Supabase vs Neon: a backend platform and a database engine
The honest comparison is not price per gigabyte, it is scope. Supabase gives you a backend: Postgres plus Auth, Storage, Realtime and REST on top. Neon gives you Postgres: managed, serverless, with branches that copy in seconds — no Auth, Storage or REST layer of its own. Teams asking 'Supabase vs Neon' are often really asking whether they need the backend layer at all.
Last checked October 12, 2026.
What each product actually is
| Supabase | Neon | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backend platform | Managed Postgres |
| Postgres | Yes, with Supabase extensions | Yes, serverless, autoscaling |
| Branching | Not a first-class feature | Copy-on-write branches, seconds to create |
| Auth | Built in (GoTrue) | Not included |
| Storage (files) | Built in, RLS-secured | Not included |
| Realtime | Built in (Postgres Changes, Presence, Broadcast) | Not included |
| Auto-generated REST/GraphQL API | Yes (PostgREST) | Not included |
Free tier and entry pricing
| Supabase | Neon | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 500 MB database, 1 GB Storage, 5 GB egress; paused after 7 days of inactivity | 1 GB storage per project (20 GB per account), 100 CU-hours compute per project; compute suspends when hours run out |
| Entry paid plan | Pro, from $25/month: 8 GB database, 100 GB Storage, 250 GB egress, no pausing | Launch: pay-as-you-go, $0.106/CU-hour compute + $0.35/GB-month storage, no fixed monthly fee |
| Branch limit | Not applicable | 10 branches/project on Free and Launch, 25 on Scale |
Sources: Supabase: Pricing, Neon: Plans, Neon: Pricing
When each one is the right call
- Pick Neon when the app already has its own Auth, file storage and API layer, and the one thing being shopped for is Postgres with fast, cheap branches for CI and previews.
- Pick Supabase when the project wants Auth, Storage and a REST/Realtime layer generated from the schema without building them.
- Pick neither, or both: a team that wants Neon-style branching and a Supabase-style API in one project without choosing is exactly the gap a combined platform closes.
Scribase: Supabase-compatible API, Neon-style branching, one project
Scribase runs the supabase-js API (Auth, Storage, Realtime, REST, Functions) over Postgres with copy-on-write branches with their own URL and keys — the two things this comparison asks about, in one $25-a-month project instead of a Supabase subscription plus a separate Neon one.
Sources: Scribase pricing
Questions people ask
Is Neon cheaper than Supabase?
They bill differently, so "cheaper" depends on usage: Neon's entry paid tier is metered per CU-hour and per GB with no fixed fee, while Supabase Pro is a flat $25/month with usage included up to a cap, then overage. A database that sits mostly idle tends to cost less on Neon's metered model; one that runs close to 24/7 tends to fit Supabase's flat price better.
Does Neon have Auth or Storage like Supabase?
No. Neon is Postgres and its branching tooling only; Auth, file storage, Realtime and an auto-generated API are Supabase features with no Neon equivalent.
Can I use Neon and Supabase together?
Not directly as one product, no — they are separate services. Some teams run Supabase for Auth/Storage/API and point at Neon for the database layer, which means wiring the two together and paying both bills.
Which has better branching, Supabase or Neon?
Neon: copy-on-write branching is a core, first-class feature with its own CLI and API. Supabase does not offer database branching as a built-in feature.