# Postgres 18 is now available

[Chris Sinjakli](https://planetscale.com/blog/author/sinjo)

Postgres 18 is now available on PlanetScale. Starting today, when you create a new database, the default version will be 18.1. You can select a prior version using the dropdown on the database creation page.

This combined with our recent launches of [$5 single-node databases](https://planetscale.com/blog/5-dollar-planetscale-is-here) and [$50 Metal databases](https://planetscale.com/blog/50-dollar-planetscale-metal-is-ga-for-postgres) makes it the perfect platform to power your Postgres-backed applications.

## [What's new in 18?](https://planetscale.com/blog/postgres-18-is-now-available#whats-new-in-18)

The [Postgres 18 release notes](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/release/18.0/) have all the details on what's changed since version 17. The highlights include:

- A new asynchronous I/O system that can improve query performance
- Built-in support for UUIDv7 with the `uuidv7()` function
- More queries can make use of multi-column indexes thanks to the new Skip Scan optimization

Read our [benchmarks comparing Postgres 17 vs 18](https://planetscale.com/blog/benchmarking-postgres-17-vs-18) to learn more about performance improvements and what to expect.

## [Upgrading from Postgres 17 to 18](https://planetscale.com/blog/postgres-18-is-now-available#upgrading-from-postgres-17-to-18)

We don't currently offer an automated, in-place upgrade from Postgres 17 to 18. To upgrade, create a new Postgres 18 database and perform an online migration from your existing PlanetScale Postgres 17 database using our [import guides](https://planetscale.com/docs/postgres/imports/postgres-imports).