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10 Free Cloud Databases You Should Consider

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    Shelton Ma
    Twitter

There are several excellent options that offer robust free-tier plans, great documentation, and scalability. Here’s a list of some popular free-tier database providers:

1. PlanetScale

  • Type: Distributed SQL (MySQL-compatible)
  • Free Tier: Up to 5 databases and 1 branch.
  • Key Features:
    • Horizontal scalability
    • Serverless architecture
    • MySQL compatibility (with Vitess under the hood)
    • Zero-downtime schema changes
  • Good For: Projects that need high availability and scalability with a MySQL-compatible database.
  • Website: PlanetScale

2. Neon

  • Type: Serverless PostgreSQL
  • Free Tier: 1 GB of storage and 100,000 reads/writes per month.
  • Key Features:
    • Serverless, auto-scaling PostgreSQL database
    • Built-in data replication
    • Real-time analytics support
    • Automatic branching and versioning
  • Good For: Projects that need serverless PostgreSQL with auto-scaling and branching features.
  • Website: Neon

3. Supabase

  • Type: PostgreSQL with integrated backend services (Real-time, Auth, Storage, etc.)
  • Free Tier:
    • 500MB database storage
    • 1GB file storage
    • 2 million monthly requests
    • Unlimited authentication and real-time subscriptions
  • Key Features:
    • Fully managed PostgreSQL with real-time support
    • Integrated RESTful and GraphQL APIs
    • Auth service, file storage, and more
  • Good For: Projects requiring a full backend solution with authentication, database, and real-time capabilities.
  • Website: Supabase

4. Railway

  • Type: General-purpose, managed database (supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, etc.)
  • Free Tier:
    • 1 GB database storage
    • 1,000 hours/month compute time
    • Supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Redis
  • Key Features:
    • Simple deployment for multiple database types
    • Easy-to-use UI and integrations with various frameworks and services
    • Automatic deployment with GitHub integration
  • Good For: Quick projects, development environments, and full-stack applications.
  • Website: Railway

5. Fly.io

  • Type: PostgreSQL, Redis, and MySQL (and more) hosting in edge locations
  • Free Tier:
    • 3 apps per account
    • 1 GB storage per app (Persistent Volume)
    • 1 CPU core per app
  • Key Features:
    • Can run databases near your users (edge locations)
    • Offers both SQL (PostgreSQL, MySQL) and NoSQL (Redis)
    • Global scalability and minimal latency
  • Good For: Running applications with low latency and global distribution requirements.
  • Website: Fly.io

6. ElephantSQL

  • Type: Managed PostgreSQL
  • Free Tier:
    • 20 MB storage
    • 5 concurrent connections
  • Key Features:
    • Fully managed PostgreSQL instances
    • Easy-to-use interface
    • No setup or maintenance required
  • Good For: Small-scale projects or development environments.
  • Website: ElephantSQL

7. MongoDB Atlas

  • Type: Managed MongoDB (NoSQL)
  • Free Tier:
    • 512 MB storage
    • 100 max concurrent connections
    • 100 max reads per second
  • Key Features:
    • Fully managed MongoDB service
    • Auto-scaling and real-time data
    • Powerful aggregation framework
  • Good For: NoSQL projects requiring flexible schema and horizontal scaling.
  • Website: MongoDB Atlas

8. CockroachDB

  • Type: Distributed SQL (PostgreSQL compatible)
  • Free Tier:
    • 5GB storage
    • 1 million SQL queries/month
    • 1 Node (multi-region deployments possible)
  • Key Features:
    • High availability, distributed architecture
    • ACID-compliant
    • PostgreSQL compatibility
  • Good For: Projects requiring high availability and automatic scaling with SQL compatibility.
  • Website: CockroachDB

9. Google Cloud Firestore

  • Type: NoSQL Document Database
  • Free Tier:
    • 1 GB storage
    • 50,000 reads per day
    • 20,000 writes per day
    • 20,000 deletes per day
  • Key Features:
    • Real-time updates
    • Offline support for web and mobile apps
    • Global replication
  • Good For: Real-time applications needing NoSQL storage with high availability and global distribution.
  • Website: Google Firestore

10. AWS Free Tier (RDS and DynamoDB)

  • Type: Managed SQL and NoSQL databases
  • Free Tier:
    • RDS: 750 hours/month (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle, SQL Server)
    • DynamoDB: 25GB of storage, 25 read and 25 write capacity units per month
  • Key Features:
    • Fully managed databases with auto-scaling
    • RDS supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and SQL Server
    • DynamoDB is ideal for fast NoSQL workloads
  • Good For: AWS ecosystem projects needing SQL or NoSQL solutions.
  • Website: AWS Free Tier

Conclusion

  • For SQL: If you’re looking for serverless and highly scalable SQL databases, PlanetScale (MySQL) and Neon (PostgreSQL) are great choices. Supabase also offers a fully managed PostgreSQL solution with real-time capabilities.
  • For NoSQL: If you prefer a NoSQL solution, MongoDB Atlas, Google Firestore, and Railway are all excellent choices with generous free tiers.
  • For edge-focused applications: Fly.io provides edge deployment with PostgreSQL, Redis, and MySQL, which is ideal if you need low-latency access from different geographical locations.

Choose the one that best fits your project’s requirements for ease of use, scalability, and the type of data you need to store.

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