# CockroachDB vs Neon

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Neon

| Attribute | CockroachDB | Neon |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 63.3 (66% (medium)) | 79 (71% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 15 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 235 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 32,415 | - |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | CockroachDB is a PostgreSQL-compatible distributed SQL database designed for global applications requiring high availability, automatic scaling, and strong consistency across data centers. It eliminates downtime, simplifies operations, and scales seamlessly without manual intervention. | Neon is a managed Postgres database service that automatically scales compute and storage based on workload demands. It features instant database branching for testing and development, point-in-time restore capability, and maintains SOC2 and HIPAA compliance. |
| features.capabilities | `{"free_tier":true,"isolation":"serializable","sql_model":"full_sql","deployment":"managed","serverless":true,"consistency":"strong","geo_spatial":"none","replication":"consensus","engine_family":"postgresql","extensibility":false,"json_document":false,"license_class":"source_available","pricing_model":"tiered_plus_usage","deployment_type":"independent_multi_cloud","horizontal_scale":"distributed_native","acid_transactions":"full","automatic_failover":true,"wire_compatibility":"postgres","self_host_alternative":true,"multi_region_replication":true}` | `{"isolation":"serializable","sql_model":"full_sql","deployment":"managed","serverless":true,"consistency":"strong","replication":"async","license_class":"proprietary","horizontal_scale":"read_replica","acid_transactions":"full","automatic_failover":true,"wire_compatibility":"postgres"}` |
| integrations.count | 8 | 1 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Datadog"},{"name":"Splunk"},{"name":"Dynatrace"},{"name":"New Relic"},{"name":"Terraform"},{"name":"Vercel"},{"name":"HashiCorp"},{"name":"pgvector"},{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"GCP"},{"name":"Azure"},{"name":"Kubernetes"},{"name":"MOLT (Migration Tool)"},{"name":"PostgreSQL drivers"},{"name":"SQLAlchemy"}]` | `[{"name":"Datadog"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | - |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Basic","summary":"Free tier","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For smaller, bursty workloads","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"throughput":"30K RU/sec"}}],"summary":"Free tier available with $400 in free credits. Provisioned capacity and on-demand pricing models for production workloads.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.cockroachlabs.com/pricing/legacy/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-24T22:38:41.895Z","freeTrialDays":30,"billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free - Build and learn","features":["100 projects","100 CU-hours monthly per project","0.5 GB storage per project","Compute up to 2 CU (8 GB RAM)","Unlimited team members","Managed backend","Better Auth","Object Storage (Beta)","Functions (Beta)"],"description":"Build and learn free with no time limits and no credit card required","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"storage":"0.5 GB per project","projects":"100","max_compute_cu":"2","cu_hours_monthly":"100 per project"}},{"free":false,"name":"Launch","summary":"Usage-based, typical $15/mo (intermittent load, 1 GB)","features":["Compute autoscaling up to 16 CU","Scale to zero when inactive","Database storage with 7-day instant restore history","100 snapshots","Monitoring with 3-day retention","Private networking options","Object Storage (Beta)","Functions (Beta)","AI Gateway (Beta)"],"components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"CU-hour"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.106,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"GB-month"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.35,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"branch-hour"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.002,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"GB-month"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.2,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Pay-per-usage plan for variable workloads","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"projects":"100","max_compute_cu":"16","branches_per_project":"10"}},{"free":false,"name":"Scale","summary":"Usage-based, typical $701/mo (high load, 100 GB)","features":["Compute autoscaling up to 56 CU","Configurable scale-to-zero","Database storage with up to 30-day instant restore history","100 snapshots","SLAs included","HIPAA compliance","Private networking with Private Link","Monitoring with 14-day retention and export (Datadog, OTel)","Spending limits","Multiple egress options","Object Storage (Beta)","Functions (Beta)","AI Gateway (Beta)"],"components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"CU-hour"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.222,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"GB-month"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.35,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"branch-hour"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.002,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"GB-month"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.2,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"GB"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.01,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Pay-per-usage plan for production workloads with SLAs and compliance features","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"projects":"1000+","max_compute_cu":"56","branches_per_project":"25"}}],"summary":"Free tier with 100 CU-hours/mo. Usage-based: Launch plan $0.106/CU-hr + $0.35/GB-mo, Scale plan $0.222/CU-hr + $0.35/GB-mo. Typical $15–$701/mo.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://neon.tech","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T12:40:59.605Z","startingPrice":{"amount":0.002,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | low | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.sla_pct | 99.999 | 99.95 |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.fedramp | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | yes | yes |
| security.hipaa | yes | yes |
| security.iso27001 | yes | yes |
| security.pci | yes | yes |
| security.scorecard | 5.1 | - |
| security.soc2 | yes | yes |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fcockroachdb%2Fcockroach&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | - |

## Capabilities (Relational Databases)

| Capability | CockroachDB | Neon |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| SQL model | Full SQL | Full SQL |
| **Transactions** |  |  |
| ACID transactions | Full | Full |
| Highest isolation level | Serializable | Serializable |
| **Consistency** |  |  |
| Consistency | Strong | Strong |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Horizontal scale | Natively distributed | Read replicas |
| **Replication** |  |  |
| Replication | Consensus (Raft/Paxos) | Async |
| **Availability** |  |  |
| Automatic failover / HA | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | Managed | Managed |
| Serverless / scale-to-zero | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Compatibility** |  |  |
| Wire compatibility | Postgres protocol | Postgres protocol |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| Extensions / plugins / UDFs | ✗ | - |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Licence class | Source-available (BSL/SSPL) | Proprietary |
| **Data types** |  |  |
| JSON / document support | ✗ | - |
| Geo / spatial | None | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T14:29:41.829Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*