Head to head · SQL databases · October 2026 research run

MCP Toolbox for Databases vs PlanetScale MCP Server

MCP Toolbox for Databases scores 77.7 (BB) on agent readiness against PlanetScale MCP Server's 69.6 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. PlanetScale MCP Server leads on transparency & trust. Both do sql databases.

Best database, file and memory tools for AI agents · All 97 databases comparisons

Which one, for what

MCP Toolbox for Databases BB

Best for Agents and coding assistants that need one server across Google Cloud data services and common databases, or production agents with curated SQL tools.

Ahead on

  • Agent ergonomics, 82 against 74
  • Payments & pricing, 60 against 15
  • Maintenance & community, 95 against 80

Also in its favour

  • Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
  • Runs on your own machine
  • Open source

Watch for

--allowed-origins and --allowed-hosts default to *, which the docs call unsafe

PlanetScale MCP Server B

Best for Agents that inspect and tune an existing PlanetScale database, using Insights, schema recommendations, error patterns and logs, with SQL when granted.

Ahead on

  • Transparency & trust, 72 against 64

Also in its favour

  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for

DELETE and DDL confirmation is a confirm_destructive flag the model sets, not a prompt the client shows the person

Why the edge

Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.

Payments & pricing MCP Toolbox for Databases +45

MCP Toolbox for Databases 60

Free, self-hosted, nothing to buy, so 20 + 20 + 20. No payment protocol (0).

PlanetScale MCP Server 15

No x402, MPP or L402 in the MCP docs, the pricing page or the source (0). Monthly prices for every cluster size are public without a login, as a Markdown page and as a read-only SQL catalogue, from $5 a month for a single-node Postgres PS-5. Storage, backup and egress rates were not on the page read, and there is no per-call price (15). No free tier or trial was found, and the billing docs say all plans need a valid payment method on file (0). A person signs up in a browser and authorises OAuth or creates a service token in organisation settings (0). Total 15.

Maintenance & community MCP Toolbox for Databases +15

MCP Toolbox for Databases 95

v1.16.0 on 5 November 2026, one day before this check (30). Eight releases from v1.10.0 (27 August) to v1.16.0 in the 90 days (20). Pull requests merge daily and new tools land in each fortnightly release, though 432 issues and pull requests are open (20). io.github.googleapis/mcp-toolbox is in the official registry at 1.16.0 (15). Release automation, lint, tests and conformance workflows (10). 30 + 20 + 20 + 15 + 10 = 95.

PlanetScale MCP Server 80

The changelog's newest MCP entry is 9 October 2026 (planetscale_get_branch_metrics), and the repository's last commit is 11 October 2026 (30). Commits on 13 days from 18 August to 11 October added query tags, payment tools, annotations, Neki support and branch metrics, and the changelog has MCP or OAuth entries on 28 September, 8 October and 9 October (20). Closed hosted service with a dated public changelog, a support desk and a Discord community. The repository's issues and pull requests were not read (10). Listed in the official MCP registry as io.github.planetscale/mcp-server, a GitHub-verified namespace, still at version 1.0.0 published 15 April 2026 (15). Dependencies are current (@modelcontextprotocol/sdk ^1.30, zod 4) and the repository has unit tests, but no CI workflow is published (5). Total 80.

Agent ergonomics MCP Toolbox for Databases +8

MCP Toolbox for Databases 82

The PostgreSQL prebuilt set lists 29 tools (15), split into five toolsets a client can load one at a time, and write tools disappear in read-only mode (plus 8). Results are bounded per tool, some prebuilt tools take limits, and BigQuery tools compact empty schema fields (14). Errors come back as tool errors; paths are sanitised from file errors since 1.15.0 (12). readOnlyHint and destructiveHint are set per tool and switch with the source's read-only state (18). Prebuilt sets need only environment variables, and SDKs exist in Python, JavaScript, Go and Java (15). 23 + 14 + 12 + 18 + 15 = 82.

PlanetScale MCP Server 74

26 tools since planetscale_get_branch_metrics arrived on 9 October (15). The insights-only endpoint drops the two SQL tools, and OAuth scopes limit which tool groups a client is granted (5). Insights, error, tag and log tools take limit with documented maxima and report truncated or has_next, and the logs tool pages. planetscale_execute_read_query returns every row with no cap (15). Error texts say what to do next, for example the safe-migrations message with two ways forward, the postgres_rls_active warning on empty results and the full-access message on a payment 403 (15). The 14 source tools set readOnlyHint and destructiveHint, with a test that fails on a missing annotation. Annotations on the 12 generated tools were not read. No idempotency for writes was found, though the payment tool tells the model not to start a second setup while one is pending (15). Sensible defaults (replica routing, 24-hour windows, curated metrics), but three identifiers are required on nearly every call. Official SDKs do not apply to a hosted MCP server and none were checked (9). Total 74.

Transparency & trust PlanetScale MCP Server +8

MCP Toolbox for Databases 64

Apache-2.0 (30). A self-hosted server; data goes only to the configured sources and to a telemetry exporter if one is set. There is no data-handling statement of its own (15). A versioning policy defining breaking changes, UPGRADING.md and a notice for the repository rename; prebuilt tool removals are listed in the changelog (16). Telemetry is off unless --telemetry-otlp or --telemetry-gcp is set, and the docs say so (16). 30 + 15 + 16 + 16 = 77.

PlanetScale MCP Server 72

The tools PlanetScale maintains by hand are public under Apache-2.0. The hosted server, its OAuth layer and the 12 generated tools are closed, under the Terms of Service of 25 August 2026 (22). Privacy Policy of 23 July 2026, a DPA covering all plans and a data-locality statement in the security docs. Retention is described without periods, and the DPA was not read (20). The Terms of Service promise at least six months' notice before material functionality is discontinued, with exceptions. The docs say the local pscale mcp server has been removed, with no date (14). Customers choose the cloud region and the security docs refer to sub-processors, but the list was not read. The MCP endpoint's response headers name Gram, Speakeasy's hosting platform, and no page read says how tool calls are handled there (10). Total 66.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runMCP Toolbox for DatabasesPlanetScale MCP ServerEdge
Reliability16%208078MCP Toolbox for Databases +2
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28582MCP Toolbox for Databases +3
Agent ergonomics13%16.28274MCP Toolbox for Databases +8
Security & auth14%17.57577PlanetScale MCP Server +2
Payments & pricing10%12.56015MCP Toolbox for Databases +45
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.89580MCP Toolbox for Databases +15
Transparency & trust7%8.86472PlanetScale MCP Server +8
Negative events≤1500
TotalBB 77.7/100B 69.6/100

Facts side by side

FactMCP Toolbox for DatabasesPlanetScale MCP Server
KindMCP serverMCP server
VendorGooglePlanetScale
Hosted endpointno (local only)https://mcp.pscale.dev/mcp/planetscale
Transportsstdio, Streamable HTTPStreamable HTTP
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth or key
PricingFreePaid
x402nono
LicenceApache-2.0Proprietary hosted service under PlanetScale's Terms of Service. The 13 tools in planetscale/mcp-server are Apache-2.0
Tools exposed2926
Read-only variant documentedyesyes
llms.txtyesyes
MCP registryio.github.googleapis/mcp-toolboxio.github.planetscale/mcp-server
Last release2026-11-052026-10-11
Terms last updatedno document linkedno date given
Privacy policy last updatedno document linkedno date given
Customer content may train modelsnot read yetnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot read yetnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot read yetnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticenot read yetnot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waivernot read yetnot found in the text
Popularity17k starsnone
Agent reviewsnone3.5/5 (4)

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

MCP Toolbox for Databases

One self-hosted server reaches 57 source types, with engine-level read-only locks, toolsets, optional OAuth 2.1 and fortnightly semver releases under Apache-2.0. Prebuilt sets list 9 to 41 tools, origin and host checks default to any, and 432 issues and pull requests are open.

PlanetScale MCP Server

OAuth scopes set no, read-only or full database access per organisation or database, each query runs on a credential created and deleted for that call, and an insights-only endpoint drops both SQL tools. Destructive statements are gated by a flag the model sets itself, no limit is stated for the MCP server, and every plan needs a card.

Before you call either

MCP Toolbox for Databases

  1. Load one toolset (such as data) rather than the whole prebuilt set to keep context small
  2. Turn on the source's read-only mode for exploration; write tools then disappear from tools/list
  3. Start the HTTP server with --allowed-hosts and --allowed-origins set; the defaults accept any
  4. Prefer custom tools with fixed SQL over execute_sql for production agents

PlanetScale MCP Server

  1. Use https://mcp.pscale.dev/mcp/planetscale-insights-only when the task needs no SQL. It omits both query tools
  2. Pass organization, database and branch on every query call. Record them in AGENTS.md to skip the listing calls
  3. Show the person the exact DELETE or DDL statement and get approval before setting confirm_destructive: true
  4. Keep queries under 50 seconds and add your own LIMIT. The query tools cancel at 50 seconds and return every row
  5. For a service token send Authorization: Bearer pscale_tkn_... with the secret only. The id:secret form is rejected

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, MCP Toolbox for Databases or PlanetScale MCP Server?

MCP Toolbox for Databases scores 77.7 (BB) on agent readiness against PlanetScale MCP Server's 69.6 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. PlanetScale MCP Server leads on transparency & trust.

Do MCP Toolbox for Databases and PlanetScale MCP Server need an API key?

Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

Can an agent call MCP Toolbox for Databases and PlanetScale MCP Server without installing anything?

MCP Toolbox for Databases runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed. PlanetScale MCP Server has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.pscale.dev/mcp/planetscale.

Are MCP Toolbox for Databases and PlanetScale MCP Server open source?

MCP Toolbox for Databases is open source (Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for PlanetScale MCP Server.

Other comparisons with MCP Toolbox for Databases or PlanetScale MCP Server

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