Neon
neon.techBuild Difficulty: 4/5
A few focused days to build a solid replacement
Serverless Postgres — Ship faster
How to Replace NeonOverview
Features
23 features across 10 categories
AI(1)
Codegen and agent platforms rely on Neon to run backend for user-generated apps
API(2)
Manage databases via API with quota controls and fleet scaling, spin up databases in milliseconds
Data API compatible with PostgREST, included on all plans
Backup(1)
Restore database instantly to any moment in time without flat monthly fees, configurable restore windows from 7-30 days
Development(2)
Obsolete branches delete themselves automatically after work is complete
Create copy-on-write editable copies of databases instantly with git-like branching, saving space and time for development and testing
Extensions(1)
Add extensions like pg_vector, PostGIS, TimescaleDB, and many more
Infrastructure(3)
Automatically scales CPU, memory and storage to fit workload, scales to zero when idle, separated compute and storage architecture prevents performance degradation
Makes it cheap and fast to save point-in-time versions of database and restore previous state when necessary
Inactive databases pause on their own when idle, keeping fleet efficient and cost-effective
Monitoring(2)
Real-time visibility into usage and performance with built-in dashboards in console
Forward logs and metrics directly to Datadog or any OTel-compatible service with no extra fees
Performance(2)
All Neon databases can use pooled connections built on pgBouncer, supports up to 10,000 connections
Offload read-heavy queries without added storage costs
Reliability(2)
Multi-AZ storage by default without need for HA standbys
99.95% uptime guaranteed by SLA for all workloads in Scale plan
Security(7)
User authentication and management built in to the database with no platform fees, includes multi-factor authentication
Mask sensitive data with realistic fake values, enabling safe testing and sharing of datasets
GDPR and ISO compliance included across all plans
Meet compliance requirements without high spend commitments
Control network access with IP allowlisting
Keep traffic off the public internet via PrivateLink with no additional costs
Centralize team access with SSO to manage logins securely
Pricing
Free
- ✓100 projects
- ✓100 CU-hours monthly per project
- ✓0.5 GB of storage per project
- ✓Sizes up to 2 CU (8 GB RAM)
- ✓Backend Auth: 60k MAU
- ✓PostgREST-compatible Data API
- ✓Branching
- ✓Autoscaling
- ✓Read replicas
- ✓Launch
- ✓No credit card required
Launch
- ✓100 projects
- ✓$0.106 per CU-hour
- ✓$0.35 per GB-month storage
- ✓Sizes up to 16 CU (64 GB RAM)
- ✓Backend Auth: 1M MAU
- ✓Data API: 1B requests
- ✓All Free features
- ✓7-day time travel/restores
- ✓3-day metrics/logs in UI
- ✓10 included branches per project
- ✓$0.002 per extra branch-hour
Scale
- ✓1000+ projects
- ✓$0.222 per CU-hour
- ✓$0.35 per GB-month storage
- ✓Sizes up to 56 CU (224 GB RAM)
- ✓Backend Auth: 1M MAU
- ✓Data API: 1B requests
- ✓All Launch features
- ✓30-day time travel/restores
- ✓14-day metrics/logs in UI
- ✓Metrics/logs export (OTel, Datadog)
- ✓Private network, IP rules
- ✓SLAs, SOC2, HIPAA
- ✓25 included branches per project
- ✓$0.002 per extra branch-hour
Cost Calculator
Pricing data not available for Neon. Check their website for current pricing.
Build vs Buy
Should you build a Neon alternative or buy the subscription? Estimate based on 23 features.
Buy Neon
Better ValueBuild Your Own
Buying Neon saves ~$36,960 over 3 years vs building.
Estimates based on 23 features and a BuildScore of 4/5. Actual costs vary.
Integrations
4 known integrations