DATA · 10 tools

Best Databases for Startups

Picking a database used to mean picking an ops burden. These managed and serverless options give you branching, scale-to-zero, and backups out of the box. Start with Postgres unless you have a concrete reason not to, then choose on pricing and developer experience.

1
SupabaseFreemium
Postgres plus auth, storage, and realtime — the fastest way to get a full backend behind a v1.
The open-source Firebase alternative.
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2
NeonFreemium
Serverless Postgres that branches like git, so every preview deploy can have its own copy of the database.
Serverless Postgres that branches like git.
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3
PlanetScaleFreemium
Serverless MySQL built on Vitess, with schema changes you can deploy without locking tables.
Serverless MySQL with branching — built on Vitess.
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4
MongoDB AtlasFreemium
The managed default when your data is genuinely document-shaped rather than relational.
Fully-managed MongoDB across all major clouds.
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5
ConvexFreemium
A reactive backend where queries push updates to the client — worth it for collaborative apps.
Reactive backend platform with real-time queries.
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6
CockroachDBFreemium
Distributed SQL — Postgres-compatible, infinitely scalable.
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7
XataFreemium
Serverless Postgres with full-text and vector search.
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8
ClickHouse CloudFreemium
Pick this when analytical queries over huge event tables are the product, not a side feature.
Hosted ClickHouse — fast analytics on huge datasets.
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9
TinybirdFreemium
Real-time analytics API built on ClickHouse.
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10
MotherDuckFreemium
Hosted DuckDB — analytics that scales from laptop to cloud.
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