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Accounting & Finance · head to head

Adyen vs PlanetScale

Adyen logo

Adyen

Accounting & Finance

The payments platform built for growth

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
PlanetScale logo

PlanetScale

Database & Data Management

The MySQL-compatible serverless database

From
$15/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Adyen there is a minimum monthly invoice, set by industry and business model and only disclosed through the sales team, so small volumes are not economic; PlanetScale eBS High Availability requires 3-node configuration with replication overhead
  • They diverge on capability: Adyen covers Payment processing, PlanetScale covers Database Branching.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Adyen and PlanetScale actually diverge.

Attributes where Adyen and PlanetScale differ
AttributeAdyenPlanetScale
Starting price$29/month$15/month
Pricing modelusage-basedsubscription
PlatformsWeb, Api, PosCloud-hosted (AWS, GCP, Azure)
CategoryAccounting & FinanceDatabase & Data Management
Founded20062018

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Adyen

  • Payment processing
  • Risk management
  • Unified commerce
  • Issuing
  • Platform payments
  • SAP
  • Salesforce
  • Oracle

Only in PlanetScale

  • Database Branching
  • Non-blocking Schema Changes
  • Insights
  • Horizontal Scaling
  • Connection Pooling
  • Query Caching
  • Automatic Backups
  • Global Replication

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Adyen

  • Card acquiring with interchange plus pricing for larger merchantsnot PlanetScale
  • Accepting local payment methods across multiple countriesnot PlanetScale
  • Settling in several currencies through linked bank accountsnot PlanetScale
  • Unified online and in-person paymentsnot PlanetScale

PlanetScale

  • MySQL database hosting with automatic failover and replicationnot Adyen
  • Vitess-based sharding for horizontal scaling across large datasetsnot Adyen
  • Cloud provider flexibility across AWS, GCP, Azure with 60+ regionsnot Adyen
  • Cost-effective database clusters using ARM64 architecture optionsnot Adyen

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Adyen

  • There is a minimum monthly invoice, set by industry and business model and only disclosed through the sales team, so small volumes are not economic
  • Published fees are indicative rather than a rate card, with real pricing negotiated
  • Interchange++ means the card cost varies per transaction rather than being a single predictable percentage
  • Alternative payment methods carry their own rates on top, such as 3.3 percent plus $0.10 for American Express in North America

PlanetScale

  • EBS High Availability requires 3-node configuration with replication overhead
  • EBS Non-HA single-node option lacks redundancy and automatic failover
  • Pricing varies by cloud provider and region, requiring queries for specific rates
  • ARM64 architecture only available on EBS tier, not Metal deployments

Pricing, plan by plan

Adyen

$29/month
  • CustomFree
    • Payment processing
    • Risk management
    • Unified commerce

PlanetScale

$15/month

No published plan breakdown. See the PlanetScale review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Adyen if

  • You need payment processing.
  • You work on Web, Api, Pos.
  • You also want risk management.
Adyen review

Choose PlanetScale if

  • You need database branching.
  • You work on Cloud-hosted (AWS, GCP, Azure).
  • You also want non-blocking schema changes.
PlanetScale review

Questions people ask

Is Adyen or PlanetScale better?
Neither clearly leads. Adyen starts at $29/month and PlanetScale at $15/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Adyen or PlanetScale?
Adyen starts at $29/month and PlanetScale at $15/month.
Does Adyen or PlanetScale run on more platforms?
Adyen runs on Web, Api, Pos. PlanetScale runs on Cloud-hosted (AWS, GCP, Azure).
What is Adyen best used for?
Adyen is most often used for card acquiring with interchange plus pricing for larger merchants, accepting local payment methods across multiple countries, settling in several currencies through linked bank accounts, unified online and in-person payments. Of those, card acquiring with interchange plus pricing for larger merchants and accepting local payment methods across multiple countries are not what PlanetScale is typically brought in for.
What can Adyen do that PlanetScale cannot?
Adyen covers Payment processing, Risk management, Unified commerce, Issuing. PlanetScale covers Database Branching, Non-blocking Schema Changes, Insights, Horizontal Scaling. Both handle Web support.
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