini AI integration. It is indexed under Relational Databases.","source":"https://cloud.google.com/spanner","question":"What is Google Cloud Spanner?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Google Cloud Spanner offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://cloud.google.com/spanner","question":"Is Google Cloud Spanner free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Google Cloud Spanner can be deployed cloud / SaaS, hybrid, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://cloud.google.com/spanner","question":"Can Google Cloud Spanner be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 5 integrations for Google Cloud Spanner, including Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, Gemini CLI, Model Context Protocol (MCP), Agent Development Kit (ADK) and Data Agent Kit. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://cloud.google.com/spanner","question":"What does Google Cloud Spanner integrate with?","confidence":0.6}]` | `[{"answer":"PlanetScale is a database platform providing MySQL and PostgreSQL databases with horizontal scaling capabilities powered by Vitess clustering technology. It is indexed under Relational Databases.","source":"https://planetscale.com","question":"What is PlanetScale?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"PlanetScale is a paid product; published pricing starts at $5 per month. There is no free tier. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://planetscale.com/blog/amazon-aurora-pricing-the-many-surprising-costs-of-running-an-aurora-database","question":"How much does PlanetScale cost?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"PlanetScale supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://planetscale.com/blog/amazon-aurora-pricing-the-many-surprising-costs-of-running-an-aurora-database","question":"What platforms does PlanetScale support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for PlanetScale, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://planetscale.com/blog/amazon-aurora-pricing-the-many-surprising-costs-of-running-an-aurora-database","question":"Can PlanetScale be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 5 integrations for PlanetScale, including Vantage, Netlify, Debezium, Cursor and Codex. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://planetscale.com","question":"What does PlanetScale integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, HIPAA and GDPR for PlanetScale. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as PlanetScale not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://planetscale.com/blog/amazon-aurora-pricing-the-many-surprising-costs-of-running-an-aurora-database","question":"What security certifications does PlanetScale have?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"PlanetScale is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States.","source":"https://planetscale.com/blog/amazon-aurora-pricing-the-many-surprising-costs-of-running-an-aurora-database","question":"Where is PlanetScale available?","confidence":0.5}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | Google Cloud Spanner is a managed database service that unifies multiple data models (relational, key-value, graph, vector search) on one platform. It provides up to 99.999% uptime with globally consistent transactions through a distributed timestamp system. | PlanetScale provides managed cloud database services optimized for performance and reliability. It offers sharded versions of MySQL and PostgreSQL that support horizontal scaling, zero-downtime operations including schema changes, automatic failover, and connection pooling. |
| features.capabilities | `{"isolation":"serializable","sql_model":"full_sql","deployment":"managed","consistency":"strong","replication":"consensus","extensibility":true,"license_class":"proprietary","horizontal_scale":"distributed_native","acid_transactions":"full","automatic_failover":true,"wire_compatibility":"postgres"}` | `{"sql_model":"full_sql","data_model":"relational","deployment":"managed","sql_support":true,"extensibility":true,"license_class":"proprietary","managed_cloud":true,"full_text_search":true,"horizontal_scale":"sharded","automatic_failover":true,"horizontal_scaling":true}` |
| integrations.count | 4 | 3 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform"},{"name":"Gemini CLI"},{"name":"Model Context Protocol (MCP)"},{"name":"Agent Development Kit (ADK)"},{"name":"Data Agent Kit"},{"url":"https://github.com/gemini-cli-extensions/spanner","name":"VS Code","native":false,"category":"development"},{"name":"Cursor","native":false,"category":"development"},{"name":"GitHub Copilot","native":false,"category":"development"},{"name":"Kiro","native":false,"category":"development"}]` | `[{"name":"Vantage"},{"name":"Netlify","native":true,"category":"deployment","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Debezium","native":false,"category":"data_integration","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Cursor","native":true,"category":"development_tools","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Codex","native":true},{"name":"Terraform","native":true,"category":"infrastructure","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Prometheus","native":true,"category":"monitoring","direction":"outbound"}]` |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | - | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"usage","summary":"Usage-based pricing: compute capacity (nodes/processing units, hourly), storage (monthly), backups, data replication, network bandwidth. Free 90-day trial instances. Optional 1-year and 3-year committed use discounts. Three editions available: Standard, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://cloud.google.com/spanner","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T12:40:26.715Z","freeTrialDays":90,"billingPeriods":["hour","month"]}` | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Postgres","summary":"From $5/month","features":["High availability","Automatic failover across three availability zones"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":5,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Fully managed PostgreSQL cluster","contactSales":false}],"addOns":[{"name":"Private connection traffic (PrivateLink/PSC)","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"GB"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.01,"currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"From $5/month. Private connection traffic $0.01/GB.","currency":"USD","sourceUrl":"https://planetscale.com/changelog/updated-pricing-for-postgres-private-traffic","retrievedAt":"2026-10-05T12:36:46.926Z","startingPrice":{"amount":5,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | no |
| pricing.model | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | low | low |
| pricing.starting_price | - | `{"amount":5,"currency":"USD"}` |
| pricing.transparent | - | no |
| reliability.sla_pct | 99.999 | 99.99 |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.certifications | - | `[{"name":"PCI Data Security Standard","level":"Level 1 Service Provider","status":"active"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.hipaa | - | yes |
| security.pci | - | yes |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |

## Capabilities (Relational Databases)

| Capability | Google Cloud Spanner | PlanetScale |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| SQL model | Full SQL | Full SQL |
| **Transactions** |  |  |
| ACID transactions | Full | - |
| Highest isolation level | Serializable | - |
| **Consistency** |  |  |
| Consistency | Strong | - |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Horizontal scale | Natively distributed | Sharded |
| **Replication** |  |  |
| Replication | Consensus (Raft/Paxos) | - |
| **Availability** |  |  |
| Automatic failover / HA | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | Managed | Managed |
| Serverless / scale-to-zero | - | - |
| **Compatibility** |  |  |
| Wire compatibility | Postgres protocol | - |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| Extensions / plugins / UDFs | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Licence class | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| **Data types** |  |  |
| JSON / document support | - | - |
| Geo / spatial | - | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T17:47:11.596Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*