Neon vs Vespa
Neon
neon.com
Vespa
vespa.aiSide by side
| Figure | Neon | Vespa |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.11/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 7 |
| Spec score · Ai Databases | 8.3 (#9) | 8.7 (#5) |
| API | Neon provides an API for managing projects and databases programmatically. | Applications can write data through HTTP/2, the Document API, or client tools, and can query through the Query API or custom request handlers. |
| Integrations | Neon documents integrations and workflows involving Vercel, Prisma, Drizzle ORM, GitHub Actions, and its CLI. | Vespa Cloud Enclave can run applications in customer accounts on AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform. |
| Product | Neon describes itself as a serverless, cloud-hosted PostgreSQL database service. | Vespa is an AI search platform for online data-driven applications that combines retrieval, ranking, machine-learning inference, and real-time serving. |
| Security | Neon states that stored data is encrypted with AES-256 and data in transit uses TLS 1.2 or higher. | The Vespa Cloud security guide describes data-plane requests protected with mutual TLS or, optionally, tokens, and says Vespa.ai has a SOC 2 attestation. |
| Support | Neon directs customers to its Discord community for questions and discussion. | The Startup plan includes community support only with no SLA; Cloud plans list unlimited support cases, with response times varying by plan. |
Plans
Vespa
- StartupPrice not published
- BasicPrice not published
- CommercialPrice not published
- EnterprisePrice not published
- StartupFree
- Enterprise *$0.18 a month
- Self ManagedPriced on request
In their own words
Neon
Neon is a managed, cloud-hosted PostgreSQL service for relational databases. It adjusts compute resources to workload and can suspend compute during inactivity, restarting it when database activity resumes. Database branches are isolated, can be created in about a second, and share data through copy-on-write storage. Neon supports connection pooling through PgBouncer, read replicas, high availability, point-in-time recovery, JSON data, and seven-day backup retention. An API lets teams manage projects and databases programmatically. Documented workflows include Vercel, Prisma, Drizzle ORM, GitHub Actions, and its CLI. The Free plan is free, with 10 projects, 50 CU-hours per month per project, 0.5 GB storage per project, 10 branches per project, and 5 GB monthly egress. Launch is $0.11 a month, billed at $0.106 per CU-hour; Scale is $0.22 a month, billed at $0.222 per CU-hour. Neon states that stored data is encrypted with AES-256 and data in transit uses TLS 1.2 or higher. It says it joined Databricks in May 2025 and is now part of the Databricks Platform.
Vespa
Vespa is an AI search platform for online applications that use data, retrieval, ranking, machine-learning inference, and real-time serving. It supports vector and tensor search, positional text search, and queries over structured data. Ranking signals can be combined with tensor functions or machine-learned models, including ONNX and XGBoost formats; model inference can use ONNX Runtime. Vespa distributes functions across node clusters and allows cluster size changes without affecting queries or writes. Teams can self-manage deployments, use the Vespa Kubernetes Operator, or run on Vespa Cloud. Local deployment guidance lists Linux, macOS, and Windows 10 Pro on x86_64 or arm64 with Docker Desktop or Podman Desktop. Vespa Cloud includes encryption at rest and in transit, certificates for nodes and endpoints, and automatic operating system patching. Its trial provides $300 in credits without requiring a credit card, then stops the application when credits are used. Cloud plans have quotas, and Startup is limited to development zones. Pricing is listed from $0.05 a month, with metered resource rates.