SurrealDB vs Neon: Features, Pricing and User Reviews 2026
Neon
Serverless Postgres Database with Branching and Autoscaling
Neon
Serverless Postgres Database with Branching and Autoscaling
What are SurrealDB and Neon?
SurrealDB is a database that handles multiple types of data storage without needing different database systems. Think of it as one tool that can work like a traditional database with rows and columns, a document store like MongoDB, and a graph database for connected data—all at the same time.
It is built with Rust programming language, which makes it fast and reliable. You can use it directly from web browsers, mobile apps, or servers. The database includes built-in security features, so you can control who sees what data without writing extra code.
SurrealDB supports real-time updates, meaning your application sees changes instantly without constantly checking for updates. This makes it perfect for chat apps, live dashboards, and similar tools.
Neon is a cloud database service built on Postgres, the most trusted open source database. It separates storage and computing power into two independent parts, allowing each to scale separately. This design means your database can grow or shrink automatically based on your needs, and it can even scale down to zero when not in use to save money.
The standout feature is database branching. Just like creating a branch in Git to test new code, you can create a branch of your database to test changes without affecting your main data. These branches are created instantly and use minimal extra storage thanks to a copy-on-write system. Neon is perfect for developers who want a powerful database without the complexity of traditional database management.
Features of SurrealDB and Neon
Combines document, graph, relational, time-series, and vector data models
SQL-like query language (SurrealQL)
Real-time data updates and notifications
Built-in authentication and permissions
Cloud, self-hosted, or embedded deployment
WebSocket and HTTP API support
Multiple programming language SDKs
ACID transactions across tables
Vector similarity search
Graph traversal capabilities
Instant database provisioning in 300ms
Database branching like Git for testing
Autoscaling compute resources
Scale to zero when idle
Point-in-time restore up to 30 days
Read replicas with instant setup
Serverless driver for edge computing
Complete API and CLI tools
100% Postgres compatible
SOC 2 compliant
Open source platform
High availability built-in
Use Cases of SurrealDB and Neon
Pricing of SurrealDB and Neon
SurrealDB offers clear pricing that grows with your needs. The Free Plan provides a great starting point with 1GB storage, 0.25 vCPU, and 1GB memory—ideal for testing ideas and small projects. Your database runs temporarily and resets periodically.
The Start Plan costs $0.021 per hour (around $15 monthly for continuous use) and includes vertical scaling up to 16 vCPU and 512GB storage. You get daily backups and basic support, making it suitable for development and staging environments.
The Scale Plan (coming soon) adds horizontal scaling across multiple nodes and fault tolerance for production applications. Pricing will depend on your configuration.
The Dedicated Plan provides single-tenant infrastructure with up to 1PB storage and enterprise security features. Contact the sales team for custom pricing based on your requirements.
Neon offers flexible pricing based on actual compute and storage usage, making it cost-effective for projects of all sizes.
The Free plan costs nothing and includes 20 projects with 100 compute unit hours per project monthly, 0.5 GB storage per project, and compute sizes up to 2 units. This is perfect for side projects and prototypes.
The Launch plan starts at $5 per month minimum with usage-based pricing. You get 100 projects, pay $0.14 per compute unit hour, and $0.35 per GB-month for storage. Compute can scale up to 16 units. It includes 7-day point-in-time restore and 3-day monitoring retention.
The Scale plan also starts at $5 per month minimum but supports over 1,000 projects with higher compute sizes up to 56 units. Pricing is $0.26 per compute unit hour. This plan includes 30-day point-in-time restore, 14-day monitoring, private networking, 99.95% SLA, and SOC 2 compliance.
Enterprise plans are available with custom pricing for organizations with specific requirements, dedicated support, and additional security features.
FAQs: SurrealDB vs Neon
Reviews: SurrealDB vs Neon
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