Supabase vs Neon
Side-by-side: pricing, what each one is great at, and which one to pick for your situation.
| Attribute | Supabase | Neon |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Supabase | Neon |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Paid plans from | $25/mo | $19/mo |
| Categories | database-ai, dev-infra | database-ai, dev-infra |
Core use case fit
Supabase and Neon are both modern Postgres platforms but operate at different layers. Supabase is a backend-as-a-service (Postgres + auth + storage + edge functions). Neon is pure serverless Postgres. Choose based on whether you want a bundled backend or just a database.
Pricing
- Supabase: Free tier, Pro $25/mo, Team $599/mo, Enterprise custom.
- Neon: Free tier, Launch $19/mo, Scale $69/mo, Business custom.
Both have generous free tiers. Neon's pay-per-compute model can be cheaper for low-traffic apps; Supabase's flat tiers are more predictable.
Where Supabase wins
- Bundled backend. Database + auth (email, OAuth, magic links, MFA) + file storage + real-time subscriptions + edge functions. Saves days of setup wiring each separately.
- Real-time out of the box. Supabase real-time subscriptions are well-implemented; building this on raw Postgres is a project of its own.
- Auth tooling is solid. Most apps need auth; Supabase's is functional out of the box. Neon users wire their own auth (Clerk, Auth.js, etc.).
- Ecosystem. Supabase has more clients, libraries, and templates because it serves more use cases.
Where Neon wins
- Scale-to-zero economics. Idle databases cost $0. Perfect for side projects, dev environments, and infrequently-used production apps. Supabase always charges baseline compute.
- Database branching. Spin up a full database copy in milliseconds. Game-changer for preview deploys (one branch per PR) and "what if" testing.
- Pure Postgres focus. No auth/storage/etc. baked in. More flexibility if you want to wire your own infrastructure.
- Vercel integration. Neon's serverless model aligns with Vercel deployments better than Supabase's longer-running infrastructure.
Which to pick
- Pick Supabase if: you want one bundled backend that handles auth + database + storage. Side projects, MVPs, indie hacker work.
- Pick Neon if: you want pure database with scale-to-zero economics, you're using Vercel + want serverless throughout, or you need database branching for preview deploys. Pair with Clerk or Auth.js for auth.
For pure side projects in 2026, Supabase's "everything in one" wins on speed. For Vercel-deployed apps where serverless economics matter, Neon is sharper. Both have generous free tiers — pick by architecture preference, not cost.
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