Neon pricing: Features and plans explained

Neon provides a serverless, cloud-native Postgres experience that helps developers build and scale apps. 

Neon offers five tiers: Free, Launch, Scale, Business, and Enterprise, with plan allowances for storage, compute hours, and projects. Plus, their additional autoscaling and scale‑to‑zero features help manage usage swings.

Note: Prices are subject to change at any time. For the most up‑to‑date pricing, visit Neon’s official pricing page.

This post explains how Neon approached pricing, why usage-based models are critical for platforms like it, and how Orb powers the infrastructure underneath.

What are Neon's pricing models?

Neon’s pricing structure is flexible to grow with your needs, from hobby projects to large-scale applications. They offer a range of plans with different features and resources to suit various use cases and budgets. Let's take a closer look:  

Free plan

• Price: Pay $0 per month.
• Average users: Those experimenting with Neon, personal projects, and small applications.
• Includes: Get 10 projects, 0.5 GiB of storage, and a compute engine that auto-scales up to 2 CU. Plus, the free plan gives you 191.9 compute hours per month.  

Note: The 1 GiB unit is about 1.07 GB, which means GiB measures slightly more storage than GB.

Launch plan

• Price: Starts at $19 per month.
• Perfect for: Launch and run production applications.
• Includes: Get 100 projects, 10 GiB of storage, and 300 compute hours per month. You also get features like point-in-time restore (7 days) and standard support.

Scale plan

• Price: You start at $69 per month.
• Average users: People scaling up production workloads and larger applications.
• Includes: Get 1,000 projects, 50 GiB of storage, and 750 compute hours per month. It also offers increased compute capacity, point-in-time restore (14 days), and standard support.

Business plan

• Price: Pay $700 per month.
• Average users: This plan suits large workloads, partners, and those needing the highest levels of compliance and security.
• Includes: Get 5,000 projects, 500 GiB of storage, and 1,000 compute hours per month. It also provides higher compute capacity, point-in-time restore (30 days), and priority support.

Enterprise plan

For larger organizations with specific needs, Neon offers custom Enterprise plans. These plans are tailored to your exact requirements and may include features like dedicated infrastructure, premium support, and custom SLAs. 

Contact Neon's sales team to discuss your needs and get a personalized quote.  

How Neon pricing works

Neon's pricing model revolves around three main elements:

• Compute hours: Billed by compute size (CUs) × active hours. 1 CU = 1 vCPU and 4 GB RAM. Scale‑to‑zero pauses accrual. Autoscaling changes CU size within your min–max settings.
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• Storage & archive storage: Plans include regular storage plus a separate archive storage allowance used for history/restore features. Overages bill at plan‑specific rates.
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• Projects: Paid plans include high project counts (100/1,000/5,000) suitable for database‑per‑tenant architectures. You’ll need to purchase extra projects in blocks. 

Remember: The total cost of Neon depends on your chosen plan and your usage of storage, compute, and projects. You can follow Neon's price estimation guide to calculate your monthly bill.

Neon pricing across different use cases

Let's break down the key use cases:

• Early projects and prototypes: Free plan fits sandboxes, POCs, and classroom use, where a small footprint and low egress are fine.
  
  
• New production apps: Launch includes enough storage/compute for steady workloads, with PITR up to 7 days.
  
  
• SaaS with database‑per‑tenant: Scale/Business includes 1,000–5,000 projects and autoscaling, which aligns with per‑customer isolation. Extra project blocks are available.
  
  
• Regulated or high‑availability needs: Business adds a 99.95% SLA and HIPAA availability via an add‑on.

Why did Neon adopt usage‑based billing?

Developer databases have variable infrastructure costs and unpredictable demand. Orb understands these challenges well and has designed specific solutions for them. 

Orb’s usage‑based billing components help companies like Neon to:

• Align cost with workload: Compute usage turns into a transparent compute‑hours metric. Heavy periods cost more while quiet periods cost less.
  
  
• Match price to value, not seats: One app might open a handful of connections, and another might run CPU‑intensive queries all day. Billing follows consumption. (Neon combines a plan fee with metered overages; a hybrid model.)
  
  
• Handle usage spikes cleanly: Autoscaling and scale‑to‑zero keep databases responsive while containing idle‑time spend.

Neon’s structure, plan allowances plus metered overages, is common across modern infrastructure platforms. It gives teams predictable baselines with room to scale when workloads grow.

The same mechanics show up in adjacent categories like AI agents (and their pricing), as well as developer tools. As products add autoscaling, event‑based usage, and fleet‑level management, pricing systems need accurate usage tracking, flexible tiers, and clear invoices.

Learn how Orb supports usage-based billing

You’ve just learned about Neon and its approach to database pricing. Orb helps product, engineering, and finance teams launch and operate pricing models that include metered usage alongside subscriptions.

Orb is a done-for-you billing platform that helps businesses design and manage pricing models. We handle the complexities of usage-based pricing and give you the tools to build a model that scales with your business and delights your customers.

Here's how Orb can help you create an optimal pricing strategy:

• Effortless usage tracking: Keep tabs on every billable event with Orb's real-time tracking. This feature helps ensure accurate billing for usage. It’s essential for any platform with granular usage data.
  
  
• Flexible pricing tiers: Orb allows you to create pricing tiers that cater to a diverse customer base. Offer free trials, premium plans, or custom tiers. Orb provides the flexibility you need.
  
  
• Data-driven insights: Leverage your usage data to spot trends and refine your pricing strategy. Orb transforms raw data into actionable reporting insights. We help you make informed decisions about your pricing model.
  
  
• Customizable billing logic: With Orb's flexible, SQL-based billing system, you can define your pricing logic and usage metrics. We give you the power to tailor your model to your specific business needs.
  
  
• Seamless integrations: Orb integrates with your existing tech stack, including data warehouses, accounting software, and developer tools. Our platform simplifies your billing workflow and improves operational efficiency.

Ready to unlock the full potential of your pricing? Explore our flexible pricing options to find the perfect plan for your needs and get started today.