Neon vs Supabase

Both run standard Postgres. Neon is the database with branching, Supabase is a whole backend. Here is how they differ and when to choose each.

Neon pricing and review Supabase pricing and review

Neon vs Supabase: the short answer

Pick Supabase if you want auth, file storage and an API from one dashboard on top of Postgres. Pick Neon if you only want the database, already have your own auth and API layer, and like a database branch for every pull request. Both run standard Postgres, so moving between them is realistic.

What is Neon?

Neon is serverless Postgres that separates storage from compute. That split enables near-instant database branching, the way git branches code, which suits preview environments and throwaway test databases.

What is Supabase?

Supabase is hosted Postgres bundled with authentication, file storage, realtime subscriptions and auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs. The database underneath is standard Postgres, so you can run raw SQL and use extensions.

Neon vs Supabase pricing

Neon:

Free: $0, no credit card, no time limit. 100 projects, each with 100 CU-hours of compute a month, 1 GB of storage and 10 branches.
Launch: usage-based with no monthly minimum, $0.106 per CU-hour and $0.35 per GB-month of storage. Neon quotes typical spend of about $15 a month.
Scale: $0.222 per CU-hour and $0.35 per GB-month, typical spend quoted at about $701 a month.

Supabase:

Free: $0, 2 active projects, 500 MB database per project, 50,000 monthly active users, 1 GB file storage. Free projects are paused after one week of inactivity.
Pro: from $25 a month, 8 GB disk per project, 100,000 monthly active users, projects never paused.
Team: from $599 a month.

Pricing checked November 2026. For a solo builder, both are free to start. Neon is cheaper if you only need a database and low traffic. Supabase's free pausing is the catch, and Pro at $25 a month removes it while including auth and storage you'd otherwise build or buy.

Key differences

Scope: Neon is a database. Supabase is a backend platform with a database inside.
Branching: Neon branches data and schema together, instantly. This is its main selling point for per-PR databases.
Idle behavior: Neon scales compute to zero when idle. Supabase free projects pause after a week without activity.
Billing model: Neon bills usage (compute hours and storage). Supabase bills flat plans with included quotas.
Lock-in: Supabase's extra services (auth, storage, realtime) are what you'd have to replace when leaving. The Postgres itself moves easily.

When to pick Neon

You already have an auth and API story.
You run many preview deployments and want a database per pull request.
You want to pay only for compute you use.

When to pick Supabase

You're starting a new project and want auth, storage and APIs without wiring them yourself.
You'd rather have one dashboard and one bill.
Realtime features are part of the product.

Other options

If you expect sharding at scale, look at PlanetScale. For a database per tenant on SQLite, there's Turso.

Verdict

For a new solo project, Supabase is the faster path because it solves auth and storage on day one. Choose Neon when the backend already exists and the database workflow, especially branching, is what you're optimizing.