FastAPI Guide Best Databases for FastAPI (2026)
Compare the best database solutions for FastAPI. We review PostgreSQL with async drivers, SQLAlchemy async, and managed databases with Python async support.
FastAPI's async nature requires async database drivers. We've evaluated databases and ORMs that support async operations and work well with FastAPI's dependency injection.
Why This Matters
Using sync database calls in FastAPI blocks the event loop, killing performance. You need async drivers (asyncpg, aiomysql) or async ORMs (SQLAlchemy async, Tortoise).
Key Considerations
Async Driver Support
FastAPI requires async database drivers. PostgreSQL has asyncpg, MySQL has aiomysql. SQLite has aiosqlite for development.
ORM Choice
SQLAlchemy 2.0+ supports async. Tortoise ORM is async-first. encode/databases is a lightweight async option.
Connection Pooling
Async connection pools are essential. asyncpg has built-in pooling. SQLAlchemy async uses create_async_engine with pool settings.
Migration Support
Alembic works with SQLAlchemy async. Tortoise has its own migration tool (aerich).
Type Safety
SQLAlchemy 2.0 with mapped_column provides excellent type hints that work with FastAPI's Pydantic models.
Our Recommendations
Supabase
Best Overall Excellent Support Official SDKSupabase provides managed PostgreSQL. Connect directly with asyncpg for best performance. Async Python client available. 500MB free.
pip install asyncpg sqlalchemy[asyncio] 
Neon
Best Serverless Excellent Support Official SDKNeon's serverless PostgreSQL scales to zero. Works great with asyncpg. Branching for development. 512MB free.
pip install asyncpg 
PlanetScale
Best MySQL Good Support Official SDKPlanetScale for MySQL with async support via aiomysql. Serverless scaling, branching workflow. 5GB free.
pip install aiomysql sqlalchemy[asyncio] 
MongoDB Atlas
Best NoSQL Good Support Official SDKMongoDB Atlas with Motor async driver. Good for document-based data models. Beanie ODM provides async Pydantic integration.
pip install motor beanie 
Turso
Best Edge Good Support Official SDKTurso provides SQLite at the edge with libsql. Low latency globally. Python SDK supports async. 9GB free.
pip install libsql-experimental Quick Comparison
| Service | TypeScript | Edge | Free Tier | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supabase | none | — | 500MB | 5 min |
| Neon | none | — | 512MB | 5 min |
| PlanetScale | none | — | 5GB | 10 min |
| MongoDB Atlas | none | — | 512MB | 10 min |
| Turso | none | — | 9GB | 5 min |
Quick Start
from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import create_async_engine, AsyncSession
from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
DATABASE_URL = "postgresql+asyncpg://user:pass@host/db"
engine = create_async_engine(DATABASE_URL, pool_size=5)
async_session = sessionmaker(engine, class_=AsyncSession, expire_on_commit=False)
async def get_db():
async with async_session() as session:
yield session
# In your route:
@app.get("/users")
async def get_users(db: AsyncSession = Depends(get_db)):
result = await db.execute(select(User))
return result.scalars().all()Common Integration Patterns
Supabase + SQLAlchemy + Alembic
Supabase PostgreSQL, SQLAlchemy async ORM, Alembic for migrations.
MongoDB + Beanie ODM
MongoDB Atlas with Beanie for async Pydantic-integrated ODM. Great for document models.
Neon + encode/databases
Lightweight async database access with encode/databases library.