Databases (Core)

Neon

Serverless Postgres with branching and scale-to-zero

Status
Generally available
Last checked
Checked · Oct 16, 2026
License
Open source
Pricing
Free tier
Visit Neon Compare with alternatives

What it is

Neon provides Rust bindings to write native Node.js modules that are both safe and performant, enabling developers to leverage Rust's speed and memory safety in their JavaScript applications.

Neon stands out as a tool that allows developers to write safe, high-performance native Node.js modules in Rust, offering a unique blend of memory safety and speed.

When it fits — and when it doesn’t

A good fit for

  • Startups and solo developers who want serverless Postgres with a generous free tier and instant database branching for staging environments

  • Teams using Vercel or Next.js who need a modern Postgres backend that scales to zero

  • Indie developers building MVPs who need to minimize database costs with pay-per-use pricing

Look elsewhere if

  • Enterprises requiring on-premise deployment or strict data residency requirements

  • Applications needing persistent connections with high concurrency without connection pooling

Known weaknesses

Each one links to the public issue, changelog or docs page it came from, where we have one.

  1. 01

    Neon does not support Postgres event triggers due to superuser requirements

    A long-standing open issue with 11 reactions confirms that event triggers are unsupported because they require superuser access, which Neon restricts.

    Source: GitHub issue #7570 ↗
  2. 02

    Neon lacks a local development setup for the serverless proxy

    An open epic with 15 reactions highlights the absence of a fast, offline-capable local setup for the serverless proxy, forcing users to rely on workarounds.

    Source: GitHub issue #4989 ↗
  3. 03

    Neon does not provide cross-regional read replicas

    An open issue with 5 reactions indicates that while same-region replicas exist, cross-regional replication to reduce read latency is not yet supported.

    Source: GitHub issue #4178 ↗
  4. 04

    Neon does not provide the pg_net extension

    An open epic with 10 reactions shows that customer requests for the pg_net extension have not yet been fulfilled.

    Source: GitHub issue #5630 ↗
  5. 05

    Neon does not provide the pgvectorscale extension

    An open issue with 6 reactions indicates that support for the pgvectorscale extension is pending compatibility checks and benchmarks.

    Source: GitHub issue #8043 ↗

What it does well

  • Serverless Postgres

  • Database branching

  • Scale-to-zero

  • Autoscaling

  • Connection pooling (pgBouncer)

  • Point-in-time restore

  • Vercel integration

  • Usage-based pricing

Pricing

Free tier
Yes
Paid from
—
Model
Usage-based
Enterprise plan
No

Pricing not independently confirmed — check the vendor’s page.

Performance benchmarks

How Fast Is It?

Set up Neon

Setup steps, common gotchas and what to check after 30 days.

Open the setup guide →
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