Google (GOOG) hopes more scalability, higher I/O and more flexible storage plans will attract customers to Google Cloud SQL, a cloud-based MySQL service that the company has revamped.

Launched in 2011, Cloud SQL provides a hosted MySQL solution. It’s designed especially for application developers who write programs that need to store and retrieve MySQL data.

Google has now announced the second generation of the platform. “Speed, more speed and flexibility” top the list of new features, the company said. In particular, Cloud SQL now offers:

Those features deliver performance that is many times faster than the first-generation version of Cloud SQL, according to Google.

But performance is only part of the pitch. What really sets the next-generation Cloud SQL offering apart — and makes it most interesting from a channel perspective — is a flexible approach to pricing. Google says it wants to help organizations make the most of Cloud SQL without forcing them to commit to a long-term contract, or even a specific pricing plan. According to the company:

“Getting the best Cloud SQL price doesn’t require you to commit to a one- or three-year contract. To get the best Cloud SQL price, just run your database 24×7 for the month. That’s it. If you use a database infrequently, you’ll be charged by the minute at the standard price. But there’s no need to decide upfront and Google helps find savings for you. No commitment, no strings attached.”

To sweeten the deal, “everyone gets the 100% sustained use discount during Beta, regardless of usage,” Google says.

The flexible pricing is compelling because it introduces a level of scalability to payment that mirrors the type of resource scalability that cloud hosting itself offers users. Cloud SQL’s flexible pricing implies that organizations can scale how much they pay according to how much cloud they need, on demand, rather than having to commit to and invest in a plan upfront.