# Gabriel Kanev
> Source: https://gkanev.com/posts/planetscale-forever-my-2-cents/
> Machine-readable version - 2026-04-20

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- Search ESC On March 6, PlanetScale announced the discontinuation of their free “Hobby” plan. The cheapest option is now $39/month. I have thoughts.
## The Problem

The shutdown leaves hobby developers without a home. If you’re looking for alternatives, here’s where I’d look:

Supabase - generous free tier, PostgreSQL-based

- Neon DB - PostgreSQL-focused, solid developer experience

- Singlestore - newer option worth evaluating

- Coolify - self-hosted approach for those who want control

## The Real Issue

The blog post announcing this change barely acknowledged the simultaneous layoffs. That’s what actually bothered me.

PlanetScale’s team - particularly their YouTube content creators - significantly contributed to the company’s reputation and growth. These were people who invested their careers in building the platform. The announcement treated the pricing change as a triumph while glossing over the human cost.

Developer Matt Holt put it well: “I get it, companies do layoffs… but this one felt icky… like the people were the problem… after sacrificing their livelihoods, the executives juxtaposed ‘PlanetScale forever’ as if declaring a triumph.”

## Verdict

I can’t recommend PlanetScale’s services going forward. Not because of the pricing change itself - businesses need to be sustainable - but because of how they handled it.

“PlanetScale forever” hit differently when it came right after showing the door to the people who built it.

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