MotherDuck vs Upstash Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| MotherDuck | Upstash | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $250/mo | $10/mo |
| Number of plans | 3 | 4 |
| Free plan | ||
| Free trial | ||
| Pricing model | hybrid | hybrid |
Lite
- Up to 3 internal active users and 2 service accounts
- 10 GB free storage
- 10 hrs Pulse compute per month included
- Pulse instances only
- Role-based access control (preset roles)
- Community support
Business
Popular- Up to 10 internal active users and unlimited service accounts
- 5 instance types and read-scaling replicas
- Flights: agent-native data pipelines
- 90-day snapshot retention
- Query history
- Role-based access control (preset roles)
- Support from MotherDuck experts
- 99.9% availability SLA
Enterprise
- Unlimited internal active users and service accounts
- Fixed-cost capacity pricing
- AWS PrivateLink connectivity
- Role-based access control (custom roles)
- HIPAA BAA
Free
- Data Size
- Monthly Bandwidth
- Monthly Commands
Pay as You Go
Popular- Data Size
- Monthly Bandwidth
- Monthly Commands
Fixed 250MB
- Data Size
- Monthly Bandwidth
- Monthly Commands
Enterprise
- 100K+ commands per second
- Unlimited bandwidth and database count
- Professional support with SLA
- Dedicated resources for isolation
- HIPAA Compliance
MotherDuck vs Upstash FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Upstash is the cheaper option, starting at $10/mo vs $250/mo for MotherDuck.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
- How do they charge?
- Both use a hybrid model, so the comparison is straightforward — it comes down to features and limits at each price point.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. MotherDuck: Positioned as a cost-efficient alternative to Snowflake and BigQuery for teams that don't need a full data warehouse — the $250 base is approachable, but the compute rates (especially Jumbo and above) put it in mid-market territory. They're clearly targeting data-savvy startups and mid-size teams who want DuckDB's speed without managing infrastructure themselves.
Still deciding? See the best MotherDuck alternatives or the best Upstash alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for MotherDuck and Upstash and let you know when something moves.