Neon
Serverless PostgreSQL with branching, instant cloning, and connection pooling.
Best for developers who want Git-like branching for their PostgreSQL database.
Use Cases
Free Tier
500MB storage, 100 compute hours/month, 3 branches
How to Maximize the Free Tier
Neon's free tier gives you 500MB storage and 100 compute hours — enough for development and low-traffic staging. Use the branching feature to avoid wasting compute hours: create a branch for development and only keep the production branch warm. The storage limit fills fastest on branches — delete stale branches after merging. Set up a manual export cron job since automated backups aren't included on the free plan.
Getting Started
Sign up → create project → copy connection string → connect from app → `psql -c "CREATE TABLE..."` → branch for development → merge changes back via PR-like workflow in dashboard.
Pros
- Database branching: Git-like branching for your database — branch a 10GB database in seconds for isolated development
- Instant cloning: Branch creation is instant regardless of database size — no waiting for snapshots or dumps
- Connection pooling: Built-in connection pooling via PgBouncer — no separate setup or configuration needed
Cons
- Storage limit: 500MB storage fills quickly for real projects with multiple branches and production data
- Compute hours: 100 compute hours/month can be depleted by active databases with constant query activity
- No backups: Automated backups are not included on the free tier — you need to export data manually