Introduction
PostgreSQL + Serverless + Auto-scaling + Branching
Serverless, cloud-native implementation of PostgreSQL
No need to manage servers
AWS Lambda (but for db compute)
Auto scaling compute up/down
Only pay for usage
When no queries → DB can pause (scale to zero)
When request comes → auto resume
First request may have cold start latency
Separation of Compute & Storage
Can start/stop compute instantly
Multiple compute instances can share same data
Faster scaling
Can create db branches (like git)
Can have like main, dev, …
Can clone, test, rollback
Neon vs Traditional DB
Feature
Neon
Traditional (e.g. AWS RDS)
Scaling
Auto
Manual
Server Management
❌ None
✅ Required
Cost
Pay-per-use
Always running (server cost)
Branching
✅ Yes
❌ No
Cold Start
✅ Yes
❌ No
Not suitable for
Ultra low latency required (no cold start)
Heavy real-time DB features needed