How Makers Build
Check my stackPlan my stack
Menu

Neon vs Supabase

Two sides of the database decision: managed database and backend platform. When each fits, what it costs, who moves from one to the other, and what makers who chose it say.

NeonManaged databasellms.txtMCPCLIIn v0
SupabaseBackend platformllms.txtMCPCLIIn Bolt, Lovable, v0
Ask your AI about this, with this page as the source:ChatGPT ↗Claude ↗Perplexity ↗

Which fits you

Choose Neon if
  • Your traffic is bursty or you run many preview deploys, and idle hours shouldn't cost much

Use it whenYou want every pull request's preview deploy to get its own copy of the database.

Trade-offCold starts after idle periods add latency to the first query, and heavy always-on workloads can cost more than a fixed server.

Choose Supabase if
  • You want the database, auth and file storage in one project, and plain SQL you can take elsewhere

Use it whenYou want one service for most of the backend and a SQL database you can take with you.

Trade-offAuth, storage and database in one vendor makes leaving harder later, and free projects pause after a week without activity.

At a glance

NeonSupabase
Used by95 makers' products · 16 open-source projects563 makers' products · 75 open-source projects
Cost at default usagedatabase size 8 GB, data transfer 50 GB, document or row reads 10 million reads, document or row writes 2 million writes$22/mo Launch$25/mo Pro
Moved to it on GitHubpull requests since Oct 2024170 from Supabase64 from Neon
Downloads3.7M/wk+35% vs npm25.4M/wk+96% vs npm
PricingFree tier; usage-based paid plans. · paid from $0.106 per CU-hourFree tier (inactive projects pause); paid plans per project plus usage. · paid from $25/mo
Free tierYesYes
Open sourceYes · self-hostableYes · self-hostable
Incidents, 90 daysfrom its status pageno public status feed50+ (16 major)

Cost as you grow

At 0.5 GB Supabase costs less ($0 vs $20); from about 1 GB Neon does ($20 vs $25); from about 50 GB Supabase does ($36 vs $37); from about 100 GB Neon does ($67 vs $70); from about 500 GB Supabase does ($345 vs $457). They're different kinds of tool — managed database and backend platform — so the prices don't buy the same thing.

$0$10$50$2000.51582050100500
SupabaseNeonx: database size (GB), other usage scaled with it; held at 730 hours (compute hours per month) · cheapest usable plan at each point, list prices · try your own numbers
The numbers, plan by plan
Database sizeNeonSupabase
0.5$20 Launch$0 Free
1$20 Launch$25 Pro
5$21 Launch$25 Pro
8$22 Launch$25 Pro
20$26 Launch$27 Pro
50$37 Launch$36 Pro
100$67 Launch$70 Pro
500$457 Launch$345 Pro

From each vendor's pricing page: Neon, Supabase.

Who moves from one to the other

Public pull requests on GitHub since Oct 2024 whose title says "Neon to Supabase" or the reverse — real code changes, by developers in general rather than makers only.

Supabase → Neon170 PRs
All matching pull requests on GitHub ↗
Neon → Supabase64 PRs
All matching pull requests on GitHub ↗

What makers say

Makers on using it for database, from Product Hunt and Starter Story interviews, each linked to the source. Products with a page of their own and fuller notes first.

On Neon
Serverless Postgres with branching is a game changer for solo builders. Scale to zero means no idle costs, and the connection pooling just works. Perfect for an early-stage product.
Relay, the makerSep 2026 ↗
Neon has been great for managing our database. The branching workflow and serverless Postgres made development smooth and allowed me to iterate quickly while building UseAgents.
UseAgents, the makerSep 2026 ↗
We use Neon for Superset's Postgres database and database branches when developing schema changes. It is part of the shared backend behind our desktop and mobile apps.
superset, the makerSep 2026 ↗
62 more on the Neon page →
On Supabase
One Postgres with RLS on every table is the reason a solo founder can ship contracts, invoices and a client portal without a backend team. Auth, storage and realtime came for free.
Accordio AI, the makerSep 2026 ↗
Supabase made it dead simple to manage db and the best part is that we can connect it to Claude for product analysis without having to set up Posthog or other event tracking tools.
Clico, the makerSep 2026 ↗
For powering our backend and database. Managing user uploads and conversion jobs efficiently is critical, and Supabase's real-time capabilities keep everything running smoothly! 🔥
Segwise, the makerSep 2026 ↗
402 more on the Supabase page →

Loved and watch-outs

Themes that recur in makers' words and Hacker News comments, each linked to what it summarises.

Neon
Most loved
  • Postgres scales to zero when idle, so early products and staging databases cost almost nothing until traffic arrives. PHHN
  • Branching copies the production database in seconds, so migrations and preview environments are tested against real data. PHPH 2HNHN 2
  • The serverless HTTP and WebSocket driver fits Cloudflare Workers and Next.js routes without connection-pool trouble. PHHN
Watch-outs
  • Separating compute from storage costs latency and performance compared with Postgres on local NVMe. HNHN 2
  • Parts of the stack, like autoscaling and some tooling, are not supported or openly licensed for self-hosting. HNHN 2
  • With no built-in caching, crawler traffic can burn through the data transfer allowance quickly. HN
On Product Hunt: 5.0★, 93 reviews · mentioned most: easy setup, serverless architecture, database branching · complaints: high pricing
Supabase
Most loved
  • One project covers Postgres, auth, storage and realtime, so a solo founder ships without stitching vendors or hiring a backend team. PHPH 2PH 3PH 4
  • It is real Postgres with SQL, row-level security and pgvector rather than a proprietary store. PHPH 2PH 3PH 4
  • Open source and self-hostable, which reduces vendor lock-in. PHPH 2HNPH 3
Watch-outs
  • Row-level security policies are hard to get right, so many apps end up exposing data publicly. HNHN 2HN 3HN 4
  • Reliability has been shaky for some, and it is not really built for self-hosting in practice. HN
  • Per-project billing adds up for developers running many small side projects. HN
On Product Hunt: 5.0★, 899 reviews · mentioned most: authentication features, easy setup, PostgreSQL integration · complaints: documentation gaps

Who uses each

Neon95 makers' products
AgreeGuardAnymarkAnythingAymo AIBaseHubBrandingStudio.ai®bugstackCentralClairClientJamComigoCrawler.sh+83 more
Supabase563 makers' products
1-bit.day21sta0.devAccordio AIAdventoryAident AIAirbook AIAISA (aisa.to) AI Fluency AssessmentAlaiAlmanacAlpaca ChatAmara+551 more
Used by both — often one replacing the other, or each for a different part of the product
oghuntStoryvilleVybexpander.aiBetterPic

What makers pair each with

With Neon
Frontend Framework
Transactional Email
Hosting
LLM API
With Supabase
Frontend Framework
Transactional Email
Hosting
LLM API

Neither quite right?

See the whole database decision →
ConvexBackend platformRealtime, collaborative apps written entirely in TypeScript.vs Supabase →
FirebaseBackend platformMobile apps that need offline sync and client-side SDKs.vs Supabase →
PlanetScaleManaged databaseApps that expect heavy scale and want zero-downtime schema changes.vs Neon →vs Supabase →
TursoManaged databaseSQLite at the edge, or one database per customer.vs Neon →vs Supabase →
MongoDBManaged databaseDocument-shaped data and teams already fluent in Mongo.vs Supabase →
PostgreSQLRun it yourselfThe engine behind most of the hosted options above, run on your own server or container for full control and a flat cost.vs Neon →vs Supabase →