Free
Self-hosted Postgres branching platform.
- Apache-2.0 licensed core
- Copy-on-write branching
- Community support
Xata Pricing, Features & Alternatives
Postgres databases with copy-on-write branching and scale-to-zero compute across managed and customer-controlled deployments.
Xata builds a PostgreSQL platform around copy-on-write database branches. A branch starts from existing data without creating a full database copy. Its compute can scale to zero while idle. Automatic failover and readable replicas apply when production runs on Xata, including its managed BYOC dataplane, and require at least one configured replica. Failover can briefly interrupt connections, so applications must reconnect and retry.
Best for
Development teams, CI systems, preview environments, and AI agents that need isolated PostgreSQL branches with production-like data, fast creation, scale-to-zero, and copy-on-write storage.
Watch out for
Xata now centers on PostgreSQL and storage-level branching. Applications built around the former Airtable-style APIs, search, or file features face a materially different product model.
- Workloads
- Backend Services
- Web Applications
- Services
- Managed Databases
- Delivery
- Managed
- BYOC
- Self-Hosted
Development & Execution
Supported platform capabilities, execution environments, development technologies, deployment models, integrations, and triggers.
Database support
- PostgreSQL
Capabilities
- Scale to Zero
- Automatic Failover
- Database Branching
- Read Replicas
Client languages
- C#
- Go
- Java
- JavaScript
- Kotlin
- PHP
- Python
- Ruby
- Rust
- TypeScript
Framework compatibility
- Astro
- Django
- Express.js
- Fastify
- Laravel
- Next.js
- Nuxt
- Remix
- Ruby on Rails
- Spring Boot
- SvelteKit
Integrations
- GitHub
Deployment model
- Docker / OCI
- Kubernetes
Pricing
Published pricing structure, representative costs, and material billing factors.
- Free Access
- Free plan
- Free Trial
- New managed-cloud customers receive temporary onboarding credit.
- Self-Hosted
- Self-hosted pricing available
- Commitment
- Managed cloud is usage-based with no flat plan.
Xata Offerings
Xata is available as free self-hosted software or usage-based managed cloud.
From $0.012 / hour
Fully managed, usage-based Postgres platform.
- $0.28 per GB-month storage
- No per-branch fee
- Compute scales to zero
Xata Cloud Compute Additional Pricing
Representative instance classes billed at exact hourly rates. Additional classes are available.
| Instance | Resources | Price |
|---|---|---|
| micro | Up to 2 vCPU / 1 GB RAM | $0.012 / hour |
| 2xlarge | 8 vCPU / 32 GB RAM | $0.384 / hour |
| 8xlarge | 32 vCPU / 128 GB RAM | $1.536 / hour |
Representative sizes. See official pricing for all available options.
Xata Cloud Resources Additional Usage Cost
Storage is metered separately and prorated to each branch's lifetime.
| Resource | Billing Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | per GB-month | $0.28 |
Free Trial
Credit card requiredNew managed-cloud customers receive temporary onboarding credit.
- Onboarding credit: 100 USD credits for 14 days
Self-Hosted Pricing
The Apache-2.0 licensed core can be self-hosted without a license fee; infrastructure and operations are billed separately.
Enterprise Pricing
Bring-your-own-cloud pricing is quote-based and calculated as a percentage of managed-cloud spend; an estimate is available on request.
Billing Commitment
Managed cloud is usage-based with no flat plan.
Infrastructure & Availability
Where workloads run, how deployment is scoped, and what underlying infrastructure the platform depends on.
Managed cloud
Xata Cloud deploys managed PostgreSQL branches in organization-available regions. Its public API documentation does not publish a static complete region list; the authenticated available-region endpoint returns an organization-scoped list.
Deployment model
- Managed cloud
Execution
- Single Region
- Multi Region
Deployment scope
- Regional
Managed BYOC
Xata BYOC places the data plane in customer-controlled infrastructure while Xata continues to operate the database platform and hosted control plane. Geography follows the customer's selected environment.
Deployment model
- Managed BYOC
Infrastructure providers
- Amazon Web Services
- Microsoft Azure
- Google Cloud Platform
- Hetzner
- Customer-operated Kubernetes, bare-metal, and on-premises infrastructure
Self-hosted
Open-source Xata Core can be self-hosted on customer-operated Kubernetes infrastructure. Geography and topology follow the customer's cluster environment.
Deployment model
- Self-hosted
Infrastructure providers
- Customer-operated Kubernetes infrastructure
Availability reviewed
Resource & Execution Limits
Branch storage
1,024 GiB
Per branch
Scale-to-zero idle time
15 minutes-3 hours
Per branch
Security & Compliance
Security Controls
- Encryption at Rest
- Xata managed databases
- Encryption in Transit
- TLS Xata service connections
- Access Control
- Scoped API keys and Enterprise RBAC Keys can be limited by branch and capability
- Single Sign-On
- SAML Enterprise
- Audit Logging
- Organization administrative events Enterprise
FAQ
Does Xata Cloud still have a free tier?
No. The current Xata Cloud platform uses pay-as-you-go pricing after a 14-day free trial. Xata Lite, the renamed earlier platform, has a separate free tier.
What is Xata Lite?
Xata Lite is the renamed version of Xata’s earlier serverless Postgres platform. It remains separate from the current Xata platform, which was rebuilt around copy-on-write branching, data anonymization, and separated storage and compute.
How does Xata database branching work?
Xata creates copy-on-write Postgres branches at the storage layer. A new branch initially shares unchanged data with its parent and copies only modified blocks as writes occur, so it can be created without duplicating the whole database.
How much does Xata cost?
Xata can be self-hosted for free, while Xata Cloud is usage-based. Managed compute starts at $0.012 per hour and storage is $0.28 per GB-month, with compute able to scale to zero.
Is self-hosted Xata free?
Yes. Xata Core is Apache-2.0 licensed and can be self-hosted without a software license fee. You still pay for and operate the Kubernetes, compute, storage, networking, backups, and other infrastructure it uses.
What regions and clouds does Xata support?
Managed Xata Cloud availability is organization-specific rather than a fixed public region list. Xata also supports BYOC on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Hetzner, and customer-operated Kubernetes or on-premises infrastructure, where geography follows the customer environment.
Does Xata require a credit card?
Yes for Xata Cloud onboarding. Managed-cloud customers receive temporary onboarding credit, but a credit card is required; self-hosted Xata does not require Xata billing.
