How much does Neon cost?

Neon's Free plan includes 100 compute-unit hours, 0.5 GB of storage and 10 branches per project. Launch has no monthly minimum and bills $0.106 per compute-unit hour plus $0.35 per GB-month of storage; Scale charges $0.222 per CU-hour and adds HIPAA, SOC 2 and private networking. Compute that is suspended costs nothing.

Does Neon have a free plan?

Yes. Neon offers a free tier with limits; paid plans unlock higher usage or team features.

What are the main drawbacks of Neon?

The trade-offs we noted: Cold starts on idle databases; Newer platform than the incumbents; Advanced tuning is limited compared with self-managed Postgres.

When should you not use Neon?

Skip Neon if: Your database is always on: 100 CU-hours a month is roughly 4 days of a 1-CU compute, so Free will not cover 24/7; You need HIPAA, SOC 2 reports, private networking or IP allow rules — those are on Scale at $0.222 per CU-hour; You prefer a flat monthly price; Neon bills compute and storage separately.

Developer Tools

Neon

Serverless Postgres with database branching.

What it is

Neon is serverless Postgres that separates storage from compute, which lets it scale to zero when idle and create instant database branches for previews and tests. Branching is the feature that changes workflows: a pull request can get its own copy of production-shaped data without a restore. The trade-off is cold starts on an idle branch and a hosted-only model, so it is not the choice when the database must stay on your own hardware.

Neon pricing

Neon lists 1 plan and none of them carries a monthly charge.

Neon plans and published prices, taken from the vendor’s pricing page.
Plan	Price	What the vendor’s page says
Free	$0/mo	Free $0: 100 CU-hours per project, 0.5 GB storage per project, 10 branches, 5 GB egress, community support

Prices read from the vendor's own pricing page on 2026-09-08. Vendors change plans without notice — check the source before you budget. Source

Cheaper alternatives to Neon — same category, ordered by verified starting price.

Key features

Storage-compute separation
Scales compute independently of stored data and suspends it when idle.
Database branching
Creates an instant copy-on-write branch for previews and tests.
Postgres compatibility
Speaks the Postgres wire protocol so existing drivers and tools work.

Strengths and trade-offs

What works well

Real Postgres, not a lookalike
Branching for preview environments
Scales to zero, so idle projects cost little

Where it falls short

Cold starts on idle databases
Newer platform than the incumbents
Advanced tuning is limited compared with self-managed Postgres

Who it is for

Teams building on Postgres who want per-branch databases and low idle cost.

Pick it or skip it

Pick Neon if

Side projects and prototypes: the Free plan gives 100 compute-unit hours, 0.5 GB and 10 branches per project
Teams that want Postgres billed by usage with no monthly minimum — Launch is $0.106 per CU-hour and $0.35 per GB-month
Apps that need database branching for previews and CI

Skip it if

Your database is always on: 100 CU-hours a month is roughly 4 days of a 1-CU compute, so Free will not cover 24/7
You need HIPAA, SOC 2 reports, private networking or IP allow rules — those are on Scale at $0.222 per CU-hour
You prefer a flat monthly price; Neon bills compute and storage separately

Our verdict

An easy recommendation for preview-heavy workflows. For a steady high-traffic production database, compare cost against a traditional managed instance.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Neon cost?: Neon's Free plan includes 100 compute-unit hours, 0.5 GB of storage and 10 branches per project. Launch has no monthly minimum and bills $0.106 per compute-unit hour plus $0.35 per GB-month of storage; Scale charges $0.222 per CU-hour and adds HIPAA, SOC 2 and private networking. Compute that is suspended costs nothing.
Does Neon have a free plan?: Yes. Neon offers a free tier with limits; paid plans unlock higher usage or team features.
Who is Neon best for?: Teams building on Postgres who want per-branch databases and low idle cost.
What are the main drawbacks of Neon?: The trade-offs we noted: Cold starts on idle databases; Newer platform than the incumbents; Advanced tuning is limited compared with self-managed Postgres.
When should you not use Neon?: Skip Neon if: Your database is always on: 100 CU-hours a month is roughly 4 days of a 1-CU compute, so Free will not cover 24/7; You need HIPAA, SOC 2 reports, private networking or IP allow rules — those are on Scale at $0.222 per CU-hour; You prefer a flat monthly price; Neon bills compute and storage separately.

What we checked

Public APIOffers a documented API you can build against.Yes
Mobile appHas a native app for iOS or Android, not just a mobile website.No
Open source / self-hostableSource is open and the tool can be run on your own infrastructure.Yes
SSO (SAML)Supports SAML single sign-on on at least one plan.Yes

“Not checked” means exactly that — we have not verified it, and we do not guess.

Evidence and freshness

Status: Vendor pricing page verifiedReviewed: 2026-09-08

Neon — Pricing ↗
Checked 2026-09-08 · Supports: Free $0: 100 CU-hours per project, 0.5 GB storage per project, 10 branches, 5 GB egress, community support, Launch pay-as-you-go: $0.106/CU-hour, $0.35/GB-month, 10 branches included then $1.50/branch-month, 500 GB egress then $0.10/GB, Scale: $0.222/CU-hour, 25 branches, HIPAA, SOC 2, IP allow rules, private networking, suspended compute costs $0

Limit: Vendor pricing page was reviewed by an editor on this date; this record is not a ToolCompare benchmark. Prices and limits change.

Compare Neon with alternatives

See all Neon alternatives ranked →

Tools that do the same job as Neon

Same job, different pricing. Verified starting price first.

Browse all tools we track →

More Developer Tools tools: see the full Developer Tools category

Work at Neon? Embed the verified-pricing badge

We read this pricing from Neon’s own pricing page on 2026-09-08. The badge says that and nothing more: no rating, no payment. How the badge works

HTML

<a href="https://toolcompare.net/tools/neon" title="Neon pricing on ToolCompare"><img src="https://toolcompare.net/api/badge/neon" alt="Neon pricing verified by ToolCompare" width="291" height="28"></a>

Markdown (README, docs)

[![Neon pricing verified by ToolCompare](https://toolcompare.net/api/badge/neon)](https://toolcompare.net/tools/neon)