Does PlanetScale Work With Payload CMS?
PlanetScale works excellently with Payload CMS as a drop-in MySQL database, requiring only connection string configuration.
Quick Facts
How PlanetScale Works With Payload CMS
PlanetScale integrates seamlessly with Payload CMS through the standard MySQL adapter since PlanetScale is MySQL-compatible. Payload supports multiple database adapters (PostgreSQL, MongoDB, SQLite), and MySQL/PlanetScale works via the Drizzle ORM integration. The connection is straightforward: provide a PlanetScale connection string to Payload's database config, and you're ready to deploy a headless CMS on a serverless database. The developer experience is smooth because PlanetScale's branching feature aligns well with Payload's schema migrations—you can develop and test schema changes on a branch before merging to production. Performance is excellent for typical CMS workloads since PlanetScale's connection pooling and automatic scaling handle unpredictable traffic spikes. The main consideration is that PlanetScale enforces foreign key constraints by default, which Payload respects, and you'll want to leverage PlanetScale's backup and restore features rather than relying solely on Payload's built-in database utilities.
Best Use Cases
Quick Setup
npm install payload @payloadcms/db-mysql dotenvimport { buildConfig } from 'payload/config';
import { mysqlAdapter } from '@payloadcms/db-mysql';
export default buildConfig({
admin: { user: process.env.PAYLOAD_SECRET },
db: mysqlAdapter({
pool: {
connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
},
logger: true,
}),
collections: [
{
slug: 'posts',
fields: [
{ name: 'title', type: 'text', required: true },
{ name: 'content', type: 'richText' },
],
},
],
});
// .env
// DATABASE_URL=mysql://user:password@aws.connect.psdb.cloud/payload?sslaccept=strictKnown Issues & Gotchas
PlanetScale enforces FOREIGN KEY constraints; some Payload field relationships may fail if not properly indexed
Fix: Ensure all relationship fields in Payload have proper indexes defined. Test migrations on a PlanetScale dev branch first.
Connection limits: PlanetScale free tier has 1,000 concurrent connections; under high load, Payload's connection pool may exhaust this
Fix: Configure Payload's database pool size conservatively (max 50-100 for free tier). Use a connection pooler or upgrade plan for production.
Large data exports/imports can timeout with PlanetScale's query limits
Fix: Use PlanetScale's native backup/restore tools instead of Payload's bulk import for migrations over 100MB.
Changing PRIMARY KEY structure requires a full table rebuild on PlanetScale, which blocks writes
Fix: Plan schema migrations carefully; use PlanetScale's online DDL or shadow tables to avoid downtime.
Alternatives
- •Vercel Postgres + Payload CMS (managed PostgreSQL alternative with similar serverless experience)
- •MongoDB Atlas + Payload CMS (NoSQL option, better for unstructured content, simpler scaling)
- •Supabase (PostgreSQL) + Payload CMS (open-source alternative with real-time features)
Resources
Related Compatibility Guides
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