# Layerbase pricing

> Layerbase managed databases have one flat monthly price per plan and no usage meters: Free $0, Solo $5/mo, Pro $15/mo, or a Dedicated server from $35/mo. Free databases sleep when idle; paid plans add always-on capacity, backups, and more engines. This is the markdown twin of https://layerbase.com/pricing, generated from the same billing source.

Canonical: https://layerbase.com/pricing
Generated from Layerbase source: 2026-11-11

## Plans at a glance

|  | Free | Solo | Pro | Dedicated |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $0 | $5/mo | $15/mo | From $35/mo per server |
| Databases | Up to 2 | 2 | Up to 10 | No cap on the server |
| Storage | 5 GB | 10 GB | 25 GB | Per server size |
| Engines | 9 Standard | 11 Standard | All engines | All engines |
| Always-on pool | None (sleeps when idle) | 768 MB RAM | 1.5 GB RAM, 1 vCPU | Always on, single-tenant |
| Concurrent connections | 20 | 100 | 500 | Per server size |
| Branches per database | 1 | 3 | 10 | No cap on the server |
| Backups | 1 manual slot | Every 12 hours, 7-day retention | Every 12 hours, 30-day rolling | Every hour, 30-day rolling |
| Sleeps when idle | After 15 minutes (30 for MariaDB) | Unpinned databases after 6 hours | Unpinned databases after 6 hours | Never |
| Redis REST (Upstash) requests | 2,000/day, 5/s | No daily limit, 50/s | No daily limit, 250/s | No daily limit, 1,000/s |
| Bandwidth allowance (24 hours) | 10 GB | 25 GB | 100 GB | No cap |

Pro has an optional 7-day free trial. Team members are $3/member/mo on paid plans.

## Plan details

### Free: $0

Build and branch. Light databases sleep free, wake on connect.

- Databases: Up to 2
- Storage: 5 GB
- Engines: 9 Standard
- Connections: 20 concurrent
- Branches: 1 per database
- Backups: 1 manual slot
- Redis REST (Upstash): 2,000 requests/day, 5/s per database
- Credit card: None required
- Bandwidth billing: No usage charges
- Shared-region allowance: 10 GB/24h · 50 GB/7d · 150 GB/30d

Includes:

- 9 Standard engines: PostgreSQL, MariaDB, SQLite, DuckDB, libSQL, Valkey, Redis, TypeDB, DocumentDB
- Wakes on connect in about a second, sleeps after 15 min idle
- Shared burst CPU

Not included:

- Always-on databases (Free sleeps when idle)
- MySQL and FerretDB (start on Solo)
- Performance engines: ClickHouse, QuestDB, Qdrant, Weaviate, InfluxDB
- Scheduled backups
- Client certificate (mTLS) auth
- Team members

### Solo: $5/mo

Two databases, one of them always on. Perfect for a side project.

- Databases: 2
- Always-on pool: 768 MB RAM
- Storage: 10 GB
- Engines: 11 Standard
- Branches: 3 per database
- Backups: Every 12 hours, 7-day retention
- Team seats: $3/member/mo
- Redis REST (Upstash): No daily limit, 50/s per database
- Bandwidth: Unmetered\*

Includes:

- Pin one database to the always-on pool so it never sleeps
- 11 Standard engines: everything on Free plus MySQL and FerretDB
- Instant branches: dev, staging, prod from one database
- Up to 100 pooled connections (Postgres pooled TCP works from serverless runtimes; MySQL and MariaDB connect through a connection pooler)

Not included:

- More than 2 databases (Pro runs up to 10)
- A second always-on database (the 768 MB pool covers one; the other sleeps when idle and wakes on connect)
- Performance engines: ClickHouse, QuestDB, Qdrant, Weaviate, InfluxDB
- Client certificate (mTLS) auth
- 30-day rolling backups

### Pro: $15/mo

Your whole stack, always on. Run up to 10 databases in production.

- Free trial: 7 days, optional
- Databases: Up to 10
- Storage: 25 GB
- Always-on pool: 1.5 GB RAM, 1 vCPU
- Pool blocks: +1 GB / +1 vCPU / +25 GB, $10/mo
- Branches: 10 per database
- Backups: 30-day rolling
- Team seats: $3/member/mo
- Redis REST (Upstash): No daily limit, 250/s per database
- Bandwidth: Unmetered\*

Includes:

- All engines: Standard plus Performance (ClickHouse, QuestDB, Qdrant, Weaviate, InfluxDB)
- Allocate the always-on pool across your databases your way
- Reserved CPU and up to 500 pooled connections
- Client certificate (mTLS) auth on Postgres: per-database CA with one-click rotation
- Never archived
- Point-in-time restore on always-on PostgreSQL and FerretDB: continuous write-ahead log archiving, restore to any moment as a new database
- AI query debugging in the console: explains a failed query, proposes a fix, and loads it into the editor for you to review

### Dedicated: From $35/mo per server

A private server that runs only your databases.

- Starting price: From $35/mo per server
- Server sizes: 4 / 8 / 16 GB presets
- Database + branch caps: None on the server: memory and storage
- Backups: Hourly, 30-day rolling
- Team seats: $3/member/mo
- Shared cloud: Free allowance (2 databases); more with Pro, $15/mo
- Egress: Included
- Redis REST (Upstash): No daily limit, 1,000/s per database
- Bandwidth: Unmetered - your hardware, no acceptable-use cap

Includes:

- Your own private VM: always on, region-pinned, and single-tenant, hosting only your databases
- No database or branch cap on the server: the box's memory and storage are the only limits
- All engines, plus client-certificate (mTLS) auth on Postgres
- Hourly backups with 30-day rolling retention on every database on the server (branches join the schedule when you opt them in)
- One flat monthly price per server, no metered billing, egress included
- On the shared cloud the server includes the Free allowance (up to 2 databases with 5 GB); more comes with Pro at $15/mo, which stacks with a dedicated server
- Servers stack on one Layerbase bill
- Point-in-time restore on always-on PostgreSQL and FerretDB: continuous write-ahead log archiving, restore to any moment as a new database
- AI query debugging in the console: explains a failed query, proposes a fix, and loads it into the editor for you to review

## Pool blocks

Pro accounts can add always-on capacity to the shared pool in fixed-price blocks: each block is $10/mo for +1 GB RAM, +1 vCPU, and +25 GB storage, up to 20 blocks.

## Bandwidth

Unmetered means you're never charged for usage - every plan is a flat monthly price. To keep shared regions fast for everyone, non-dedicated plans are subject to an Acceptable Use Policy on sustained bandwidth. Properly configured applications won't come near it; it exists to catch runaway clients, not real workloads. On a Dedicated server the policy doesn't apply - the hardware is yours.

Acceptable Use Policy: https://layerbase.com/acceptable-use

## Agent Servers

Agent Servers are billed separately from database plans: 3 sizes, from $10/month per machine. Details: https://layerbase.com/workspaces#pricing

## Dedicated servers

Dedicated servers start at $35/mo per server. Sizes, locations, and per-server prices: https://layerbase.com/pricing/dedicated

## Engines by plan

| Engine | Class | Minimum plan | Behavior |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SQLite | Standard | Free | Sleeps when idle, wakes on connect |
| libSQL | Standard | Free | Sleeps when idle, wakes on connect |
| DuckDB | Standard | Free | Sleeps when idle, wakes on connect |
| Redis | Standard | Free | Sleeps when idle, wakes on connect |
| Valkey | Standard | Free | Sleeps when idle, wakes on connect |
| PostgreSQL | Standard | Free | Sleeps when idle, wakes on connect |
| MySQL | Standard | Solo | Sleeps when idle, wakes on connect |
| MariaDB | Standard | Free | Sleeps when idle, wakes on connect |
| FerretDB | Standard | Solo | Sleeps when idle, wakes on connect |
| DocumentDB | Standard | Free | Sleeps when idle, wakes on connect |
| Meilisearch | Standard | Pro | Sleeps when idle, wakes on connect |
| CouchDB | Standard | Pro | Sleeps when idle, wakes on connect |
| TypeDB | Standard | Free | Sleeps when idle, wakes on connect |
| InfluxDB | Performance | Pro | Always on, draws about 256 MB of your pool |
| Qdrant | Performance | Pro | Always on, draws about 512 MB of your pool |
| QuestDB | Performance | Pro | Always on, draws about 1 GB of your pool |
| Weaviate | Performance | Pro | Always on, draws about 768 MB of your pool |
| ClickHouse | Performance | Pro | Always on, draws about 1 GB of your pool |
| TigerBeetle | Performance | Dedicated server only (Alpha) | Always on, draws about 1.75 GB of your pool |

## Frequently asked questions

### Is an Agent Server included with Pro, or do I need Pro to buy one?

Neither. Each Agent Server has a separate subscription, starting at $10/month per machine. You can buy one with a free Layerbase account. Database plans and agent-provider subscriptions or API charges are separate.

[Compare Agent Server sizes](https://layerbase.com/workspaces#pricing)

### Does stopping an Agent Server stop billing?

No. Stopping the machine does not pause its monthly subscription. Cancel renewal to stop future billing. Access continues through the paid period, then server files may be permanently deleted. Export your files first and keep your own backups.

[Agent Server setup and billing guide](https://layerbase.com/docs/workspaces)

### How does the Pro free trial work?

Start Pro and pay nothing for 7 days - every engine, the always-on pool, 30-day backups, all of it. A card is required at checkout but you're charged $0 up front; on day 7 the subscription converts to $15/mo automatically. Cancel from your plan page any time during the trial and you won't be charged. One trial per customer.

### How can the price be flat? Everyone else meters.

Layerbase is a different paradigm. Metered clouds sell you compute minutes on their fleet, so your bill is a formula. Layerbase hosts a complete database platform for you at a flat monthly fee, the way self-hosting would work if someone else did all the work. The developer experience is indistinguishable from the metered clouds: a dashboard, branching, wake-on-connect, one connection string. The architecture underneath is closer to running it yourself, which is where the reliability, security, and flat economics come from.

### Is bandwidth metered?

No. You are never charged for usage on any plan, and there is no overage fee. Shared plans do carry an acceptable-use allowance on sustained bandwidth so one runaway client cannot slow down a shared region: 10 GB per 24 hours on Free, 25 GB on Solo, 100 GB on Pro, measured across all of your databases. Normal applications are nowhere near it. On a Dedicated server there is no cap at all, because the hardware is yours.

[Read the Acceptable Use Policy](https://layerbase.com/acceptable-use)

### Where are shared-cloud databases hosted?

Free, Solo and Pro shared-cloud databases run in US East (Virginia) or EU West (France). Every plan, Free included, picks the region when creating a database, at no extra cost. EU West keeps the database and its backups in the EU, but account records, team records and operational logs are stored in the United States, so it is an EU location rather than EU data residency. Existing databases stay in the region they were created in. Dedicated hosting has a separate location catalog.

[Dedicated hosting locations](https://layerbase.com/pricing/dedicated)

### Does Solo keep both databases always on?

Solo includes 2 databases, with one kept always on from its 768 MB pool. The unpinned database sleeps after 6 idle hours and wakes on connection. Pinning MySQL consumes the entire Solo pool. Choose Pro if MySQL and another database both need always-on capacity.

### Is MySQL included on the Free plan?

MySQL needs Solo or higher - it idles at roughly half a gigabyte of RAM, about twice the weight of the other relational engines on Free. MariaDB, a free MySQL-compatible drop-in (same wire protocol, same drivers), is included on every plan. When this changed, every existing Free MySQL database got a grace window (the exact date shows in your dashboard) plus a guided path to migrate to MariaDB or upgrade.

### Can I run a production app on the free tier?

Free is built for development: full engines, real connection strings, instant branching. But it is capped at 20 concurrent connections (Solo raises that to 100, Pro to 500), runs on shared burst CPU, sleeps after 15 minutes idle, and has no scheduled backups. Solo runs 2 Standard databases with backups every 12 hours for $5/mo, and its 768 MB pool keeps one of them always on. Pro runs up to 10 databases, adds every engine and a larger allocatable always-on pool, and keeps 30-day rolling backups for $15/mo. Neither paid plan has usage meters.

[How database branching works](https://layerbase.com/branching)

### Is the free tier okay for commercial work?

Yes, with one boundary. Free is for development, testing, evaluation, CI, personal projects, and early-stage products, and plenty of that is commercial: freelance builds, client demos, and startups that have not launched are all welcome on Free. The line is production revenue. Once a product is running in production and earning recurring revenue, it belongs on Solo ($5/mo) or Pro ($15/mo). There is no clock and nothing enforces it automatically: if your usage makes it obvious, we send a friendly email asking you to move up, and we never stop a database over it.

[What the Free plan is for](https://layerbase.com/acceptable-use#free-plan-use)

### Does Pro keep all 10 databases always on?

Pro lets you create up to 10 databases. Its included always-on pool typically keeps two or three Standard databases pinned, or powers one Performance engine. Databases outside the pool sleep when idle and wake on connection, and you can add fixed-price $10 pool blocks when you need more always-on capacity.

### What exactly is the Pro pool?

A reservation of always-on capacity - 1.5 GB of RAM, 1 vCPU, and 25 GB of storage - that you allocate across your databases however you like. Pin a Standard database always-on or create a Performance engine and it draws from the pool; un-pin it and the capacity comes back. Need more? Stack $10 blocks.

### Does DuckLake storage count against my plan storage?

Managed DuckLake (Pro and Dedicated) has its own allowance, equal to your plan storage and separate from your databases: 25 GB on Pro, plus 25 GB for each pool block. Over the allowance the lake turns read-only and nothing is deleted; run Reclaim storage after dropping tables, or add a pool block. A lake in your own R2 or S3 bucket is billed by your provider and not counted.

[Lake storage and Reclaim storage](https://layerbase.com/docs/engines/duckdb#lake-storage-reclaim)

### What does "sleeps and wakes on connect" mean?

Unpinned Standard databases scale to zero - they stop consuming resources after 15 minutes without connections (30 for MariaDB, 6 hours on Solo and Pro). The next connection wakes them automatically; you never have to press a button. Startup time varies with engine, data and load. For unpinned MySQL and MariaDB, allow a 30-second connection timeout and retries.

[How serverless works here](https://layerbase.com/serverless)

### Why do Performance engines never sleep?

Analytical and search engines like ClickHouse and QuestDB hold significant state in memory, and their restarts can be slow with real data. Instead of making promises that break, they simply run always-on from your pool - predictable for you, honest from us.

### Will my database ever be archived?

Only on the free tier, after 14 days hibernated (7 days if it was never used). Archived databases stay safe: data preserved, connections paused, one-click restore from the dashboard. Paid databases are never archived.

### Will my data ever be deleted automatically?

We never delete your last backup. On paid plans nothing is removed. On the free tier, a database left archived for 90 days is removed to free up shared capacity (with warning emails first), but we keep your most-recent backup and you can always download it from the dashboard. Restoring it or upgrading stops the clock.

### What happens if I remove a pool block or downgrade?

Your data is never deleted. Databases that no longer fit the smaller pool fall back to sleep-on-idle (Standard) or are stopped, not deleted (Performance), and you can re-allocate or re-subscribe anytime. Storage over the new quota gets a read-only grace period before archive.

### What if I cancel Pro entirely?

Your databases keep running until the end of the billing period, then your account moves to free-tier limits. Existing data is preserved - you just cannot create new databases beyond the free quota until you re-subscribe.

### Can I keep a Dedicated server and cancel Pro?

Yes. Each Dedicated server is its own subscription at its full monthly price, separate from Pro, so canceling Pro leaves your servers running. You keep Pro until the end of the period you paid for, and you can ask support for a partial refund of the unused Pro time. A server comes with the Free allowance on the shared cloud, so up to 2 of your shared-cloud databases keep running after Pro ends. Any beyond that get a warning email and are paused 72 hours later, never deleted.

[How Dedicated servers are billed](https://layerbase.com/docs/dedicated)

### Do you support client certificate (mTLS) authentication?

Yes, on Pro and Dedicated, for PostgreSQL databases. Turn it on per database and every connection then needs both a valid client certificate and its password. Each database has its own certificate authority; you issue certificates from the dashboard or API, and rotating the CA revokes every certificate at once. The Layerbase pooler verifies the client certificate while keeping connection pooling available.