PlanetScale is a cloud-based platform that provides a simple and cost-effective way to create a performant MySQL configuration, replacing traditional database management tasks such as setting up clusters, configuring storage, and managing networking gear. The platform uses Vitess for each and every database hosted on it, providing an environment that automatically configures compute, storage, and networking, as well as handles failovers and load balancing. PlanetScale also offers features such as online schema changes with automatic branching and deployment, data caching with Boost, monitoring and metrics with Insights, backup and restore capabilities, and more, all built into the platform to simplify database management without additional overhead.