PlanetScale DatabaseServerless MySQL with non-blocking schema changes
PlanetScale brings Vitess's battle-tested horizontal sharding to a developer-friendly serverless MySQL platform — branching workflows, non-blocking DDL, and connection pooling that handles millions of connections.
PlanetScale is a serverless MySQL platform powered by Vitess — the same technology that scales YouTube's database. It brings Git-like branching, non-blocking schema changes, and unlimited connections to MySQL, making it the most developer-friendly MySQL hosting available. Deploy requests let teams review schema changes like pull requests before merging to production. Global read replicas, built-in connection pooling, and the PlanetScale Boost query cache deliver sub-millisecond read latency at any scale.
Quick start
# Install the PlanetScale CLI
brew install planetscale/tap/pscale
# Authenticate
pscale auth login
# Create a database
pscale database create myapp --region us-east
# Create a branch for development
pscale branch create myapp developmentRead the full documentation at planetscale.com/docs
Database branching
Create database branches like Git branches — develop schema changes in isolation, then merge.
Non-blocking DDL
ALTER TABLE runs without locking — zero-downtime schema migrations on a live production database.
Global replicas
Read replicas in any region — reduce read latency by routing queries to the closest node.
Connection pooling
PlanetScale handles thousands of serverless connections with built-in connection pooling via PlanetScale's proxy.
Deploy requests
Schema changes reviewed as pull request equivalents — audited, reversible, and team-approved before merging.
Vitess scaling
Horizontal sharding via Vitess under the hood — the same technology that powers YouTube's database.
Why it's hard
No foreign key constraints
PlanetScale (via Vitess) doesn't support foreign key constraints at the database level. Referential integrity must be enforced at the application layer or ORM level.
Vitess-specific SQL limitations
Some MySQL features (window functions in older Vitess versions, certain subquery patterns) may behave differently. Testing with PlanetScale's branching system catches these early.
Cost management at scale
PlanetScale's pricing is based on rows read/written. High-throughput analytics queries can be expensive — use PlanetScale Boost caching and query optimization to control costs.
Best practices
Use deploy requests for all schema changes
Deploy requests show schema diffs, flag destructive changes, and require approval — preventing accidental production data loss.
Enable PlanetScale Boost for hot queries
Boost caches query results at the edge with automatic invalidation — dramatically reducing latency for read-heavy workloads.
Create a branch per feature
Database branches work like Git branches — each developer gets an isolated copy for schema development and testing.
Useful resources
Frequently asked questions
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