Neki

You can now scale PostgreSQL beyond single-machine limits without rewriting your application or using proprietary database solutions.

PlanetScale has launched Neki, a sharded version of PostgreSQL, now available in platform preview. Neki allows users to scale their PostgreSQL databases across multiple machines while maintaining standard PostgreSQL functionality on each shard. Applications connect to Neki routers via the standard PostgreSQL wire protocol, ensuring compatibility with existing drivers and ORMs. Each shard is a complete PostgreSQL cluster with a primary and at least two replicas, distributed across three availability zones. Neki features built-in, fully online workflows for operations like schema changes, version upgrades, failovers, imports, and resharding. Users define data topology using JSON to control table distribution and shard keys. Neki also integrates PlanetScale's existing features, such as Insights, schema recommendations, and branching. The platform preview is intended for testing and feedback, not for production workloads, with PlanetScale encouraging users to report issues and provide input.

Neki represents a significant move by PlanetScale to address the scaling limitations of traditional PostgreSQL, a problem many fast-growing applications encounter. By offering sharded PostgreSQL that retains full compatibility with the PostgreSQL wire protocol, extensions, and SQL, PlanetScale aims to provide a solution that avoids the complexity, latency, and feature trade-offs often associated with distributed SQL databases or application-level sharding. The emphasis on keeping "real Postgres on every shard" and providing online workflows for critical operations like resharding and schema changes directly targets pain points that force companies to either over-provision hardware or migrate to alternative systems. This offering could fundamentally change how businesses approach database scaling for PostgreSQL, potentially reducing the need for complex architectural workarounds.

The availability of Neki in platform preview signals a maturing market for managed, horizontally scalable relational databases. As more companies hit the performance ceilings of single-node databases, solutions that offer seamless scaling without sacrificing compatibility or introducing significant operational overhead will become increasingly valuable. Competitors offering distributed SQL or custom database solutions may face increased pressure to match Neki's blend of native PostgreSQL compatibility and integrated scaling workflows. Businesses currently struggling with large PostgreSQL instances will be watching Neki's evolution closely, particularly its stability and performance under load during the preview phase, to assess its viability for future production deployments.