Head to head · SQL databases · October 2026 research run
PlanetScale MCP Server vs PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server)
PlanetScale MCP Server scores 66.4 (B) on agent readiness against PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server)'s 18.4 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) leads on payments & pricing and transparency & trust. Both do sql databases.
Best database, file and memory tools for AI agents · All 43 databases comparisons
Which one, for what
Good for Agents that inspect and tune an existing PlanetScale database, using Insights, schema recommendations, error patterns and logs, with SQL when granted.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 63 against 13
- Schema & documentation, 82 against 29
- Agent ergonomics, 74 against 38
- Security & auth, 77 against 5
- Maintenance & community, 80 against 0
Also in its favour
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- No incidents deducted, where PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) loses 10 points for them
Watch for
DELETE and DDL confirmation is a confirm_destructive flag the model sets, not a prompt the client shows the person
PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) F
Good for Nothing new.
Ahead on
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 15
- Transparency & trust, 75 against 70
Also in its favour
- No key needed to call it
- Runs on your own machine
- Open source
Watch for
The read-only transaction can be escaped with a multi-statement query, disclosed in August 2025 and never fixed
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | PlanetScale MCP Server | PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 63 | 13 | PlanetScale MCP Server +50 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 82 | 29 | PlanetScale MCP Server +53 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 74 | 38 | PlanetScale MCP Server +36 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 77 | 5 | PlanetScale MCP Server +72 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 15 | 60 | PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) +45 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 80 | 0 | PlanetScale MCP Server +80 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 70 | 75 | PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) +5 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -10 | |
| Total | 66.4 · B | 18.4 · F |
Facts side by side
| Fact | PlanetScale MCP Server | PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | MCP server | MCP server |
| Vendor | PlanetScale | Model Context Protocol (archived) |
| Hosted endpoint | https://mcp.pscale.dev/mcp/planetscale | no (local only) |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP | stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted service under PlanetScale's Terms of Service. The 13 tools in planetscale/mcp-server are Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Tools exposed | 25 | 1 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| MCP registry | io.github.planetscale/mcp-server | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-10-08 | 2024-12-04 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2021-09-08 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2023-03-15 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | none | 294 stars, 119k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 1.5/5 (2) |
Verdicts
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 rate limit was found, and every plan needs a card.
PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server)
The server exposes one small query tool. Its read-only transaction wrapper has a documented multi-statement bypass, disclosed in August 2025 and not fixed.
Before you call either
PlanetScale MCP Server
- Use
https://mcp.pscale.dev/mcp/planetscale-insights-onlywhen the task needs no SQL. It omits both query tools - Pass
organization,databaseandbranchon every query call. Record them inAGENTS.mdto skip the listing calls - Show the person the exact DELETE or DDL statement and get approval before setting
confirm_destructive: true - Keep queries under 50 seconds and add your own
LIMIT. The query tools cancel at 50 seconds and return every row - For a service token send
Authorization: Bearer pscale_tkn_...with the secret only. Theid:secretform is rejected
PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server)
- Don't use for new work. Migrate to Postgres MCP Pro with
--access-mode=restrictedor a managed provider's server - If you inherit it, connect with a database role that can only SELECT. The transaction won't stop writes
- Add
LIMITto every query. The server returns every row as pretty-printed JSON - Read the
/schemaresources for column names before querying, since there's no schema tool
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, PlanetScale MCP Server or PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server)?
PlanetScale MCP Server scores 66.4 (B) on agent readiness against PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server)'s 18.4 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) leads on payments & pricing and transparency & trust.
Do PlanetScale MCP Server and PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) need an API key?
PlanetScale MCP Server takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) needs no key.
Can an agent call PlanetScale MCP Server and PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) without installing anything?
PlanetScale MCP Server has a hosted endpoint at https://mcp.pscale.dev/mcp/planetscale. PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed.
Are PlanetScale MCP Server and PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) open source?
No open-source release is listed for PlanetScale MCP Server. PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) is open source (MIT).
Other comparisons with PlanetScale MCP Server or PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server)
- ClickHouse MCP Server vs PlanetScale MCP Server
- ClickHouse MCP Server vs PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server)
- PlanetScale MCP Server vs Postgres MCP Pro
- PlanetScale MCP Server vs Snowflake-managed MCP server
- PlanetScale MCP Server vs Supabase API + MCP
- Postgres MCP Pro vs PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server)
- PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) vs Snowflake-managed MCP server
- PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) vs Supabase API + MCP
- MongoDB MCP Server vs PlanetScale MCP Server
- MongoDB MCP Server vs PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server)
- PlanetScale MCP Server vs Redis MCP
- PostgreSQL (archived MCP reference server) vs Redis MCP
Disclosure
MCP started at Anthropic, which makes the Claude models our research agents and review panel run on (Anthropic donated it to the Agentic AI Foundation, a directed fund under the Linux Foundation, in December 2025), and this server is graded by the same checklist as every other listing.
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/planetscale-mcp-vs-postgres-reference-server-archived.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/planetscale-mcp.json·/api/v1/tools/postgres-reference-server-archived.json - From a terminal
anchor compare planetscale-mcp postgres-reference-server-archived(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "planetscale-mcp", "b": "postgres-reference-server-archived"}at/mcp, no key